Parents of teenage boys – what’s the biggest problem these days?
The Dumb Boy Stuff List
- Cussing to look cool?
- Being mean to each other?
- Backtalk and disrespect to teachers or parents?
- Video game or phone addiction?
- Stealing petty stuff?
- White lies?
- Arrogance and entitlement?
- Driving like idiots?
- Girlfriend obsessed?
- Drinking underage?
- Smoking?
- Drugs?
- Pornography?
What’s the biggest challenge these days?
I’m curious because one of my sons is entering this phase. I know what the challenges were when I was that age. Seems like from 5th grade to freshman year, boys just “do dumb boy stuff” as my friend says. Some boys snap out of it, while others just keep “doing dumber boy stuff” all through high school and college. Some keep going even into adulthood.
My Teenage Boy Era
As a teenage boy back in the day, I can vouch for how dumb my friends and I were. We made tons of dumb decisions: One of our friends would dress up in a gorilla costume and we’d go into Kroger or Walmart and try to eat bananas in store. We’d pull up to a gas station, open the trunk, and have him jump out and run. We’d chase him around, yelling like banshees, throw him back in the car, and speed off. We’d stay up until 3 or 4am playing video games, making obnoxious songs, eating all the junk food.
We thought we were absolutely hilarious. Maybe 20% of the time we were; but the other 80% would have just been obnoxious idiocy.
We were considered the “good kids” and we probably hit 75% of the list above.
Now as my daughters are in middle school and high school, I’m seeing the boys in their classes excel in stupidity. A couple of them seem to be good humans. But they still aren’t immune to that list of “dumb boy stuff.”
It’s a weird phenomenon. It’s almost like in order to enter middle school, there’s a brain cell tax and they have to lose half of them to enter. Pre-teen and teen years are messy for both girls and boys. But it seems the brain cell tax is worse for boys.
Proverbs 3
I think it’s been this way for centuries. And that’s why Proverbs 3 is so pertinent and so needed, generation after generation.
Proverbs 3 has this refrain of “my son.”
It’s an older man, a dad specifically, writing these words for his son. It’s advice to the next generation.
The first couple verses reinforce the point that listening to these Proverbs and actually following them will prolong your life and bring peace and prosperity.
There are reminders to not forget this stuff. Reminders that these will help you win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
There’s the famous verse, 3:5-6. So good.
And it just keeps on. All of chapter 3 is amazing, really.
In the words of my Twitter friends, this would be a banger thread!
Go give it a read. See what you learn.
Omer Redden 