The real problem for many today is not ADD; it is, rather, what Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente refers to as IDD: intimacy deficit disorder. This problem is even worse for men, who on average have fewer close friends. Studies indicate that the percentage of males who report having at least six close friends has been cut in half since the 1990s. There is, it would seem, a recession in male friendships. While there is no easy panacea for this problem, as with most things, one’s education can have a lasting impact on...

Lower School Head, Colin Gleason, addresses “bullying” in today’s podcast.  All across our fair land, schools feature “Say No to Bullying” posters in the same way that our public transit systems caution riders to “see something, say something.” Our children have grown up on high alert that there is a troubled class of individuals out there–BULLIES–that is out to get them.  That may be true in some sense, but Mr. Gleason pushes back on the idea that every instance of aggression or lack of charity is “bullying.” In this episode,...

Note from producer: This conversation was originally published on March 23, 2021, but has been updated and republished on June 13, 2024. As we look forward to the wide expanse of summer, one thing certainly on our minds is how we can support our sons’ friendships in the absence of school. Turns out, we needn’t look further than our own living rooms. In fact, welcoming our children’s friends into our homes may be the healthiest place for authentic, lifelong friendship to grow. In a timely rebroadcast from 2021, Assistant Headmaster...

Click here to watch a recording of the follow-up webinar for this episode. What is present in every Platonic dialogue, the subject of one of Cicero’s famous letters, and the kind of relationship Christ wished to have with his twelve apostles and with each of us? It is friendship. From facebook friends to philosophic treaties, 70’s songs to Tennyson poems, we hear about friendship in many different contexts. But what is authentic friendship? How do we foster it? How do we help our children grow in their friendships? And in...