Teens Meet Outreach

The 19th of November is tagged the International Men’s Day.

International Men’s Day is a day set aside to celebrate men who are making a difference, deal with challenges facing the masculine gender, ranging from the boy child to the elderly man. This year’s theme is “Making a difference for men and boys”

I hope that this post will teach every male out there that they can make enough difference.

What makes up a man/boy?

My teenage brother likes to remind me of his masculinity, which is a good thing, as he acknowledges that he is male. However, you are a boy/man because of how God has created you.

People give different reasons when they are asked what makes a boy but it is quite simple.

You are a boy because that is your gender. That was how you were created by God. The Bible says he made you in his own image, he made you a boy, and you should be grateful, but is that all?

Not at all, there are different sides to the male child that people never talk about:

• The boy and his health
• The boy and his emotions
• The boy and the society

The boy and his health

People expect a boy child to keep his pain silent as much as he can. That is not good enough. Several teenage boys still struggle to understand what wet dreams are.

You do know your body parts, and every part of it, has its functions? Likewise the way to care for them.

Learn to stay clean, take your bath two times daily. I know there are different schools of thought regarding how long a boy should wear his boxers. However, ensure you always wear a clean boxers.

Use deodorant and nice perfume. Get a body cream and hair cream. Stop looking rough and unkempt. You can also follow great and good men social media and learn from them.

Learn about puberty. Puberty is the stage in which a boy or girl becomes sexually matured, it between the age of 8-13years. This is also the time where wet dreams occurs in teenage boy.

The boy and his emotions

Should boys cry? Anybody can cry, we all have the glands responsible for crying in us.

Emotional intelligence for teenage boys

Emotional intelligence according to Wikipedia, “is the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve one’s goal”

Boys are already known to keep up good, stern look in the midst of struggles. The society expects them not to cry because, men don’t cry. They are expected to be silent when they are in pain, because they must be warriors.

Tweet

Dear teenage boy, speak up when you need to. Cry when you need to, do not bottle up your emotions because of the what the society thinks of you.

I think I will have to do a series on how boys can handle their emotions with the opposite sex, because most people do not talk about this. I like talking to my younger brother and I have learnt not to force him to tell me things. Rather, I have taught him to be able to tell me things without him feeling bad or less of himself. I also do not laugh at him for telling me something silly.

The boy and the society

There is always a struggle between doing what you feel like and what the society wants you to do. Some people think it is misplaced priority for a boy to study Nursing, same as becoming a Chef. The society tries to give you a picture of what you should be doing, however, you should learn to walk way if you don’t see yourself in the picture.

Toxic Masculinity

A lot of boys have been victims of toxic masculinity, even though they do not know it has a specific name. Toxic masculinity refers to the norm that the society expects from a boy/man. it is a belief system that does not in anyway expect expression of emotions from boys, because boys are not too be emotional.

Need I say this, God created us all to have emotions. That is why we are sad, happy, joyful, excited, worried, nostalgic on some days. That is how we were created, so do not allow anyone think it’s abnormal to express your emotions.

In addition to all that has been written above, this International Men’s Day is a day to encourage boys/men to speak up.

Call To Action

Pick up your phone and call or text 5 of your male friends wishing them a happy International Men’s Day.

Tell each of them how grateful you are to be their friend, ask them if they need help on any aspect of their lives.

Call your dad or text him wishing him a happy men’s day, and tell him he doesn’t need to worry himself or work himself out.

Repost this on your status and social media handle and tag @teensmeetonline. Just make sure you reach out to one today.