I worry for our sons

Hi Peeps,

As you know I have 3 🐒🐒🐒. The oldest is a male and the other two are female. Yes, I love them all equally, even though they say I have favourites.

Like any mother, I have watched my son and his mates over the years. I have seen them grow into amazing young men. He has amazing friends who have supported him (as he supports them) for years. But sadly, sometimes I see them struggling with their place in the world.

All over the news we see woman's rights and equality. This is great but many times these media outlets also show young men in a bad light. Men are violent, men are rapists, men are bad. Well, it is time someone spoke up.

The minority of men are violent, there are a small amount of men who are bad and not all men are rapists. Shock horror, women are also violent, some women are bad and woman can be rapists.

I hear boys talking about consenual sex and worrying if they should get a woman to sign something to say they agree to have sex. No, I am not joking. These young men are worried. They have been raised to be respectful humans but one accusation and life as they know it will end. I never hear my daughters talking about getting consent from a guy. If we are after true equality, shouldn't girls be having these same conversations?

Young men are struggling to identify their role in society. They have been raised by women who work, look after the house and raise kids (A lot of the time without a father figure). These young men want to support their partners or future partners in following their dreams, which is amazing. But are we supporting these young men?

Today, I saw an instagram reel from @lockie.welch , who is involved with Livin, a not for profit, raising awareness of mental health issues, particularly for young people https://www.livin.org

LIVIN exists to create a future where suicide is no longer the number one killer of young Australians. The number one killer.

The charity was started after one of their mates took his life after a silent battle with mental health. Of course it was silent - there is still a stigma about mental health. (Read my blog - Are mental health issues a real thing ? - on my mental health struggles and my silence). Dwayne deserves to be remembered.

I love their motto - Ain't Weak To Speak (I will be # tagging the hell out of that one).

Watch their video

I have many friends, who are Mum's of boys, some with 2, 3 and 4 boys. I know they worry. To my son - you and S from S&P, will be the two men I love with all my heart for my entire life. Don't worry Big Bro, I love you too.

I remember the day I knew my son was no longer my little boy. His hand slipped into mine on a walk and I could feel the strength of the man he was becoming. I felt so much love and sorrow at the same time. To my son - please encourage your mates to speak and speak to them or me if you need.

I have this other amazing friend, CJ, who used to run a football (⚽️) session, once a week so he and his mates could talk, laugh and exercise because that is how males connect. I wish there was more of this. CJ is a great human.

Remember - It Aight Weak to Speak.

PS - My wonderful son is taken girls so don't DM me for his deets. I 🩷 his girlfriend because she makes him happy.

PPS - To my daughters don't worry. You will get your own blog soon.

Love,

Ro

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Packing Day

Image
Hello Peeps! Well, we are on the move again. We moved into our new home in 2022, a nice little place that I was able to buy after my financial separation. It is very small for me and the Cheeky Monkey's to live in and it was probably time to move but ...... I decided to rent the place out and look for something for us to rent. Thank goodness for S&P, we have moved in with them whilst we are finding something. The rental market is ridiculous but I can not complain as I have a roof over my head. I could be living in a tent on the foreshore. Yes, that is a huge thing in the area we live in. Many tents by the beach due to homelessness and housing crisis. Photo Credit - Moreton Bay Council That is one of the reasons I am housesitting to explore new areas and also not enough rooms in S&P's place. They would have squished me in but it is time for some me time. Anyway back to packing. I had to hire Taxi Boxes because there is no storage available. Another shortage! I paid some ...
Read more

Ro's in the wild again

Image
Hi Peeps! Well, it has only taken about 4 years of thinking and no doing but now feels right. I love to write and share my adventures. I started this a few years back just on my Facebook page when I started solo travel. I got lots of comments and people told me they were waiting for my next posts. However, I mainly did it for me. A way to recall all my adventures and activities and wait each year for those Facebook memories to pop up. The idea of this blog is similar. I am about to embark on more adventures (I hope the English teachers reading this recognise the foreshadowing😉). Yes, I am still in Oz but I am embarking on some home adventures before I head overseas again. "Why be boring at home ?" she says. Speaking of English teachers, I am not one! I teach Business and Maths and have had to teach English and Humanities. If you like a blog with no grammar issues or proper sentence structure please move on. Don't troll me; just forget you once read a post with comma'...
Read more

Fortitude Valley - Day vs Night

Image
Dear Peeps, I was lucky to spend two nights at FV Peppers, in Fortitude Valley (FV). For those of you who don't know , The Valley is very close to Brisbane City Centre and is the night club precinct. A girlfriend and I shared the cost of the room for one night and as a treat to myself, I had the first night on my own. FV Peppers is amazing. Worth every penny to spoil yourself. You can hire out the private spa room or go to the roof top pool and spa. I took myself on a date to the spa room and just enjoyed the water and view. Here are some photos of some iconic buildings in Brunswick Street Mall. On the Saturday, we went to Enigma, which is a night club. It holds an over 30s disco every few months from 3 - 8pm, playing 80s and 90s music. We had a blast. We wore our sparkles and danced the night away. The other regular site in FV is homeless people. My grandfather always advised me to give food to the homeless, never money. If that is right or wrong I don't know. I spoke to Jazz,...
Read more