Help! My Son Hates School

With special guest:

• Janet Allison

After listening to this show many men will be wishing that they could have had Janet Allison as their teacher in years gone by. Janet speaks to us from Portland Oregon in the USA where she has founded the organisation Boys Alive! to benefit teachers and children in the education process. Janet’s warm style is engaging and inspiring.

It may even sound a little funny to hear a boy say “I hate school” but behind that assertion are some worrying realities in the USA as mirrored in Australia. These include that boys far outweigh girls in every negative statistic as for example more boys than girls are expelled from preschool! More boys than girls have behaviour issues in elementary school; more boys drop out of high school than girls and on it goes.

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Working Class Boy

With special guest:

• Jimmy Barnes

Normally we expect to listen to Jimmy Barnes’s creative output as the lead singer and one of the main songwriters for iconic Australian rock band Cold Chisel. But Jimmy has now produced Working Class Boy which has become an Australian bestselling book.

This is not the story of that well-known band or his more recent exploration of the soul music catalogue. In today’s program we hear about Jimmy’s family upbringing and the influence that had on him in his adopted country.

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Youth Express

With special guest:

• James Winter

Making a living in the Australian theatre has never been an easy task. Our guest today is James Winter an actor and director who has raised the level of difficulty significantly.

James draws on his over 20 years’ experience in the arts industry to create performance with non-performers, particularly the marginalised and at risk youthful members of our community. In doing this work through the Belvoir St Theatre’s Outreach Program, Youth Express, James engages with young people who may be homeless and find themselves excluded from mainstream education.

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Ten Leadership Lessons You Must Teach Your Teenager

With special guest:

• Dr Tim Hawkes

What the world needs now is leadership and that is our topic today.

Our guest in this program is one of Australia’s leading educators whose new book Ten Leadership Lessons You Must Teach Your Teenager takes a different approach to the topic of leadership. This book is not addressed to the business people trying to get higher on the greasy pole of corporate success. Dr Hawkes writes for mums and dads to share some wisdom with their teenage children.

Based on his great experience from many years teaching and leading thousands of students Dr Hawkes provides parents with realistic expectations and their children with challenges that the contemporary teen can reasonably be expected to achieve.

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Our Boys: Raising strong, happy sons from boyhood to manhood

With special guests:

• Richard Aston & Ruth Kerr

On this program we get to talk to good people who are making a difference in our society. Our guests today, Richard Aston and his wife Ruth Kerr, fit this category and they speak to us from across the ditch in New Zealand.

For the last thirteen years Richard and Ruth through the Big Buddy program have been providing fatherless boys with a buddy, someone who can show them the way to manhood. These buddies are volunteer mentors who are carefully chosen by going through a detailed screening. The boys know they can rely on their buddies to turn up when expected and listen to what is happening in the boys’ lives. And they get to do fun things.

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Are Fathers Important for Adolescents?

With special guest:

• Dr William (Bill) Fabricius

Most studies in the area of children and families concentrate on the influence of mothers. Fathers are understudied in this area. For this reason we welcome the results of a soon to be published paper on the role of fathers and we have the opportunity today to speak with one of its lead authors, Associate Professor Dr William Fabricius who joins us from New York. The title of the paper is Effects of the Inter-Parental Relationship on Adolescents’ Emotional Security and Adjustment: The Important Role of Fathers.

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Testicular Cancer

With special guest:

• Mr Gideon Blecher

This is a topic that is not often raised in polite company or even on talkback radio.

Many men would be reluctant to discuss testicular cancer even with their doctor. This is despite about 700 men being diagnosed in Australia every year, and in men aged 18-39 it is the second most common form of cancer.

In this program we go to the Expert Reviewer for Andrology Australia Mr Gideon Blecher to find out what we should know. And there is some good news to pass on. Gideon refers to Lance Armstrong who developed this form of cancer before his later Tour de France exploits. We are told that Armstrong is a great example to show that even when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body modern treatment can lead to a full recovery.

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The Fathering Project

With special guest:

• John Bond

Our guest today is the son of a very famous father, Alan Bond who is forever linked with Australia winning the America’s Cup in 1983. John Bond was there for this hugely significant event in the USA, one which lifted the whole country. Where to after that?

John Bond returned to Australia and got his motivation when he heard an address by Professor Bruce Robinson which inspired him to support the most powerful force for reducing the chances of our kids falling victim to drugs, suicide and crime. Having an effective father or even a father figure leads to reduced incidence of crime, alcohol and drug abuse; it enhances mental health and self-esteem, leads to improved school engagement and performance, social competence and improved health behaviours generally. Professor Robinson, who has previously been a guest on Dads on the Air provided the research which is compelling.

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Didge Group Connection to Culture

With special guest:

• Stuart McMinn

Our National Close the Gap Day program

Stuart McMinn is working in a program that draws on tens of thousands of years of culture to benefit our youth, in particular our young Indigenous men.

Following on from the vision of local Indigenous man, Uncle Bob Williams from the Mingaletta Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders Corporation, Interrelate Central Coast supported the establishment of the Young Boys Didgeridoo and Cultural Group, ‘Didge’, in mid-2011. This new group offered cultural and other supports which had an immediate and significant impact.

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BuildingBoys.net

With special guest:

• Jennifer Fink

Are our boys failing school or is school failing them?

This is a question for everyone because while kids haven’t changed much over the last 100 years there has been a fundamental change in the performance of boys and girls in their education.

In the USA, Australia and 70 other developed countries according to UN figures, boys now lag behind girls on every single academic measure, they get into trouble and they drop out of school more frequently than girls. There are fewer boys at University and there are far more lost 20-something boys than 20-something girls. For the first time in the history of the United States boys are less educated than their dads. So what is going wrong and what can we do about it?

