Raising Boys into Men: Breaking Down Gender Stereotypes

Raising boys in the United States today can be challenging, especially for single mothers. With lifestyles, today, more challenging than every, the statistics with regard to the success and independence of young men has changed. In days past, where we once believed boys could easily become successful, the challenges of today's lifestyle has prevented that from occurring to some extent. As a single mother, raising our boys to become respectable and successful young men is far challenging than ever before. For this reason, we must understand what the stereotypes about our boys may be today and work to reverse those stereotypes.

With the pressure of decades past, many men, today, succeeded well in school simply due to the social and familial pressures. Statistically, today, boys have shown to suffer more greatly in the areas of education, with many boys, especially those of color, dropping out of high school and college at phenomenal rates. As a single mother, then, it is important to remain actively involved in your son's academic progress, never letting go of the pursuit of education. Where our fathers and grandfathers may have seemingly excelled naturally, our sons will need the financial and emotional support of their mothers to guide them through and not let them fail or drop out.

In addition to education, the boys of today, showing aggressive and violent behaviors, are often referred to as simply being "boys". As we have seen in recent violent events, boys are not only struggling with their own issues of self image and status but also learning to control hormonal imbalances. For this reason, as a single mother, it is important to guide our sons and teach them to love, show empathy and to be compassionate. When violence and aggression, coupled with the experimentation of alcohol and drug use, is witnessed, it is important to seek out early intervention and treatment as, in today's society, these social and peer related issues may be the beginning of a more complex mental health complication in your son.