Don’t Forget Your Boys Need Protection Too
My Son Lee - Practing Seigan (Age 2)
In light of the recent tragedies involving two young girls in our area, our inquiries about our martial arts and womens’ safety programs have been way up. Normally it takes my wife and I a good two months to get enough women to participate in one of our bi-annual womens’ safety classes. But, the last few months have seen the phone ringing quite a bit with concerns for women’s and girls’ safety.
As you can imagine, most of the calls are parents worried about their daughters. That’s not a bad thing but today I want to remind people not to forget their boys. There isn’t nearly the attention given to boys who go missing as girls. Boys can get hurt in this world too and all too often this can be over looked.
Boys who experience abuse many times to find a way to deal with it on their own, an inherited stigma of machismo. Sadly, all too often this only leads them to becoming abusers themselves or to harming themselves. It is a good thing to have our boys look out for others and to teach and encourage this. But, they are not men yet and they need to be protected and looked after too, just as girls do.
Let’s remember to love our sons, protect them, encourage them and help them learn to do the same when they are men. I know for me personally, my son always makes me think of working as hard as possible to be a better man and a better dad. I need to be the best role model for him I can be. What are you doing in your life to be a good role model?
I look forward to your comments.
Tony Whetstine (The Bushido Guy)
Poway Samurai Martial Arts
