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Essay
Looking for a Few Good Men
by Alvaro de VicenteLooking for a Few Good Men
Boys in America are falling behind—in school, work, and life. Explore why young men are struggling, what healthy masculinity really means, and how educators can help boys grow into strong, virtuous men.
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Essay
What Is Freedom?
by Alvaro de VicenteWhat Is Freedom?
Freedom is foundational to the education and formation of young men, but society’s understanding of that word can be unclear. In his latest article, Alvaro de Vicente delves into the term freedom as it relates to forming truly free men: those who can self-move and self-determine for a wholehearted purpose.
3
Article
Hopeful Parents, Hopeful Sons
by Alvaro de VicenteHopeful Parents, Hopeful Sons
The following essay first appeared as an article in Alvaro de Vicente’s Substack publication, Men in the Making. For more articles like this one, you can visit his page here. Subscribe to stay up-to-date on his writing. Over a century ago, the great Catholic writer and philosopher G.K. Chesterton wrote about the distinction between the supernatural virtue of hope and the disposition popularly referred to as “optimism.” On the eve of his reception into the Catholic Church, Chesterton was struck by the Penny Catechism’s teaching that the two sins against hope are presumption...
4
Podcast
The Man Fully Alive
featuring Alvaro de VicenteThe Man Fully Alive
This week on HeightsCast, we feature a recording of the 2022 Headmaster’s Lecture on the man fully alive. In this lecture, Mr. Alvaro de Vicente helps us understand what we mean when we use St. Irenaeus’ oft-quoted though seldom understood words that gloria Dei est vivens homo: the glory of God is living man. Mr. de Vicente shares his thoughts on the destination and the road ahead, suggesting that to live fully on earth we must understand that the fullness of life is found only in heaven. And if we are to...
5
Podcast
Dangerously Good
featuring Alvaro de VicenteDangerously Good
Where to begin with the lofty, almost nebulous virtue of magnanimity—what St. Thomas Aquinas called “stretching forth of the soul to great things”? Of course we want to raise great-souled children, who even outstrip us in their vision of the good and their commitment to serving it. But words alone will fail to impart such a personal and complex mission. At last April’s Fatherhood Conference at The Heights, Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente tackled the challenge of how to teach magnanimity to our children. Following Fr. Carter Griffin’s keynote address, Mr....
6
Essay
Increasing Your "Boy Tolerance"
by Alvaro de VicenteIncreasing Your "Boy Tolerance"
As a culture, we have a decreasing tolerance for boyhood itself. In his latest post, Alvaro de Vicente reframes boyish energy as the raw material of virtue, not to be stifled at every occasion. As parents and educators, we must elevate our “boy tolerance” if we are to raise dangerously good men.
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Podcast
Forming Wise Risk Takers
featuring Alvaro de VicenteForming Wise Risk Takers
Why all the tree climbing, virtue talk, and fancy old books? It’s all part of our grand conspiracy to form wise, courageous, risk-takers. Hear our Headmaster, Mr. Alvaro de Vicente, discuss how The Heights goes about teaching boys to manage risk in a virtuous, intelligent manner. The process isn’t mud-free, and we can guarantee mistakes–your sons’ and our own. But the end result, with prayers and God’s grace, is a “man fully alive,” who understands that living isn’t the sole purpose of life.
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Podcast
Forming Faithful Men
featuring Alvaro de VicenteForming Faithful Men
As a community of believing parents and teachers, passing the Faith on to our sons is mission essential. Heights Headmaster, Alvaro de Vicente, discusses how parents and teachers can model, explain, facilitate, and support the faith of our fathers in the next generation. Below is a recording of the live Q&A webinar that took place on March 20, 2019.
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Article
Why Boys Need Freedom
by Andrew ReedWhy Boys Need Freedom
Unless a boy is free to make some decisions on his own, he will not be as capable of making good decisions as a young man. Boys need to be given freedom so that they have the chance to "opt-in" to all that is good in the world.
10
Essay
Self-Mastery
by Alvaro de VicenteSelf-Mastery
The following essay first appeared as an article in Alvaro de Vicente’s Substack publication, Men in the Making. For more articles like this one, you can visit his page here. Subscribe to stay up-to-date on his writing. Parents and teachers often limit the goal of education to transferring information about the world and training in skills to prosper within it. Certainly, these are important parts of a complete education, but they are not the whole. A more complete understanding of a boys’ school’s mission involves the formation of the whole...
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Article
Why Boys Need Fewer Rules and More Rites of Passage
by Alvaro de VicenteWhy Boys Need Fewer Rules and More Rites of Passage
The objective of real education is not the rule, but the man who no longer needs it. Rites of passage, especially, can help signal to the young man that he is ready to take on more self-governance.
