Raising Cain

From "News & Notes (1/11/06 - 6:23) comes this discussion of boys and their problems, with child psychologist Michael Thompson, the host of the documentary Raising Cain.

Here's an older and longer NPR piece, Violence and the Emotional Life of Boys.

The PBS Website has material on the documentary, Raising Cain, including a message by its creator, Michael Thompson and a special section on raising boys with clips from the documentary.

Musings

• Gender differences represent a continual subject of controversy and fascination. What's your take on the general premise that boys have a particular set of problems to overcome in growing up?
  
  
• Behind many of the discussions of helping boys in schools, as a step in growing up generally, is the even larger issue of masculinity, and whether or not boys (and maybe men generally) need help in achieving masculinity or, some would argue, overcoming popular conceptions of masculinity. Here two related questions arise: Is the end result of education to narrow the differences between the genders, and do adult males have any special role to play in helping boys become men? What do you think?
  
  
• What does this general discussion of raising boys have to do with school violence and issue of bullying?
  

Bullying

Here is a commentary by Carlos Overstreet, a 15-year-old who has overcome the trauma of being bullied. You can also read an article by Overstreet, My Fight for Respect, in LA Youth magazine, and listen to a commentary on a report on bullying (4/25/2001 - 3:35) from the Journal of the American Medical Association. Finally, listen to this NPR report, Ganging Up on Bullying (10/2/2002 - 5:43), and check out some of the many links it has on the subject.

Musings

• Compare or contrast any two of the four selections from above in terms of what they have to say about bullying. Which selection seems to be most insightful to you? Why?
  
  
• Historically bullying is not considered a big deal, just a regular part of growing up. Do you agree this view? Why or why not?
  
  
• This academic article by Kimmel & Mahler, "Adolescent Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence," (in PDF format) raises a number of important, but seldom discussed issues related to bullying and violence, including the assertion that masculinity is "the single greatest risk factor in school violence." What do you think they mean by this assertion?