Message from the Head of Secondary: Men Tal Health

June is International Men’s Mental Health Awareness month. I’m not entirely sure why, perhaps it is something to do with the fact that in many countries, June is also the month of Father’s Day. Whatever the reason, the middle of any busy year is as good a time as any to take a little time for the chaps in our life. Notoriously terrible at talking about our feelings, famously excellent at hiding our real thoughts, men are a complex breed who really do need your help.

Perhaps no other century in history witnessed such a dramatic change in gender roles than the 20th century and the rise of women and girls in the workplace, in the arts, in sports and every other walk of life is to be celebrated and admired, that rise also raised questions about the roles that men take up in our society. No one had heard of a ‘stay at home dad’ in 1900, had they? I myself was privileged enough to become one in 2011 – I was truly a 21st century boy.  

Boys in education often suffer a little by comparison to girls. Girls physical and emotional development tend to happen more quickly than boys and up to age 16 all across the globe, girls tend to outperform boys in national testing where they have had an equal opportunity to do well. Boys usually catch up by the time they pass 18 and head off to university but by then the parents of boys have often undergone several years of concern that their sons are not taking education seriously enough!  (They are, they are just finding their way…don’t worry, they’ll be fine in the end!)

Being a boy can be tricky at times. We sometimes get caught between the James Bond idea of a man and the modern-day demand for sensitivity and calm. The world around us is changing and even though for the most part we want to change with it, it can sometimes be tough to embrace a new idea about what being ‘a man’ means.  We shouldn’t complain. Internationally, by almost any measurable standard, men and boys still have things much easier than women and girls do and perhaps there will be another newsletter in the future to remind ourselves of the struggles that our girls face. But for this month, take a moment to check that the men in your life are ok.

Chris Lowe, Head of Secondary