Modern Childhood > Books > 21st Century Boys
21st Century Boys: how modern life can drive them off the rails...
and what we can do about it
(Orion, £9.99)
This is the first of two books about growing up in the modern world (the second, due for publication in 2011, is unsurprisingly called 21st Century Girls). 21st Century Boys looks at the particular problems facing boys, including:
- The growth of developmental conditions such as ADHD and Asperger Syndrome which disproportionately affect boys, and the extent to which these may be the result of nature or nurture
- The significance of one-on-one care in the first few years
- Commercial pressures and their effects on boys and their families
- The problems for boys of an early start to formal education and a pencil-and-paper test-based school culture
- Problems for boys in a risk-averse society, including the decline of free-range play and a dearth of real-life role models as men withdraw from contact with children and young people
- The potential ill-effects of a ‘culture of cool’ on adolescent boys
- The social issue of ‘born losers’ in today’s competitive consumerist society, and the way ‘born winners’ may be perpetuating this problem.
Reviews of 21st Century Boys
‘Palmer, who started a media storm with her first book ‘Toxic Childhood’ examines the issues that confront 21st century boys from birth to the end of school, in the light of the most up-to-date research, and explains what we can all do to help ensure they emerge as healthy, normal adults. Behind the screaming headlines, she talks an awful lot of sense.’
‘In a hugely informative and interesting book, packed with readable research, Palmer suggests how we can raise bright, balanced boys’
A very well researched book with plenty of pretty inarguably evidence. From a secondary teacher’s point of view it will help you understand why your boys are as they are. And understanding a problem is half way to solving it. The ever-practical Ms Palmer provides pages of ‘what we can do’ suggestions at the end of each chapter, including specific ideas for teachers
‘Need help bringing up a 21st century boy? Then you need this book. This is another timely publication from a highly qualified and well-known writer…It is a highly readable and accessible text, despite the underpinning research and theory that Sue Palmer entwines so comprehensively.’
‘A thought-provoking examination of boys’ lives from birth to the teenage years and the potential ill-effects of modern lifestyles.’
By the author of the incredibly successful ‘Toxic Childhood’ is a book that focuses on the development of boys from birth to the teenage years. This is an indispensable guide to raising 21st century boys with lots of practical advice in order to turn young boys into grown men who are balanced, bright, resilient and ready for anything that’s ‘thrown’ at them.
Thought-provoking… fascinating. Throughout the book there are four pen-portraits of males, each presenting a composite picture that illustrates ways that culture combined with evolutionary influences and misguided nurture has influenced boys… It also discusses how it may be possible to help these boys grow up into balanced and resilient males.
‘Insightful, well-researched, evidence-based…an excellent and through-provoking analysis.’
‘Sue Palmer, a leading expert in education and child development…offers insights into the difficulties of raising boys and how parents and teachers can help them fulfil their potential.’
Informative and inspirational… Based on the latest research from around the world, 21st Century Boys provides parents with a clear pathway to bringing up boys.
‘A detailed analysis of the world our boys are growing up in and how it’s affecting them… She uses the latest research from around the world as well as her own experiences as an educator to assess the issues confronting boys, from birth to when they leave school.’ ‘This book should be on the reading list of every new parent who is struggling with the complexities of raising boys in a world where technological culture intrudes ever more insistently and irresistibly into family life.’
Are junk food, lack of sleep, computer games, the internet, and the frantic pace of 21st century life breeding damaged, unhappy adolescents? The author analyses the issues facing our young men and suggests what we can do to reclaim our boys’ stability, well-being and future.
‘An entertaining and often enlightening guide to one of the fundamental dilemmas of our time.’
Renowned education specialist Sue Palmer presents the latest research and insights into raising boys. Loaded with good and practical advice. Palmer writes in a very readable style.