It is not new to find out that in many societies around the world, little boys are raised to being tough in adulthood. No matter the children’s feelings and stereotypes play an important role in these societies.
In page 22 of the book ‘listening to boys’ voices’, written by William Pollack, you can find an excellent description of the typical young boy in the actual society. ‘The mythical teenage boy is obsessed with himself, sports, cars, sex, and-above all-being cool. He’s tough. He breaks the rules’. In these lines, the author shows the reader not the true characteristics of a typical young boy but those typical characteristics a society expects to find in them. Through stereotypes like these, people want to obtain the ideal boy for their society.
In chapter 1, the writer tells the story of a little boy, Adam, who was changed to another school. Problems began to appear and his mother was aware of this. Thanks to his mother’s instinct he could show his true feelings and told her what was happening to him. With this example, the writer wants to show all the pain and suffering that the boys have to keep in silence, without knowing how to deal with them. They pretend everything is fine when it is not and they suffer in silence. Situations like these make me wonder why it is that these boys have to go through all this only to show their strengths.
In chapter 1, page 7, the author gives us some points in order to help our sons or students, and one of the most important steps is the last one. ‘We can often help boys take off their masks by telling them stories about our own experiences’. And I think this is one of the most important steps in order to help our boys. If the boys discover that we also have had our moments of fear and that we have had to deal with certain situations, then they will probably feel able to share their experiences with us. We need to make them see that it will not be disappointing if they have moments of weakness and it is not wrong if they want to cry.
All in all, unfortunately, stereotypes have always been present in different societies. Some people follow these beliefs and some others not. However, I have to say that these beliefs and some others not. However, I have to say that these beliefs, for me, are only part of man’s stupidity to get the image of the ideal boy but that we all know that all those fears and weaknesses do really exists in our children. It is a pity that our societies do not want to see the reality.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Overdue
Always counting the minutes I have to prepare something and I realize the minutes I’ve counted before are not enough. If I organize myself to prepare a lesson plan or an essay in an afternoon, when that afternoon comes to an end, I realize that I haven’t finished what it was supposed to be finished…and you have no idea how much I hate that feeling…always behind schedule. I’m delayed with everything you can imagine and I feel like I can’t manage with everything. Something worse is that I feel I have been quite irresponsible so imagine my mood…I can’t deal with myself either!
I wish I could sleep a whole weekend so I can clear the mess I have in my head. But then I’m pretty sure that I’ll feel guiltier for that…and I will be more delayed too!
But keep calm Carolina, just take a breath and remember how you deal with situations like these…(these are the words that always say to myself to not drive me crazy=)) Anyway, the worst of all is not that I’m delaying with everything or that I don’t sleep well, but it is that I’m not being myself. I’m a quiet and thoughtful person who is always trying to see the positive side of everything and I’m losing that. And I hate that too…
I wish I could sleep a whole weekend so I can clear the mess I have in my head. But then I’m pretty sure that I’ll feel guiltier for that…and I will be more delayed too!
But keep calm Carolina, just take a breath and remember how you deal with situations like these…(these are the words that always say to myself to not drive me crazy=)) Anyway, the worst of all is not that I’m delaying with everything or that I don’t sleep well, but it is that I’m not being myself. I’m a quiet and thoughtful person who is always trying to see the positive side of everything and I’m losing that. And I hate that too…
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