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At its worst, trash talk gets picked up by boys who would rather go on the offensive than end up as targets themselves. It fuels the us-versus-them dehumanization that turns rivalry into conflict, and the hierarchical don’t-be-vulnerable mindset that leads to patterns of hazing in sports teams and toxicity in video games.
Read MoreMy job is not to protect myself from unwanted critique. My job is to provide a space that is safe, supportive and open to boys being themselves. I have to role model that.
Read MoreI knew him since before we were teenagers, but it wasn’t until we were young adults that I ever knew him to go to the doctor. It was an immediate surgery for a ruptured appendix.
Read MoreI think it’s a missed opportunity to skirt around the sexual assault case when talking about Kobe with adolescent boys, because it creates a space to challenge the Trump-era notion of a ‘witch hunt’ against men, and it allows boys to reflect on making mistakes and making amends.
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