Boys’ Prep helping to raise a Good Man

While our society often presents unhealthy male role models and celebrates “bad boys,” our Methodist faith reminds us, God’s goal for your son remains the same as it is for every boy He has made: growing up to become a person who reflects God’s own good character.

From the foundation of our faith, boys’ prep remains committed towards instilling values into each boy based on our ‘Five Stones -: The Lords’ Prayer, Psalm 23, Prayer of St Francis, Be Thou my vision (College Hymn) and the Saints Honour Prayer.

The best time to lay the foundation of moral goodness in your son’s life is during the tween years, when he is between the ages of 8 and 12. Here’s what we believe we do to help our boys grow from a good boy to a great saint and ultimately mature into a good man:

Focus more on God’s promises than the world’s threats. Although the world threatens to influence our boys, God promises to help your son become a leader. God promises to shape your son into a gentleman who honours and values women. Although the world threatens to distract our boys through things that don’t have eternal value, God promises to show your son His purposes for his life and empower him to fulfill those purposes.

We continue to encourage parents to connect with your son by spending lots of time together. Your son will be motivated to listen to your moral guidance if you develop a strong bond with him by intentionally spending time together talking and doing fun activities that he enjoys. Boys need quality time and importantly need their parents to spend lots of quantity time with them to experience good-quality relationships.

The staff seek opportunities for good conversations that happen during the formal teaching time or during sports, cultural activities, corridor discussions, camps and outings. We aim to understand each individual boy so as to get to know his unique qualities, strengths, and weaknesses so we can communicate God’s values and our prep values to him in the ways that he will respond to best.

Being boys, it’s natural that each boy in his own development needs to take risks toward a positive goal. The staff are acutely aware that it’s normal for boys to experience feelings of aggression, excitement, impulsivity and risk-taking urges. But rather than allow boys to express those tendencies in negative ways, we encourage boys to direct those tendencies toward discovering and fulfilling his life’s mission.

We are aware that leading and teaching by example is extremely powerful; male staff endeavour to “walk the talk” and help the boys learn through relationships with men how to passionately fulfill God’s purposes and to live out our Five Stones.

Self-regulation and reflection are crucial parts of developing the self-control to make good moral choices. We encourage parents to free up time in your son’s schedule just to play outside with some friends, this gives him the opportunities he needs to learn how to interact with others, regulate himself, and make wise decisions about what to do and what not to do. The outdoors adds to the spirit of adventure and to his health.

Limit your son’s screen time, encourage your son to develop a regular habit of reading. The more your son reads, the more likely he becomes to grow up to become a leader. Guide your sons reading especially books that blur the lines between good and evil and those that focus mostly on gross humour. Expose your son to books and articles that inspire and challenge him to grow as a person.