Raising Boys in the 21st Century

A word-of-mouth bestseller which has become one of the best loved and most successful books in the parenting field. With around 20% new material, Steve Biddulph’s Raising Boys includes some startling new research on what helps – and what harms – boys.

In this expanded and updated edition, Steve Biddulph shares practical and honest advice to parents so they can recognise the different stages of boyhood and learn how to raise happy, confident and kind young men. Boys need to be parented in a different way from girls with their own very special psychological and physical make-up. Home, society and education have failed boys badly – and these failures lead to unhappy men who cannot fully become happy, responsible, emotionally-confident adults. While it is essential that boys spend more time learning about manhood from their fathers, Biddulph updates his classic to include helpful information for mothers and single mothers with baby boys. This extended edition explores some important topics: • How ADHD may be caused by stress in the first year of life. • Whether boys should start school later than girls. • How important it is to let boys cry, and how crying helps avoid violence, suicide, and risky behaviour. • Two completely new stages of boyhood we didn’t know about: the FULL ON FOURS and the EMOTIONAL EIGHTS. • Help for single mothers raising sons. • How to choose a sport that does more good than harm. • What we can do about boys and binge drinking. • What science can tell us about teenage boys and driving – and how we can keep our sons safe. Raising Boys offers parents real-life situations, thought-provoking insights, humour and help.

Author Biography

Steve Biddulph is a world-famous family therapist. His Secret of Happy Children (published by Thorsons April 1997) has sold more than a million copies and has been published in 15 languages.