Jackie Leon’s Reviews > Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons > Status Update

Mischief that reveals an innocent heart is innocent. Mischief that is sexual or violent violates the innocence that even teenage boys should have. Our culture wants to deny that innocence, to degrade and corrupt it, and to market and sell to the lows tastes that result.

We are afraid to really see what our boys are up to, not because they’re bad kids, but because we’re afraid of disciplining them. Discipline takes energy and it’s unnerving.

Smart mothers know that the issue is not trust- mothers don’t watch because they don’t trust sons. They watch because life is tough, unfair, and cruel. Mothers have lived longer and endured more blows; they understand more about the dangers to young boys. Boys can’t see what is behind them, much less what will harm them, so mothers must vigilantly guard them.

As parents we need to recognize that in this regard popular culture is our enemy; it’s competing for our sons, and it’s up to us to defeat it.

Television is a dumping ground where callous advertisers and pop culture pimps pour their trash, hoping your son will find a few pieces appetizing.

Take a hard look at what you want your son’s character to look like when he is twenty-five and focus on helping him build that character.