Mothers and sons: feminist maternal practice with boys

Through in-depth interviews with feminist mothers the research explores women’s experiences of raising sons. Analysis identifies that feminist mothers make a clear distinction between the boy and the discourse about the boy. Their maternal practice contests and shifts the dominant narrative enabling the foundation for the mother and son relationship to write a new script.

Anxiety, depression, impulsivity and substance misuse in violent and non-violent adolescent boys in detention in China

The present investigation aims to identify the factors which differentiate violent from non-violent juvenile offenders, with a particular emphasis on the association between internalizing psychiatric morbidity (i.e. anxiety and depression), impulsivity, substance misuse, and violence. A total of 323 incarcerated male juvenile offenders from one of three Youth Detention Centers (YDCs) in China were recruited between August 2007 and November 2008. Interviews were conducted by trained psychiatrists using the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11), the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), and the Birleson Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS) to assess impulsivity, anxiety and depression, respectively. The Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children Present and Lifetime (K-SADS-PL) was also used to assess psychiatric diagnoses. Violent offenders had significantly higher BIS-11 total scores, and attention and nonplanning subscale scores (p<0.05). In the multiple logistic regression model, substance use disorders (SUD) and BIS-11 total scores independently predicted violence. Prison-based treatment services designed to reduce impulsivity and substance misuse in juvenile detention facilities should be prioritized.

Pedagogical practices of female physical educators in an all-boys��� school

 This study explores the ways in which two female teachers in an all-boys' school negotiate their approaches to physical education pedagogy. Findings reveal that dominant gendered constructions underpin much of the school’s culture and as such, are heavily implicated in notions of effective PE pedagogy and practice in this school.

"Games are fun and aren't just for boys": an assessment of female game players use and playing habits of video games

Video games have asserted themselves as a prevalent part of society; however video games are still often seen as 'boys toys'. However, popular culture is becoming accepting that video games are played by females, with 'all female' video games teams such as the 'Frag Dolls' winning many international competitions [4]. The gender issue in video games is not a new topic, with texts such as 'From Barbie to Mortal Combat' edited by Cassell and Jenkins being publishing in 1998. However, the question of 'do females actually play video games' is still apparent, and with the rapid changes in technological development in gaming (with the introduction of consoles such as the Nintendo Wii) the subject of females game playing habits is in need of constant dialogue. This paper explores the results from a survey of 33 Australian females who play video games and looks at the game playing habits and choices made when they play video games. In addition, this study will attempt to address what components of video games make females want to play. It is hoped that the results can enlighten our knowledge of why females play video games, and hopefully assert the need for video games as an important pastime for females and not just 'for the boys'.

Preteen boys, body image, and eating disorders

In recent years, academic and public attention has increasingly focused on the issue of men’s preoccupation with body image and the increasing incidence of eating disorders among men. Although most of this focus has been on young and adult males, media discourse has tended to extend explanations for men’s aspirations for social body ideals to explanations for eating disorders in young boys. In this article, we take a critical look at the way the boys/body image/eating disorder nexus has been represented in some of the mainstream media. In particular, we propose that the boys/body image/eating disorder nexus has been constituted as a truth that tends to underplay the complexity of the relationship between eating disorders and boys&rsquo; dissatisfaction with their bodies, as recognized by researchers and health practitioners, and as evident from our own study of preteen boys diagnosed with an eating disorder. In this article, we use interviews with the six boys and their mothers collected for our study to construct short family biographies. These

Effects of habitual physical activity and fitness on tibial cortical bone mass structure and mass distribution in pre-pubertal boys and girl: the look study

