Dialogue on Healthy Masculinity
On December 6, we commemorated National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women — also known as White Ribbon Day — through guided discussions in our Middle and Upper School Mentor Groups. We spoke about the importance of this day and what it means to wear a white ribbon and take the pledge to never commit, condone or stay silent about gender-based violence. As an Upper School Mentor, these conversations confirmed the importance of teaching our students our four core values and the Crescent mission. They also reminded me why boys’ schools are so important.
I was fortunate enough to visit several Mentor Groups throughout the week and was struck by the openness and vulnerability shown by our students. Before joining Crescent, I spent over twenty years teaching in co-educational schools where it was rare to see boys so readily display these qualities. It is difficult to address concepts such as toxic masculinity and gender inequality, and easy for boys to become defensive or feel the need to apologize for being male. Our students, however, rarely default to what is easy. Instead, they spoke openly about the social construction of gender, the importance of having a support network during challenging times, and about what healthy masculinity looks like. In short, they spoke about what it means to be a good person.
The groups addressed the staggering statistics regarding gender-based violence in Canada, troubling events that have recently occurred on university campuses, and the role social media plays in communicating what it means to be a man. These are important lessons in which to engage our students on occasions such as White Ribbon Day. But our greater challenge lies in helping them make sense of their role in promoting an image of healthy masculinity by supporting each other, expressing themselves authentically, and asking for help when needed. On December 6, our students demonstrated how far down this road they have already travelled and their desire to be positive changemakers in the world as young men of character.
