Trail Life USA Blog

Masculinity

Alan Beck Feb 24, 2021

What is a Boy?

Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood we find a delightful creature called a boy. Boys come in assorted sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same creed: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to protest with noise (their only weapon)…

Stephen Ashton Feb 22, 2021

Mentoring, Let Boys be Boys, Masculinity

Letting Boys be Boys in a “Toxic” Culture

No matter what our culture says, boys and girls are different. Discussions about “toxic masculinity,” a blurring of gender lines, fewer and fewer fathers in the home, and the watering down or extinction of programs that train and equip boys to become men have left too many boys frustrated, fearful,…

Nancy Flory Feb 20, 2021

In The News, Masculinity

Trail Life USA: Raising Boys to be Men in an Age of Equality

"Boys and girls aren’t the same, and boys need their own space." -Mark Hancock, Trail Life USA, CEO Boys and girls cannot be expected to perform the same because they are different in many ways. A “one size fits all” approach to educating kids doesn’t work. “We need take into account that … boys…

Stephen Ashton Jan 10, 2021

Mentoring, Masculinity, History

Theodore Roosevelt: Character and Success

Bodily vigor is good, and vigor of intellect is even better, but far above both is character. In the long run, in the great battle of life, no brilliancy of intellect, no perfection of bodily development, will count when weighed in the balance against that assemblage of virtues, active and passive,…

Steve Meyer and 1 more Jul 19, 2020

Mentoring, Troop Adventures, Masculinity

Mettle on the Mountain: A Story of Courage and Providence

"Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." - Romans 5:3-4 The weather on the mountain was brutal. The windchill was at four degrees below zero. Forty mile per hour winds hurled snow and ice pellets straight down the mountain. Whiteout conditions had set in. One…

Stephen Ashton Jul 08, 2020

Masculinity, History

The Power of Christian Young Men

A 1914 Address to the Christian Men's Association "When I think of an association of Christian young men I wonder that it has not already turned the world upside down. I wonder, not that it has done so much, for it has done a great deal, but that it has done so little; and I can only conjecture…

Stephen Ashton Mar 30, 2020

Mentoring, Parenting, Let Boys be Boys, Masculinity

3 Keys to Growing Confident Men of Character

1. Cultivate Relationships Boys need dads who remember the world of backyard matchbox cars. Who can recall the time when dirt roads were carved from mulch beds, rocks became doughnut shops, cars drove to the tops of trees, and perils awaited in the grass jungles.

Glenn T. Stanton Feb 26, 2020

Parenting, Masculinity, Raising Godly Boys

The Making of a Man

Manhood is in crisis today. The increasingly accurate term “perpetual adolescence” is not a reference to girls failing to grow up. We intuitively know it refers to 20- and 30-something men. Men are falling behind women in college enrollment and graduation; they’re increasingly unemployed; and…

Staff Feb 14, 2020

Leadership, Masculinity, History

Qualities of a Leader: George Washington's Rules of Civility

Happy President's Day from Trail Life! Today we celebrate the men who have lead our country and honor our first president—Statesman, Military General, and Founding Father of the United States of America.