Episodes

Kelly Goodwin is boy mom extraordinaire. - Kelly Goodwin w her husband & 5 boys - She's got 5 boys (currently ages 8-16), a degree in child development and a slew of nieces and nephews. If parenting boys has taught her anything,

"He just won't talk to me." - If you've ever uttered those words, you are not alone. Nearly every parent of boys has complained and/or worried about their sons' silence. We know that there's a lot going on in our boys' lives and we want to help -- but...

Katy Rank Lev has 3 feral sons. (Her words, not ours!) - And up until her first son was born nine years ago, Katy had zero experience living with boys. She recently sent us this message : I just had to write in and tell you all how meaningful your p...

Photo by John Mackie via Flickr - Nearly 1 in 3 high school seniors tried vaping in the last year. - Middle schoolers are vaping too. According to the Centers for Disease Control, e-cigarette use among middle school students increased by 48% between...

Photo by Russ Allison Loar via Flickr - Sweet 16. - Here in the United States, age 16 has long been an eagerly anticipated milestone, largely because teens are eligible to get a driver's license at age 16. In the minds of many teens,

Janet & Jen had very different reactions to The New Childhood: Raising Children to Thrive in a Connected World, by author and educator Jordan Shapiro. Jen loved it. Janet has some, uh, questions. And concerns. So, we decided to talk to the author. -

Happy Anniversary....Happy Birthday .... Any way you slice it - we're thrilled to bring you this special edition of ON BOYS. After a year of conversations - that's well over 50+ hours of talking, laughing, lamenting, and inspiring each other - and hopefully, our listeners - Jen and Janet learn some new and surprising things about each other in this episode ... and daydream about the day when they will FINALLY meet in person! Thank you, dear listeners, for supporting ON BOYS this year -- and fo...

Rosalind Wiseman's work is based on the belief that young people's experiences are important, but often discounted. Adults, she says, frequently give young people advice without listening to them first. Boys often tune out adult's well-meaning messages because we fail to recognize that they are the subject matter experts of their own lives. However, if you respect their experiences and listen to their concerns, boys will work with you. Wiseman says that parents and teachers who want to commun...

Meet Stay-at-Home Dad, Homeschooling Dad, and Mankind Project participant and advocate, Mark. - Dad of Sam, age 8, husband of Corissa, living in Portland, Oregon, Mark retraces his journey as a boy who didn't feel listened to by his mom and dad,

Photo by Ye Fang Kuang via Flickr - Competitive video gaming may be coming soon to a school near you. - E-sports (short for "electronic sports") is a $900 million dollar global industry. In South Korea, top video game players are household names,

Love really is what makes the world go around. - At least, it's what makes the world a better place! - Photo by photosavvy via Flickr - On Valentine's Day, our thoughts typically turn to romantic love (thanks to a hefty assist by Hallmark,

Over the last year or so, as story after story of men's misconduct hit the headlines, one question rang out in the hearts, minds and souls of parents: How do we raise boys to become good men? Boys, we know, are not born evil or prejudiced. We've seen their sweetness. We tousle their hair and tuck them in bed. We step over plastic dinosaurs and sit on the sidelines in all kinds of weather because we care about our boys. Because we love them. Because we want them to share their gifts and talents ...

Young men are 4X more likely to die of suicide than young women - The suicide rate for boys ages 15 to 19 grew by 30 percent from 2007 to 2015 - Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24 -

By now, you've probably seen this picture... - ...and heard about Gillette's new ad, The Best Men Can Be - Maybe you've even heard about the American Psychological Association's Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men,

- Photo by duncan c via Flickr - Our listeners ask the big, important questions! - When we put out our most recent call for listener questions, we got some heart-felt, thought-provoking, difficult-to-answer questions.

"Confidence and joy are to the development of a child as oxygen is to life." -- from Confidence & Joy: Success Strategies for Kids with Learning Differences If your son struggles -- academically, socially,

The word resolution means "a firm decision to do or not to do something." It also means "the action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter." As we head into 2019, let's consider both definitions of the word. Let's make some firm decisions to improve our relationships with our boys. Let's take steps to address and solve the contentious matters facing us. And let's work together to create a climate that encourages and supports boys and their families and teachers. Need some inspira...

As 2018 draws to a close, we reflect back on our first year. - This podcast launched on March 12, 2018. Since then, we've recorded 40+ episodes, on everything from tween boy hygiene to how to talk to boys about sex,

Photo by cotaro70s via Flickr - - Want your boys to develop gentleness and empathy? Get a guinea pig. - So says Maggie Dent, Australia's BOY CHAMPION, mother of four grown boys and author of Mothering Our Boys: A Guide for Mums of Sons. -

Maggie Dent - - Please meet the marvelous Maggie Dent! - Known in Australia as "the queen of common sense," Maggie is a teacher, counselor and dedicated BOY CHAMPION. - She's a popular speaker, parenting educator and the author of 11 books,

Photo by Sotiris Marionpulous via Flickr - (Talk with Janet & Jen LIVE on 'OPEN MIC' - click here for date & ticket information.) - 'Tis the season for gift-giving, overspending & guilt. - In today's consumer culture,

Photo by Janet Allison - - Baby Boomers. Gen X. Millennials. And now, iGen. - According to psychology professor Jean Twenge, the members of iGen include the children and young adults born between 1995 and 2012.

Photo by Cindi Albright via Flickr - - We talk a lot about what's hard about parenting. About all of the important things you need to and should do with your boys. This Thanksgiving, we talk about why we're thankful for boys. -

Photo by Whitney H via Flickr - Some call the tween years a "second toddlerhood." - Like toddlers, tweens are striving for independence and determined to do things on their own. Except when they'd rather not. Some days,