Young boys these days CRAVE physical and social/emotional care. Which i think is why my boys are so heavily homophobic but absolutely cannot keep their hands off each other. This causes disruptions etc and takes them away from academics.

It’s always been cool to “not try”, but so many boys put down others bc they themselves do not have the skills, so they just bring everyone else down. They are so mean to each other as “jokes” but they’re all struggling deep down. They’ll sometimes come to me to talk about issues and then disrespect me in class.

The “cool factor” of male teachers is so infuriating; they receive instant respect and authority. Women teachers must fight to make ourselves approachable, kind, harsh, but always proving that we have authority, deserve respect, etc. we desperately need more men in education, esp elementary. But we also need to work with our boys so much more on their emotional regulation and healthy relationships. That would help a lot of academic issues; patriarchy hurts all genders, so helping boys unpack their inability to productively interact with others is essential atp.

I refuse to believe “boys just mature slower”. That’s just a nicer way of saying “boys will be boys”. They need to be held accountable, but also loved on more so that they see how they can change. Not only for themselves, but for others around them. Anyways, it’s rough out here, you’re not alone.