Swagger - 10 Urgent Rules for Raising Boys in an Age of Failing Schools, Mass Joblessness, and Thug Culture

“At this very moment, through no fault of their own, our boys are caught in the vortex of four powerful, insidious, often invisible forces which conspire to rob them of their future.” -- From the introduction. We medicate, discipline, suspend and expel our boys from school at quadruple the rate of girls. We let double the number of boys drop out of high school than girls, and of those boys who do graduate, they are far more likely than their sisters to be illiterate, to fail to go to college, or to drop out of college if they do go. SWAGGER is a wakeup call for parents about the real world our boys inhabit right now, but it offers solutions as well. From how to teach your boy humility (the swagger anti-venom), to “making your home a reading mecca,” creating an expectation of college graduation, and how to teach your boy to be critical of the media onslaught in his life, this book is also packed with research-proven, parent-tested, teacher-approved practical solutions, delivered in the author’s trademark no-nonsense, often humorous, take-charge voice. --Why is your son struggling in school? -- Why can’t teenage boys find jobs? -- How does our media get away with messages that being a man means being a thug? -- Why are our prisons overflowing with young men? -- And most importantly: how can we protect our boys, and give them the bright future they deserve? New York Times bestselling author, attorney, and mother Lisa Bloom answers these questions in her passionate, no-nonsense style. Swagger is a wake-up call for parents -- and anyone who cares about boys – going in depth to reveal the forces aligned against our sons, then offering ten practical, inexpensive, proven solutions for raising healthy sons, starting today. Praise for Swagger: "A comprehensive and engaging piece of work. A must-read for today's parents." --Dr. Drew Pinsky “Swagger is essential guidance for any parent of boys. It’s brutally honest, meticulously researched, and boldly impassioned. It reveals a truth that is hiding in plain sight all around us, calling for our wisdom and commitment and love. I couldn’t put it down.”—Marianne Williamson, New York Times bestselling author of A Return to Love "As girls surpass boys in schools and universities around the country, this book could not come at a better time. Lisa has long been a great attorney and with SWAGGER she is now a passionate advocate for our boys."--Dan Abrams, ABC News Legal Analyst and author of MAN DOWN “Lisa Bloom always gives it to us straight. Swagger shows parents exactly how to keep their sons on the right track when the world our boys now inhabit so often lures them in the wrong direction. Packed with smart parenting tips that you can start using today, Swagger is both a passionate wake up call and a very useful handbook.”—DR. PHIL, television host and New York Times bestselling author Praise for Think: Top Ten Finalist, Best Nonfiction Book of 2011, Goodreads.com “Provocative, logical, funny, and relentlessly on-topic” --ELLE Magazine “Brilliantly and entertainingly argued. . . . Buy this book. You'll be entertained and educated.”--Susan Braudy, Huffington Post “Think reads like a conversation with that best friend we all need. Funny, wise, opinionated (did I say opinionated?), Lisa Bloom covers everything from Angelina Jolie to precut veggies in this how-to, what-for, this-matters guide to a meaningful and honorable life.” --Jeffrey Toobin, New York Times bestselling author, Legal Analyst for CNN and The New Yorker “A wake-up call for women who have succumbed to a culture of mediocrity.” --Kirkus Reviews