We must also do something about the violence on TV and throughout the media, the war games in the schoolyard and those sports programs that exploit children. Parents are in a particularly powerful position to counter popular myths that state boys are destined by biology to fight, taunt and bully each other. We love and value our sons, and know that no child is expendable. Boys should be protected from the harsher forces of the world, until they are strong enough to understand what is natural and what is wrong. We can begin with our own attitudes and what we permit in our families, schools and communities.
Good men come from many directions.
What they have in common, perhaps, is a full sense of themselves which allows them to be both responsible and generous. For a boy, the value of a positive man to interact with, to question, observe and react to cannot be argued. The value of a relationship with an adult male is the chance to learn firsthand the human dimension to manhood. For boys, it helps to see a man negotiating these issues, struggling himself and explaining the options he perceives, and the choices he makes. These ideas are not meant to overlook the contributions of mothers, nor over-estimate the mere presence of a father.