How to Teach Your Son to be a Man
Raising a boy to become a good man can be difficult and challenging. With so many distractions, improper role models, and the idolization and glamorization of the “bad boy” lifestyle, it can be an uphill challenge to raise a boy to become a proper, standup man.
However, if you are willing to take on the challenge and are invested in your son, raising them to be a man can be a rewarding journey.
If you’re looking to learn how to teach your son to be a man, then the below steps and guidance should be useful to you. While raising and teaching your son to be a man is a long, somewhat difficult, and uphill journey, it can be one of the most rewarding experiences.
Not only will you learn about yourself, but you will also be raising a man that you can be proud of. In addition, teaching your son to be a man will also guarantee you a future best friend.
Why is it Important to Teach Your Son to be a Man?
Men, historically, have been the bread winners of the family unit. They were the hunter-gatherers in times past and their place in society evolved to the one’s whom worked jobs and careers outside of the house.
While times have certainly changed and evolved, men are still thought of as the sex which provides for the family. And while we’re not here to discuss the nuances of these arraignments, the fact remains that men are still typically seen as the providers and protectors of the family unit.
As a father, your job is to raise both your sons and your daughters to be active, upstanding citizens. However, when it comes to teaching your son to be a man, you will want to take a more active and involved role.
As a man, you will have first-hand, intimate experience with growing-up as a boy and becoming a man. These experiences and levels of wisdom will help your son to avoid the mistakes and pitfalls you may have experienced.
As-such, the real importance in teaching your son to be a man, is that you will be passing down the knowledge, intelligence, experience, and wisdom that you gained to the next generation. You will be helping your son to avoid the errors you made, and you will be developing a stronger, more intact family unit for the next generation.
Let Him Make Mistakes
While your first instinct as a father is to protect your children, you don’t want to be a helicopter parent. While it may be tempting to jump-in every time your son is about to make a mistake or get injured, it is also important to allow kids to learn from their mistakes and errors.
This isn’t to say that you should stand idly by as your son makes a life-changing mistake, but you should use your best judgment as to when you should intervene in an issue. Allowing your son to make his own mistakes will not only help teach him life lessons and provide him with experience but will also make him more resilient for future mistakes and obstacles.
Teach Him Honesty
A good man is an honest one. Raise your sons to not only be honest but also respectful. An honest man is one who says the truth and stands-by the truth, even if it is at his own expense. An honest man is one who doesn’t steal, he is one who doesn’t play games, nor does her play with other people’s emotions. An honest man cares for others and has the fortitude to do what is right simply because it is the right thing to do.
Teach Him Responsibility
While we admit that times have changed and society has evolved, a man is still seen as the provider of the family. To that end, raising your son to be a man means teaching him to be responsible. A man should be responsible for the things he owns and the one’s he cares for. He should work hard for the things he wants and work even harder for the things his family needs. Teaching your son to be a man means teaching him responsibility from a young age.
Encourage Knowledge
A good man is a worldly man. He is one who is not ashamed to admit where he has doubt or little knowledge but is also one that is voracious in his attempts to learn and gain knowledge. As a father, you should encourage your son to be knowledgeable of all subjects and topics. While he doesn’t need to have a doctorate in every subject, he should have basic life-skills that can be helpful in his adult years.
Allow Him to Indulge His Emotions
Contrary to popular belief, boys do cry. Boys do feel pain. Boys do get hurt. While our society oftentimes pushes for our boys to, “man up” or “walk it off”, these terms can be harmful to their growth into a man. While you may not want your son to act too sensitive, you should allow them to indulge in their emotions and to learn, from a young age, how to handle their emotions correctly.
Teach Him to be Respectful
Whether he’s speaking to an older relative, a teacher, or a girl he has interest in, your son should be respectful in every interaction. He should speak properly and with purpose and should treat those around him with the utmost level of respect.
While this advice will prove useful in his school years, it will be especially handy when he begins to show an interest in the opposite sex. You don’t want to raise a son who is a misogynist, nor do you want to raise a son who isn’t respectful to his date.
From a young age, you should teach your son respect. When it comes to teaching your son to be a man, respect is paramount and should be instilled from a young age. Being respectful doesn’t mean being weak, but it does mean showing character, being polite, and being courteous to others.
Teach Him to Stand Up for Himself
Let’s face it, you’re not always going to be there for your son. And one of the most important life lessons you can teach your son is how to stand up for himself. This means you should teach your son how to diffuse a tense situation and how to defend himself when a situation grows violent.
Encourage Fitness and Body Health
Unfortunately, in America, obesity is a growing problem, particularly amongst kids and children. In a CDC study, the prevalence of obesity amongst children aged 2-19 was nearly 20%, affecting over 14.4 million. This growing problem disproportionately affects Hispanic and Black children and utilizes the body mass index (BMI) protocol to define obesity.
As a father, teaching your son to be a man must include teaching them to care for their physical and mental health. This can be done by enrolling your sons in sports programs at their school, taking them to the gym with you, and simply shooting hoops outside.
Let Them be Boys
Perhaps the most important thing to learn when it comes to teaching your son to be a man, is to allow them to be boys. While this doesn’t mean that they can be destructive and unruly, it does mean that they should be allowed and encouraged to explore, to be curious, and to be kids.
Becoming a man is not easy and once a boy has reached adulthood, they will face a myriad of their own problems. Rather than place the pressures of the world on their shoulders at a young age, simply allow them to grow up, to figure out problems on their own, and to be happy, curious, innocent kids.