“The Way of Boys”, by Anthony Rao

Rao, Anthony, and Michelle D. Seaton. The Way of Boys: Raising Healthy Boys in a Challenging and Complex World. New York: William Morrow, 2009. Print.

In this non-fiction book, Rao seeks to explain the roots of why boys behave they do, and convince people that what people think of as “good” behaviour is unusual in boys, but not pathological.  He is concerned about the rise of diagnosis of ADHD and learning disabilities, and the labeling of many boys as having “problems” that end up being “corrected” with medication, classroom withdrawal, or severe behaviour modification training.

This resonated with me, having raised one particularly “active” boy to the current age of thirteen, and also having a foster child in our care who is a rambunctious eleven-year-old boy.  (It’s no coincidence that I started reading parenting books again as we started fostering!).  Although Rao doesn’t address the issue of kids in care directly, it’s all too easy to see how a child could be labeled as developmentally delayed, when they are just reacting to the stress of their situation.  It’s great that extra supports and testing are available for these kids, but it’s also great for me to have Rao’s methods in my toolbox.

The only drawback for me is that this book is mostly talking about kids that are younger than mine; although later in the book it got more useful.

Highly recommended, especially for parents of boys in the 2-10 age range.