The headline of a recent Newsweek cover story blares “The Trouble With Boys.” A documentary based on Michael Thompson’s bestselling book Raising Cain has been playing on PBS. Thankfully, the national media is putting the topic of boys front and center.As the Newsweek article asserts, for the past 30 years or so, girls have been the primary group in need of our attention because they were falling behind boys in school and society at large. Certainly, girls still require our efforts to be sure that they succeed in a rapidly changing world. But now, boys — especially those in middle and high school — are struggling mightily.

The issues involve poor academic performance, low self-esteem, eating disorders, violent outbursts, and a host of other problems.The magazine article focuses on the academic problems of boys, explaining that accelerated expectations as early as kindergarten do not match the mental abilities of most young boys. This is because boys develop in almost every way slower than girls. Anxieties can be set early and deepen as we all expect boys to excel, and many kids are buckling under the pressure, giving up and falling further and further behind.Society has undergone serious alterations. The sense of security for boys, however tentative it really was in past generations, is crumbling. It’s no longer OK to tell young males to “be a man” and “tough it out,” thinking that barreling through emotional pitfalls is the way a boy can succeed.

Now, more than ever, fathers and mothers of boys must look at the uniqueness of their children’s gender as part of seeing them as individuals. Specifically, dads need to reach out to their boys, talk with them about their worries, and be sensitive enough to give them help academically and emotionally.

We have to be role models for our sons. We need to show them what hard work really is but also exhibit ways to handle failure and learn from it. We can also serve them well by telling stories of our maturation, both the bad times and the good experiences. While it’s beneficial for us to be strong enough to support our boys, it’s important for us to show them that weaknesses do not mean a man crumbles.

See the Newsweek article for more info: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10965522/site/newsweek/.

I know this will not come as a shock, but a new study finds that about 30-percent of U.S. children under 6 watch a lot of TV. The findings of the report from the Kaiser Family Foundation show that parents are encouraging the use of TV and other visial media (video games, DVDs, etc.) because they think it helps teach basic educational concepts. Another revelation is that more young kids have TVs in their bedrooms.

Some of this is a result of parents who grew up with TV, who believe they came out all right, so what’s the harm of watching? Another factor is that television is a capable babysitter because it transfixes kids, keeps them in one spot, and lets moms and dads get dinner ready or even go to the bathroom. The problem is with excessive viewing, which this report focuses on. I really think that, beyond 30 minutes to an hour of TV per day, letting kids watch the boob tube is not the way to go. Is it all right for them to watch a little more on occasion, especially when they’re viewing an age-appropriate feature film? Sure? That’s just realistic. But what we need to do, as parents, is teach our kids to get outside to play, to use Legos, to read (and read and read), and even just sit around with nothing to do. TV keeps young minds buzzing at a low flame, but never truly relaxes or stimulates them the way other activities do. Even Sesame Street beyond an hour is not a great use of time. And TV in the bedroom is just wrong, especially before the teenage years (let alone IN the teen years).

On the other hand, I do think that TV — in that small dose of 30 minutes to one hour – is fine, maybe even good. My wife and I don’t use it for our under two-child, but our boys over three do watch. For our 8-year-old, TV is a social connector. He talks about the shows he watches with his friend and they make up scenarios on the playground based on the shows. We sample all of the shows, though not all episodes, to determine the violence factor (we stopped all Power Rangers because of it). And we usually battle with the kids to turn off the TV when the time’s up. However, the conflict dies down once our middle child gets going with his bugs and our eldest dives into a chapter book.

Read the report and post your comments on my still-evolving ones. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ID/12948895.

On Tuesday, May 23, 9:30am EST, I will take to the radio airwaves to talk with Darla Shine and Doug Stephan on the Good Day Show. I’ll suggest why women should “Get Out of Dad’s Way” (it’s not as contentious as the headline sounds — well, maybe it is) so he can be a better, more empowered father. Check out http://www.dougstephan.com/gooddayshow.cfm to see which station might be broadcasting the program in your area. Also, see the Ask Family Man piece that explains some of my suggestions: http://www.familymanonline.com/ask_familyman.php?id=10 .

Welcome to the new Family Man® blog. While you’ll still find new articles announced in the What’s New section on the left, here you’ll find even more news, commentary, advice, anecdotes, and reviews on the subject of fatherhood and parenting in general. For those of you who write and use blogs regularly, one of the main benefits of doing this is to get your thoughts on the various topics and build even more community.

While we kick things off here, I want to shout out to Sang Lee, the immensely talented and dedicated designer who has been working with FamilyManOnline.com since the beginning.

I look forward to posting and hearing your comments.