Free Republic

Clip #4887

Drudge Headline Gives one pause. STUDY: Smoking marijuana causes early puberty, stunts growth... Boys 'four inches shorter'... That's a lot to give up for a bud or blunt. Good headline for dads to show their teen age boys. From the Telegraph: "Boys who smoke cannabis 'are four inches shorter'"

Fathers and Daughters – Is This a Missing Key to Modesty Today? By: Msgr. Charles PopeWe often speak today of the terrible toll that fatherless homes have on young boys. And this is true. Without a reasonably good (even though not sinless) model of manhood and responsibility, many boys lose their way. Fathers also play a large role in disciplining boys, especially as they grow older and become  stronger than their mothers.But missing fathers also bring forth terrible effects on many girls. Women, even young girls, certainly do seek and desire the love and appreciation of men and have...

Matrimony or Bust – Another Glimpse at the Why and How of Traditional Marriage’s Demise By: Msgr. Charles PopeAll the way back in 1973, George Guilder published a book called Men and Marriage. He expanded and republished it in 1986. In his book, Guilder argued that our culture was marginalizing men, to its great peril. He articulated the critical role that marriage has in helping men focus their sexual energies in a creative and beneficial way. Women have their nurturing role rather clearly defined in the very design of their bodies. But men’s role in the raising of children and in society...

At least one Girl Scout Troop in Salt Lake City is now accepting boys. The troop meets every Monday at the Utah Pride Center and is open to boys who identify as girls. Their first meeting yesterday included five girls between the ages of six and ten, but no boys yet. Shiela Raboy with the Pride Center says she’s proud to host the first Girl Scout Troop in Utah that welcomes anyone grappling with gender identity.

Tere's a growing movement to make girls' toys less girly. Petitions have been signed and complaints lodged — sometimes even by those as young as 5 — about why girls deserve more than princesses and pink. And toy companies are beginning to listen, offering educational or scientific toys marketed to girls. The latest: a new LEGO collection of female scientist figures. That's great news! But here's the thing: Boys deserve more variety too.

Our Catholic friends won’t like this revelation but facts are facts. Patrick (original name was Sucat) was born in Scotland about 375 AD and lived about 85 years dying in 460. As a teen he was captured by marauding raiders and taken to Ireland where he was sold to Milcho, a Druid chieftain and held in slavery for six years. Patrick said that he was hungry and naked during that time. He eventually walked 200 miles to the Irish coast to escape and to find his way back to Scotland. It is my desire to dispel the myths, delusions, superstitions...

Re-entry after winter break has not been easy for him. The rules and restrictions of school — Sit Still. Be Quiet. Do What You Are Told, Nothing More, Nothing Less. — have been grating on him, and it shows. His teacher recently emailed me; she’d noticed a change in his behavior (more belligerent, less likely to cooperate) and wanted to know if there was anything going on at home. My guess, I said, was that he was upset about having to be back in school after break. I was right. The lack of movement and rigid restrictions associated with modern...

Athletes in Minnesota’s public schools who say they identify as the sex opposite their biological sex have won the right to shower with athletes of the opposite sex, as well as share locker rooms and hotel rooms. On Thursday, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) approved criteria that will create eligibility standards for schools to let transgendered students on single-sex sports teams. Students would be allowed to be on a team of the opposite gender if parents or guardians, as well as a health care professional, sign written statements affirming a student's “consistent or sincerely held gender-related identity.” A...

The inmates are running the asylum in Indy. Until recently, I had not heard of the National Federation of State High School Associations, or NFHS. This Indianapolis-based organization has, since 1920, developed and published playing rules for high-school sports in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Like so many other national organizations charged with establishing curricula, policies and practices for primary and secondary education (consider the NEA), the NFHS has become completely overrun by radical leftists and sexual extremists. It has placed political correctness and the adult “LGBT” political agenda above the welfare and safety of the boys...

A post Satan did not want published? But Here it is anyway: In These Dark Days, the Church Needs Her Men to be Men By: Msgr. Charles PopeThis is a post that Satan apparently did not like. When I posted it last Thursday, the Server of the Archdiocese (literally) burnt up within an hour or two of posting. And while things are slowly coming back online, the post you are about to read could not be found in the archive file, anywhere. Thanks be to God some intrepid readers (at dclatinmass.com) had saved the post which I had not had...