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Fathering Adventures

With special guest:

• Darren Lewis

He doesn’t claim to have been the beginning of all fathering adventures but in July 2008 Darren Lewis started an organisation by that name which has made many fathers and their children come alive through adventure based activities. Darren quotes Howard Thurman in recognising that the world needs people who have come alive.

We live in a world where fathers commonly spend just 8 minutes a day with each of their children, sometimes it is as little as 57 seconds on a week day. Darren provides an opportunity for Dads to spend dedicated time with their children in a fun environment.

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How much father? How have dads evolved since the 1930s?

With special guest:

• Dr Peter West

How have dads evolved since the 1930s? In the 1990s, Dr Peter West interviewed a wide variety of men who grew up in the decades between the Depression and the final decade on the 20^th Century. The result of those interviews was the book Fathers, Sons and Lovers: Men Talk About Their Lives from the 1930s to Today. From footballers to policemen, from railway workers to farmers, he provided a rare glimpse into the lived realities or everyday Australian dads.

In this program, Glen Poole of Helping Men interviews Peter about the changing nature of fatherhood since the 1930s, asks how things have changed for dads since he wrote his book nearly 20 years ago and explores what fatherhood holds for the next generation of dads.

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Flesh Wounds

With special guest:

• Richard Glover

Our guest today is famous.

Richard Glover is the host of the top rating Drive show on 702 ABC Sydney, and the weekly podcast of Thank God It’s Friday. He is the author of twelve books including the bestseller In Bed with Jocasta. His new book Flesh Wounds is in a similar humorous vein but the big difference this time is that it is the real story of his unusual, to say the least, upbringing.

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The Making of Men

With special guest:

• Dr Arne Rubinstein

“If we don’t initiate our boys they will burn down the village to feel the heat.” This is an African proverb quoted by our guest today Dr Arne Rubinstein that could describe the situation for young men today in Australia and other societies far from Africa.

The Making of Men is a book that Dr Arne Rubinstein has written after seeing first-hand in his medical practice the disasters that can befall boys who are not initiated into life as a man in the community. Arne recognises the qualities valued in young boys when they are naturally loving, energetic, funny, creative and sensitive. What happens then, when so many kids get into trouble as teenagers?

In this program we talk about one of the most important ways in which the community or village can play a role in bringing the boy through to being a valuable man in the community.

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Ugly: A beaut story about one very ugly kid

With special guest:

• Robert Hoge

Robert Hoge has a daughter Imogen who sums it up best. She said about Robert’s book Ugly “It’s important to tell your story especially when you’re different.”

As one of the many roles that our guest today has filled with distinction he is an advocate for those with a disability and today we hear what it is like to grow up in a special club.

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NAIDOC Week 2015

With special guest:

• Dale Huddleston

We hear a lot about “the Intervention”, Aboriginal incarceration rates, and problems in Aboriginal communities. Not so much about the positive stories relating to the original inhabitants of Australia.

In today’s program we have an opportunity to listen to Dale Huddleston who is a renowned Aboriginal artist and musician, Chairman of the Burrunju Aboriginal Corporation and Outreach Worker for the Gugan Gulwan Youth Aboriginal Corporation in Canberra.

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Ten Conversations You Must Have With Your Son

With special guest:

• Dr Tim Hawkes

Parents are all too familiar with the difficulties of relating to their sons in a language that they understand while they grow from boys to men. Our guest today is Dr Tim Hawkes who as Headmaster of The King’s School is responsible for 1500 boys. Dr Hawkes has held this position since 1998 adding to a wealth of experience gained in England and Australia on how boys can best reach their potential as men.

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Ten Conversations You Must Have With Your Son

With special guest:

•   Dr Tim Hawkes

Parents are all too familiar with the difficulties of relating to their sons in a language that they understand while they grow from boys to men. Our guest today is Dr Tim Hawkes who as Headmaster of The King’s School is responsible for 1500 boys. Dr Hawkes has held this position since 1998 adding to a wealth of experience gained in England and Australia on how boys can best reach their potential as men.

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Powerful Training for 21st Century Men

With special guests:

• Patrick Bishop
• Paul Mischefki

The role of men has been changing rapidly in the last generation and while the responsibilities have increased there has not been a corresponding increase in men’s rights and expectations. The role as breadwinner still falls largely to the men but what about the changes in what it means to be a father, lover, community member or a friend?

With the growing number of fatherless families and the state playing an increasing role in our every day lives there are times when all men feel lost and needing some direction.

Our guests today tell us about two successful groups that provide training for men by men as a way of reconnecting with men’s essential masculinity. These programs are not just for those men who are struggling to cope with the changes in the 21st Century, they are for all men who want to reach their potential by accessing the huge untapped energy that is within us.

If you want to hear about men who have gone from counting their years to living their days join Patrick and Paul on our program today.

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Men's Health Week - Part One

With special guests:

• Rob Koch
• Greg Millan

Men’s Health Week runs from 11 to 17 June in 2012 with the theme “environMENts” so that the focus is not just on specific ailments and illnesses. The idea is that all Australians - men, boys, women and girls - should become involved in creating better environments for males in our society.Some of these environments are active and involved Fathering, hobbies and sports and social and family relationships.

Today’s guests are leaders in the field of actively promoting men’s health and well-being. In Victoria and New South Wales they tell us what are the critical issues, the services they offer and some exciting new developments that they are involved in.

If you want to make an assessment of your own health and well-being there is no better place to start than by listening to these experts in the field.

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