MS w/healthy (not-bro-ish) boy culture?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No thoughts for school, but if you're interested in sleep away camp, Kabeyun is great for just that reason. https://kabeyun.org/

Ooh! I’m a woman with a relationship with a girls’ sleepaway camp but did a lot of trainings at Kabeyun so it has a special place in my heart. Sleepaway camps, especially all-boys, can be a great environment for boys to mature and find a different path than the one they’re on at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if a k-8 would be better than 6-12? PP just mentioned Norwood... Does anyone have any observations re boy culture at Lowell or Sheridan, say?

As for K-12 schools, I know GDS is often mentioned as handling this badly (demonizing masculinity)... Curious about other NW DC progressive schools... How are Sidwell, Maret, Field, Burke on this front?

My kid is at a k-8. They should be better and look better on paper. But the reality is that younger kids have plenty of 5-8th graders to emulate, there are lots of families with multiple kids because it’s attractive to keep siblings together for as long as possible, and so the influence of older siblings on younger grade cohorts can be pretty intense. The 7th and 8th graders seem like they heard an admissions presentation conversation about “keeping kids young” and decided to act old in defiance of it ever since.

[Anonymous]

St. Anselm's

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Anselm's

+1. And we loved The Heights for our non-Catholic son. They let "boys be bots".

[Anonymous]

My DS is in younger years at Sheridan so we’ve not yet experienced junior high there but my sense is this a real strength of theirs. The middle school head is great and they put a lot of focus on those years and supporting a healthy culture and individual development.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious, how much does the areas focus on travel sports affect this bro culture?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if a k-8 would be better than 6-12? PP just mentioned Norwood... Does anyone have any observations re boy culture at Lowell or Sheridan, say?

As for K-12 schools, I know GDS is often mentioned as handling this badly (demonizing masculinity)... Curious about other NW DC progressive schools... How are Sidwell, Maret, Field, Burke on this front?

Because of the size of these schools, I think it will be cohort dependent.

[Anonymous]

I also want to shout out sleep away camps (though do your research, some are VERY bro-heavy).

[Anonymous]

OP I think you’re looking for a sanitize version of MS that isn’t likely to be found in the area. There are lots of schools that work to build kids up positively including public. That said, a lot comes down to just parenting. Trash talking is going to happen and kids need to get used to that and learn to handle it. Misogynist/Homophobic/Racist conversation is limited by having good adults around that nip it. Not to mention being in a diverse school and other situations(neighborhood/activities) that are more diverse.

Also, is your view of your MS colored only by the kids you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I think you’re looking for a sanitize version of MS that isn’t likely to be found in the area. There are lots of schools that work to build kids up positively including public. That said, a lot comes down to just parenting. Trash talking is going to happen and kids need to get used to that and learn to handle it. Misogynist/Homophobic/Racist conversation is limited by having good adults around that nip it. Not to mention being in a diverse school and other situations(neighborhood/activities) that are more diverse.

Also, is your view of your MS colored only by the kids you know?

Nope, my work involves middle school kids and their families. I think there is a bigger generational shift going on here than you may realize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I think you’re looking for a sanitize version of MS that isn’t likely to be found in the area. There are lots of schools that work to build kids up positively including public. That said, a lot comes down to just parenting. Trash talking is going to happen and kids need to get used to that and learn to handle it. Misogynist/Homophobic/Racist conversation is limited by having good adults around that nip it. Not to mention being in a diverse school and other situations(neighborhood/activities) that are more diverse.

Also, is your view of your MS colored only by the kids you know?

Nope, my work involves middle school kids and their families. I think there is a bigger generational shift going on here than you may realize.

OP here again (previous post about working with MS kids also line). To PP, I agree with you that parenting is essential, and I am certainly doing the work. As a result I am not terribly worried about my own DS slipping into this worldview but I am worried about him not having friends and feeling isolated as his friends grow more bro-y. He is extroverted and social and I want him to have a chance to be around a variety of boys. It would be nice to find a school and parent community that has similar priorities.

[Anonymous]

Bro culture in this area seems to follow wealth. We are up the road in MoCo at a less wealthy high school and there are all kinds of boys, including artsy and musical and science-focused, etc. Our sports teams are not generally champions though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bro culture in this area seems to follow wealth. We are up the road in MoCo at a less wealthy high school and there are all kinds of boys, including artsy and musical and science-focused, etc. Our sports teams are not generally champions though.

That’s really interesting and honestly makes sense. I regret buying in chevy chase - we were coming from out of area and didn’t know what we were getting into. If DS gets into an MCPS magnet for next year that might be a better option than our our MCPS school in bethesda

[Anonymous]

You will not want to hear this but the answer is the heights.

I don’t send my kids there - I need to save the $$ for high school and college - but I’ve only had good experiences with their graduates and families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Anselm's

+1. And we loved The Heights for our non-Catholic son. They let "boys be bots".

tfw a 1-letter typo completely alters the meaning…

(I know what pp meant, of course, it just made me chuckle)