A weary wrestling coach once lamented that his sport had survived the Fall of Rome, only to be vanquished by Title IX. How did an honorable equity law turn into a scorched-earth campaign against men’s sports? This week is the 42nd anniversary of this famous piece of federal legislation so it’s an ideal time to consider what went wrong and how to set it right. MORE Historically Black Colleges Are Becoming More White Report: California Colleges Must Do More to Combat Sexual Violence Friday's Top 6 News Stories NBC News What Happened When One Woman Had Her Picture Photoshopped In...

I probably would have missed this story were it not for Maggie Gallagher at The Corner. It seems that the good people on the appeal board considering a case at Atherton High School (part of the Jefferson County public school system) have determined that you can use the girls’ bathrooms, locker room and showers if you say you’re a girl. No physical required. A transgender teenager, who was born male but identifies as a female, can continue to use a women’s restroom and locker room at a Jefferson County Public School. In a 5-to-1 vote, an appeal board upheld...

The other day I told my five year old boy a secret.  I told him it would keep him safe and help him the rest of his life.  He sidled up to me and put his ear to my face.  I whispered “never, ever, ever, ever, hit a girl.”  I made him repeat it.  I made him memorize it.  Later I asked him “what’s the secret” and he echoed back “never, ever, ever, ever, hit a girl.” There’s a girl in my son’s class, and I think she likes him.  At five, it’s hard to tell, but when a girl...

About twenty years ago, I began seeing a return of the skateboard. Suddenly, the kids of today were using a hobby tool I had grown up seeing during the 1960s. I know how particular the kids of today are, how jaded they are about having access to the latest in movies, music and sporting events. They usually expect these to be made available free of charge or at a low cost. I was surprised that such a simple, low tech item would be acceptable, let alone popular. This latest wave of skateboard popularity has gone on for years, long enough...

Just to recall a basic fact: Intercourse/PIV is always rape, plain and simple. This is a developed recap from what I’ve been saying in various comments here and there in the last two years or so. as a radfem I’ve always said PIV is rape and I remember being disappointed to discover that so few radical feminists stated it clearly. How can you possibly see it otherwise? Intercourse is the very means through which men oppress us, from which we are not allowed to escape, yet some instances of or PIV and intercourse may be chosen and free? That makes...

One thing that you can say for ISIS, the Middle-East terrorist army, is that it doesn’t have a recruitment problem. Young men are streaming to Syria and Iraq from all over the world to join the cause. And they come not just from the Muslim world, but also from England, France, Sweden, Australia, and the U.S.Perhaps hoping to put a dent in the appeal of ISIS, some Western newspapers have made much of the expensive stolen watch visible on the wrist of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during his first public appearance at the Grand Mosque in Mosul. According to...

<p>Lets start with the "boys don't tip" part, since Sapp wrote it in giant letters across the check.</p> <p>The waitress' explanation?</p> <p>"We were busy. I walked over to his table. It was him and one other guy and I said, 'Hey boys, what I can I get you to drink?' And he was like 'We're not boys. I'm a man,'" the waitress said. "I mean, saying 'Hey men, what do you want to drink?' sounds kind of weird, I think. I go with 'boys' a lot. It sounds more youthful."</p>

Lego has apparently heard the criticism that its plastic universe is mostly a boys' club, and things will change this summer. A new line of figurines due out in August will feature a female chemist, paleontologist, and astronomer, reports Time. The set was suggested by a female geochemist in Sweden as part of the Lego Ideas platform in which regular folks get to suggest ideas that get put up for a vote. One thing the Guardian likes: The coming set looks "notably devoid of pink." It's about time, writes Abby Phillip at the Washington Post.

What ever happened to letting "boys be boys?" Take these two cases: In one, a seven-year-old boy was sent home for nibbling a Pop Tart into a gun. In another, a teacher was so alarmed by a picture drawn by a student (of a sword fight), that the boy's parents were summoned in for a conference. In short, boys in America's schools are routinely punished for being active, competitive, and restless. In other words, boys can no longer be boys. Christina Hoff Sommers, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, explains how we can change this.