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,...

Watch the follow-up webinar below for an additional discussion with Mr. Tom Royals about the topics from this episode. Mr. Tom Royals, Assistant Headmaster of The Heights, offers his thoughts on the importance of hosting our sons and their friends at home.  Rather than being a place to be avoided, the home should be a social hub and a place of gathering for our boys.  This takes work and investment, but the effort is worth the while when friendships flourish and our sons develop relationships informed by the culture of...

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...