Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons

by Meg Meeker

Overview

In Boys Should Be Boys, critically acclaimed author Dr. Meg Meeker helps parents restore the delights of boyhood and enables today’s boys to become the mature, confident, and thoughtful men of tomorrow.

Boys will always be boys—rambunctious, adventurous, and curious, climbing trees, building forts, playing tackle football, all part of the rite of passage into manhood. But today our sons face an increasingly hostile world, one that doesn’t value the spirited nature of boys. Meeker explores the secrets to boyhood to create an uplifting guide to make raising sons a little easier.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684511969
Publisher:	Skyhorse Publishing
Publication date:	01/04/2022
Pages:	287
Sales rank:	409,859
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 5.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

MEG MEEKER, M.D., author of the bestseller Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, has spent more than three decades practicing pediatric and adolescent medicine and counseling teens and parents. A fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, she serves on the Advisory Board of the Medical Institute and is an associate professor of medicine at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. Dr. Meeker lives and works in northern Michigan, where she shares a medical practice with her husband, Walter.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction



 The Seven Secrets to Raising Healthy Boys 

I THINK OF THIS BOOK AS sort of The Dangerous Book for Parents. The bestselling The Dangerous Book for Boys was full of fun information and projects that boys love but that too many of us have tried to deny them. Tree houses? Too dangerous. The boys might fall and break their arms. Insects and spiders? Yuck. And you want to teach them about hunting, how to make a bow and arrow, and great battles of history? Are you crazy? Actually, these are all things boys like, and there is no harm in them. As a pediatrician, I’ve seen plenty of boys with broken arms, spider bites, or who have scraped a knee playing soldier in the woods. But these are just part of growing up. Too many of us parents obsess about healthy diversions that active boys like to do, while not recognizing what is truly dangerous for our boys—like popular music, television, and video games that deaden their sensibilities, shut them off from real human interaction, impede the process of maturation, prevent them from burning up energy in useful outdoor exercise, divorce them from parents, and lower their expectations of life. 

In this book I mean to cut through a lot of the misapprehensions, misinformation, and misleading assumptions that too many parents have. It’s a book of practical advice based on my clinical experience, relevant scientific data, and the sort of common sense that too many of us managed to misplace from reading too many politically correct “parenting” books. My concern is not with what is politically correct, but with what is true and what is best for our boys. I’ve seen, and I’ve learned, that when it comes to raising sons, what is politically correct and what is true are often at opposite ends of the spectrum. I think it’s time we put our sons first. 

In this book you will learn how to raise healthy and happy boys—boys who are honest, courageous, humble, meek (in the sense of willingly withholding their power), and kind. There are secrets to raising such boys. Among these secrets are the big seven. I can mention them in passing here, but we’ll look at what they mean and how to use them in the chapters that follow. 

■ Know how to encourage your son. One fault is babying and spoiling him. But another is being so harsh that you lose communication with your son and destroy his sense of selfworth. We’ll look at how to strike the right balance. 

■ Understand what your boys need. Guess what? It’s not another computer game; it’s you. We’ll look at how to get the most of your time with your son. 

■ Recognize that boys were made for the outdoors. Boys love being outside. A healthy boy needs that sense of adventure— and the reality check that the outdoors gives him. 

■ Remember that boys need rules. Boys instinctively have a boy code. If you don’t set rules, however, they feel lost. 

■ Acknowledge that virtue is not just for girls. Boys should, indeed, be boys—but boys who drink, take drugs, and have sex outside of marriage aren’t “normal” teenagers, they have been abnormally socialized by our unfortunately toxic culture. Today, my practice as a pediatrician has to deal with an epidemic of serious, even life-threatening, problems—physical and psychological—that were of comparatively minor concern only forty years ago. A healthy boy strives after virtues like integrity and self-control. In fact, it is virtues like these that make a boy’s transition to manhood possible. 

They are necessary virtues, and he needs your help to acquire them. I’ll show you how. 

■ Learn how to teach your son about the big questions in life. Many parents shy away from this, either because they are uncomfortable with these questions themselves, or want to dismiss them as unimportant or even pernicious, or because they don’t want to “impose” their views on their children. But whatever one’s personal view, your son wants to know— and needs to know—why he’s here, what his purpose in life is, why he is important. Boys who don’t have a wellgrounded understanding on these big questions are the most vulnerable to being led astray into self-destructive behaviors. 

■ Remember, always, that the most important person in your son’s life is you. 

Being a parent can often seem a daunting task. But I’m here to tell you that almost every parent has what it takes to raise healthy sons. You have the intuition, the heart, and, yes, the responsibility to change the life of your son for the better. This book is a step toward showing you how.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Seven Secrets to Raising Healthy Boys 1

Chapter 1 Boyhood under Siege 5

Chapter 2 Bucking Peer Pressure 19

Chapter 3 Bullfrogs and Racecars 29

Chapter 4 Electronic Matters 51

Chapter 5 Does Testosterone Drive Cars? 75

Chapter 6 Encouragement, Mastery, and Competition 87

Chapter 7 A Mother's Son 105

Chapter 8 The Difference a Dad Makes 145

Chapter 9 The Forgotten Step from Boyhood to Manhood 165

Chapter 10 The God Factor 183

Chapter 11 How Then Shall We Teach Them to Live? 203

Chapter 12 Ten Tips for Making Sure You Get It Right 225

Bibliography 249

Acknowledgments 265

Notes 267

Index 275

What People are Saying About This

Neil Bernstein

"Dr. Meg Meeker issues a call to arms for anyone concerned about the character and healthy development of boys. Filled with inspirational vignettes and a stern warning against overexposure to a toxic pop culture, Boys Should Be Boys empowers parents to stay involved and protect their sons' innocence. It's a wonderfully written and eye-opening book-a must read."--(Neil Bernstein, Ph.D., author of There When He Needs You: How to Be an Available, Involved, and Emotionally Connected Father to Your Son)

Michael Medved

"Meg Meeker's new book, Boys Should Be Boys, once again demonstrates that the most important element in wisdom is common sense. Dr. Meeker provides insight, information and, ultimately, inspiration."--(Michael Medved, nationally syndicated talk radio host)

Dr. Thomas Lickona

"I wore out my yellow marker highlighting the nuggets of wisdom in Meg Meeker's book. Begin with the concluding chapter on 'Ten Tips for Making Sure You Get It Right,' and you'll find yourself immediately thinking about how to put these gems into practice with your own sons (and daughters!). As a father, grandfather, and character educator, I loved this book for all that it teaches us about how much we matter in the lives of our children."--(Dr. Thomas Lickona, author of Character Matters: How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgment, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues)

From the Publisher

“If you want to raise a boy you’ll be proud of, read Boys Should Be Boys.”—Dave Ramsey

“Filled with inspirational vignettes, Boys Should Be Boys empowers parents to stay involved and protect their sons’ innocence. It’s a wonderfully written and eye-opening book–a must-read.”—Neil Bernstein, Ph.D., author of There When He Needs You

Editorial Reviews

Dr. Meg Meeker has composed the perfect companion to her Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters. Boys Should Be Boys delivers the message delivered so directly by its title. Meeker urges parents and teachers to recognize that boys don't share all the priorities and propensities of girls and should be treated accordingly. A solid primer for conservative parents.

If you want to raise a boy you’ll be proud of, read Boys Should Be Boys.”—Dave Ramsey

“Filled with inspirational vignettes, Boys Should Be Boys empowers parents to stay involved and protect their sons’ innocence. It’s a wonderfully written and eye-opening book–a must-read.”—Neil Bernstein, Ph.D., author of There When He Needs You

From the Publisher