1st Edition
Boys Do Cry Improving Boys’ Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools
Schools are undergoing a mental health crisis and adult statistics surrounding male suicide paint a bleak picture of the future for boys in our schools. From bullying and sexism to traditional ideals of masculinity, outdated expectations of what it is to be male are causing boys to suffer. Research also shows that this is having a negative impact on girls in our schools. Clearly, the issue of boys’ mental wellbeing has never been so important. Boys Do Cry examines key research on factors impacting boys’ mental health and arms teachers with a range of practical strategies to start enacting positive change.
Combining the latest research, personal anecdote, expert advice, and a uniquely engaging writing style, Matt Pinkett provides focused, evidence-based guidance on what those working in schools can do to improve and maintain the mental wellbeing of boys. The chapters follow an easy-to-navigate three-part structure, detailing personal stories, key research and practical solutions to the problems raised. With sensitivity, Pinkett deals with a diverse range of topics relating to boys’ mental health including:
- Anger
- Self-harm and suicide
- LGBTQ+ masculinity
- Body image
- Friendships
- Pornography
This is an essential read for teachers and school leaders who want to ensure they are improving the mental health of boys in their schools, challenging toxic behaviours, and equipping the current generation of boys to become happy, healthy, emotionally articulate men.
1. Anger; 2. Exclusions; 3. Self-harm and Suicide; 4. Talk; 5. Friendships; 6. LGBTQ+ Masculinity; 7. Sport and Physical Activity; 8. Body Image; 9. Pornography; 10. The Final, Final Word
Biography
Matt Pinkett is an English teacher in Surrey with a personal and professional interest in gender and masculinity in schools. He is co-author of the bestselling book Boys Don’t Try? Matt has also blogged and written for several publications, and delivers regular CPD sessions on the topic of teaching and masculinity.
'Matt Pinkett tackles some deeply uncomfortable issues relating to boys’ mental health. It’s searingly honest, written from the heart and with a whopping intent to open up some of this tricky terrain. It is one thing to name that terrain, it is quite another to expand on it in a way that really makes you think, and then quite another to provide some sensitive yet punchy potential solutions. It’s a cliché to say that certain books should be read by everyone working in schools. In the case of Boys Do Cry, it’s absolutely true.'
Mary Myatt, Education Advisor, Writer, and Speaker
'For people who teach, this book reminds us why we do it. For people who don’t, it will give you a chance to look into boys’ lives and experiences and consider how we need to talk, support, and provide role models to give boys the happy and healthy adulthoods they deserve.'
Dr Poppy Gibson, Senior Lecturer in Education at Anglia Ruskin University
'Boys Do Cry offers multiple windows into the experiences of boys and young men. It is a compelling argument that everyone benefits when we prioritise male mental health and wellbeing.'
Sanum Jawaid Khan, Schools Week