Targeted weight-bearing activities during the pre-pubertal years can improve cortical bone mass, structure and distribution, but less is known about the influence of habitual physical activity (PA) and fitness. This study examined the effects of contrasting habitual PA and fitness levels on cortical bone density, geometry and mass distribution in pre-pubertal children. Boys (n = 241) and girls (n = 245) aged 7–9 years had a pQCT scan to measure tibial mid-shaft total, cortical and medullary area, cortical thickness, density, polar strength strain index (SSIpolar) and the mass/density distribution through the bone cortex (radial distribution divided into endo-, mid- and pericortical regions) and around the centre of mass (polar distribution). Four contrasting PA and fitness groups (inactive–unfit, inactive–fit, active–unfit, active–fit) were generated based on daily step counts (pedometer, 7-days) and fitness levels (20-m shuttle test and vertical jump) for boys and girls separately. Active-fit boys had 7.3–7.7 % greater cortical area and thickness compared to inactive–unfit boys (P < 0.05), which was largely due to a 6.4–7.8 % (P < 0.05) greater cortical mass in the posterior–lateral, medial and posterior–medial 66 % tibial regions. Cortical area was not significantly different across PA-fitness categories in girls, but active-fit girls had 6.1 % (P < 0.05) greater SSIpolar compared to inactive–fit girls, which was likely due to their 6.7 % (P < 0.05) greater total bone area. There was also a small region-specific cortical mass benefit in the posterior–medial 66 % tibia cortex in active-fit girls. Higher levels of habitual PA-fitness were associated with small regional-specific gains in 66 % tibial cortical bone mass in pre-pubertal children, particularly boys.

Assessing the sustained impact of a school-based obesity prevention program for adolescent boys: the ATLAS cluster randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Obesity prevention interventions targeting 'at-risk' adolescents are urgently needed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the sustained impact of the 'Active Teen Leaders Avoiding Screen-time' (ATLAS) obesity prevention program.

METHODS: Cluster RCT in 14 secondary schools in low-income communities of New South Wales, Australia. Participants were 361 adolescent boys (aged 12-14 years) 'at risk' of obesity. The intervention was based on Self-Determination Theory and Social Cognitive Theory and involved: professional development, fitness equipment for schools, teacher-delivered physical activity sessions, lunch-time activity sessions, researcher-led seminars, a smartphone application, and parental strategies. Assessments for the primary (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference) and secondary outcomes were conducted at baseline, 8- (post-intervention) and 18-months (follow-up). Analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle using linear mixed models.

RESULTS: After 18-months, there were no intervention effects for BMI or waist circumference. Sustained effects were found for screen-time, resistance training skill competency, and motivational regulations for school sport.

CONCLUSIONS: There were no clinically meaningful intervention effects for the adiposity outcomes. However, the intervention resulted in sustained effects for secondary outcomes. Interventions that more intensively target the home environment, as well as other socio-ecological determinants of obesity may be needed to prevent unhealthy weight gain in adolescents from low-income communities.

Boys, productive pedagogies and social justice

The issue of boys' education continues to dominate the gender agenda in Australian Education. Whilst concerned with the direction much of this debate has taken, we recognise that there are issues for some boys stemming from the ways in which certain masculinities have been valorised within the various communities that different boys inhabit. This paper will draw on a range of voices from schools to stress the importance of providing boys with curricula, pedagogies and assessment tasks that provide them with opportunities to explore and critically analyse their personal experiences of what it means to be 'masculine'. We argue that such an approach to boys' education has to avoid treating boys as 'disadvantaged' and instead has to be cognisant of the complexities surrounding gendered relations of power operating within boys' various communities. We suggest that the productive pedagogies framework provides an avenue through which such an approach to boys' education can be taken up in schools. We are mindful, however, that the gender just enactment of this pedagogical framework requires that teachers draw on key threshold knowledges about gender, masculinity and schooling. We present some of these knowledges and demonstrate their imperative in moving beyond reinscription to transformation of the gendered relations that constrain boys' and girls' schooling experiences.

Gender justice and education: constructions of boys within discourses of resentment, neo-liberalism and security

This paper examines the impact of a politics of resentment, neo‐liberal policies, and security concerns on issues of gender justice in schools in various western countries. We argue that since the 1990s gender justice in schools has been severely hampered by a politics of resentment, or backlash politics, and the presence of neo‐liberal discourses in education. Furthermore, we contend that current national security concerns in the post‐September 11 context have compounded many of the challenges posed by these trends. We detail how such trends have produced constructions of boys as oppressed, as problems and as dangerous. We argue for a problematising of such constructions and of the anti‐feminist, masculinist and imperialist discourses undergirding them. We propose that moving beyond such essentialising towards gender justice in education will require a critical engagement with the ways in which national security issues, such as the “war on terror”, are working alongside backlash politics and neo‐liberal discourses to distort gender equity and schooling priorities.