Luckily, most of these behaviors are more culturally influenced than they are biological, picked up from peers, relatives, teachers, and the media. And since these things are learned, there are things we can do as parents to help guide our boys into becoming good men.\n

Echo Woven gathered a\u00a0few tips to\u00a0foster and support boys so\u00a0that they grow up\u00a0to\u00a0become the best versions of\u00a0themselves.\n\n

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1. Be\u00a0a\u00a0working parent.\n\n
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As\u00a0research\u00a0has shown, having a\u00a0working mother can positively influence children of\u00a0both sexes. While girls raised by\u00a0such moms tend to\u00a0have jobs with higher wages and occupy supervisory positions when they grow\u00a0up, boys are more likely to\u00a0help around the house and care for family members. They also have a\u00a0more progressive attitude toward gender roles.\n\n
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2. Encourage him to\u00a0fess up\u00a0about his feelings.\n\n
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Some qualities that are stereotypically considered \u201cmanly\u201d \u2014 like being stoic and not showing how you feel \u2014 are actually very oppressive and restricting. According to a report, men who follow more traditional \u201cmanly\u201d behavior, including hiding their emotions, are more likely to be depressed and make high-risk decisions.\n
As a result, many boys, whose parents subscribed to that mindset, grow up ashamed of their feelings. They become men who can\u2019t communicate well \u2014 bottling up or lashing out \u2014 which makes it hard for them to relate to others and keep stable, healthy relationships. Therefore, it\u2019s important to teach your son to express his emotions and be able to talk about personal stuff.\n
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3. Show him that chores won\u2019t do\u00a0themselves.\n\n
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Studies report that couples who split housework and parenting tasks, more or less equally, are happier than those who don\u2019t. Men today are doing better in the chore department than ever: the amount of housework done by women has declined since 1976, while men have started doing twice as many chores.\n
Set an example to your son by discussing the division of labor in your household. Boys should learn early on that all family members work as a team. It would also prevent a bias against certain activities and make them much more competent, self-reliant, and prepared for adult life.\n
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4. Teach him boundaries and respect.\n\n
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Introduce the concept of body autonomy to your son pretty early on. Let him know that he has the right to decide who can touch his body, and the same goes for other people. When he\u2019s older, explain to him that unwanted or inappropriate comments and jokes \u2014 toward both girls or boys \u2014 are never okay. Discuss ways to talk to his crushes and get their attention, and model what a healthy relationship looks like.\n
Teach him appropriate affection by example! A study found that teens raised in a positive family climate tend to have better relationship problem-solving skills and were at less risk of being a part of relationship violence. Emphasize being respectful of one another with your partner, putting time and effort into the relationship, showing appreciation, and apologizing when you\u2019re wrong.\n
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5. Tame \u201ctough guy\u201d behavior.\n\n
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The strong, impatient type and the macho tough guy may be appealing on the big screen, but much less so in real life. Unfortunately, social expectations can make boys feel that they have to be pushy, aggressive, or even violent.\n
To prevent this mindset, communicate to your son that while anger and frustration are normal emotions, he can\u2019t express them in ways that are threatening or violent to others. Help him find appropriate methods for handling those feelings. It\u2019s also important to have a good father figure around as an example of healthy masculinity, which can be in the form of an uncle or grandfather if their dad isn\u2019t available.\n
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6. Develop good grooming and hygiene habits.\n\n
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Boys should be taught from a young age what is involved in good hygiene and grooming habits. It\u2019s not only about dressing nicely, but it\u2019s also a question of health and the skills necessary to care for themselves later in life. They should learn how to use an iron, brush their teeth, do their hair, wear deodorant, clip their fingernails, and shower on a regular basis.\n
Men with poor grooming habits can have relationship issues and job problems. It sends a message that a job or a partner is not important enough to him to make the effort to look and smell good.\n
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7. Be\u00a0explicit about consent.\n\n
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With high school-age boys, you really don\u2019t want to tiptoe around issues of consent. Lay out what is considered an inappropriate advance, how to ask and give permission, and how various things can affect a person\u2019s judgment and ability to give consent.\n
Help your son practice being straightforward. \u201cI like you. Would you like to…?\u201d is a direct but non-assertive line. Teach him to be respectful of the person\u2019s choice, whatever the response. Tell him if the person isn\u2019t interested, he shouldn\u2019t ask why or try to change the answer. And make sure that he understands that all of this applies to him as well!\n
In your opinion, who would be easier to raise \u2014 boys or girls? Why so?\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Luckily, most of these behaviors are more culturally influenced than they are biological, picked up from peers, relatives, teachers, and the media. And since these things are learned, there are things we can do as parents to help guide our boys into becoming good men. Echo Woven gathered a\u00a0few tips to\u00a0foster and support boys so\u00a0that they …\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":76038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tie-life-style"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76039,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76037\/revisions\/76039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}