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Essay
Failure Is a Great Tutor—Don’t Fire Him
by Alvaro de VicenteFailure Is a Great Tutor—Don’t Fire Him
Failure is a great tutor. You needn’t hire him; he will come. In this latest article, Alvaro de Vicente explains why you should step back and let failure teach.
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Essay
Helping Boys Overcome Laziness
by Alvaro de VicenteHelping Boys Overcome Laziness
The following essay first appeared as an article in Alvaro de Vicente’s Substack publication, Men in the Making. For more articles like this one, you can visit his page here. Subscribe to the publication to stay up-to-date on Alvaro’s writing. Jean-Jacques Rousseau begins his famous 1762 work of political philosophy, The Social Contract, with the observation that “man is born free but everywhere is in chains.” The problem with Rousseau’s poetic observation is that it is false. Perhaps if the Geneva-born thinker had not abandoned his five children, he would...
14
Essay
Guiding an Obstinate Boy without Crushing His Spirit
by Alvaro de VicenteGuiding an Obstinate Boy without Crushing His Spirit
As a natural course, the teenage boy seeks autonomy—but he doesn’t always have the prudence to pursue his goals well. This can lead to obstinacy, a challenge that stiffly resists parental advice. In his latest article, Alvaro de Vicente helps parents to guide their son’s obstinacy while being mindful of his growing need for independence.
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Essay
The Truth Shall Set You Free: Boys and Insincerity
by Alvaro de VicenteThe Truth Shall Set You Free: Boys and Insincerity
Sincerity is crucial for moral growth. Here, Alvaro de Vicente concludes his series on personal challenges to a boy’s true freedom with a look at insincerity: its roots, its results, and how to encourage a boy to the truth.
16
Essay
Forming Generous Men
by Alvaro de VicenteForming Generous Men
Age is a question of time; maturity is a question of responsibility. A boy is mature to the extent that he is and feels responsible not merely for himself but for many others.
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Essay
Having Better Mentoring Conversations
by Alvaro de VicenteHaving Better Mentoring Conversations
Conversation, though natural to us, is not something we naturally think to work on. Here are ideas to help you grow as a parent or mentor.
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Podcast
Loyalty in an Culture of Sentimentalism
featuring Alvaro de VicenteLoyalty in an Culture of Sentimentalism
The sentimentalism of our greater culture is a formidable—yet surmountable—challenge to young men. Our sons are relentlessly encouraged to follow their affections and feelings wherever they might lead, whatever their commitments. How can we, as parents and teachers, help our boys to become men who love the world without being pulled off course by the sentiments and affections that are a natural aspect of our God-given humanity? As part of our parent lecture series at The Heights School, Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente offers his insights to navigating the cultural challenge...
19
Essay
What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Male Brain
by Dr. Joseph LanzilottiWhat Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Male Brain
The Male Brain: A Breakthrough Understanding of How Men and Boys Think is a book published in 2010 by Louann Brizendine, MD, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of California – San Francisco and the founder of the Women’s and Teen Girls’ Mood and Hormone Clinic. A counterpart to her first major work, The Female Brain, The Male Brain explains how hormones influence the brains of boys and men during different stages of life and how neurological and hormonal changes shape and influence the tendencies of boys’ actions, feelings, thoughts, and...
20
Essay
Saving the Difference: A Review of Michael Reichert's "How to Raise Boys: The Power of Connection to Build Good Men"
by Dr. Joseph LanzilottiSaving the Difference: A Review of Michael Reichert's "How to Raise Boys: The Power of Connection to Build Good Men"
In the book How to Raise Boys: The Power of Connection to Build Good Men, Michael Reichert provides advice and testimonials aimed at helping parents and educators raise thriving boys. Reichert’s book is a response to a legitimately recognized crisis involving boys who, he notes, are five times more likely to be diagnosed with a psychological disorder than are girls.[1] Many of the challenges that maturing boys face Reichert attributes to the loss of close and meaningful relationships with those who ought to be offering care. He recognizes that “too...
21
Essay
Why You Should Become Your Son's Drinking Coach
by Alvaro de VicenteWhy You Should Become Your Son's Drinking Coach
The following essay first appeared as an article in Alvaro de Vicente’s Substack publication, Men in the Making. For more articles like this one, you can visit his page here. Subscribe to stay up-to-date on his writing. It is a fact that in our society high school students live in a culture of drinking. Not all teenagers drink, and many of them handle this culture impressively well. But they are all exposed to it, so parents ought not to ignore it. Whether you have a teenage son already or your sons are younger,...