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Author: Martin Robb
  • Activity
  • 10 minutes

Being a boy

Updated Thursday, 11 May 2023

What is life like for boys today? In what follows, we explore aspects of contemporary boyhood, drawing on research conducted at The Open University and elsewhere.

Find out more about The Open University’s Social work qualifications.

The family are dining together at a table Click on the image above, to start your interactive experience...

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Check out the other interactives in this series:

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    Families come in all shapes and sizes, and not all families include fathers. But when there’s a father or someone in the fathering role, we all have our own ideas about what makes a good dad. What does a man have to do to earn this title, and have our standards changed over time? Explore our interactive to learn more.

    Take part now to access more details of What makes a good father?

    Activity

    Level: 1 Introductory

  • What does it mean, to be a man?

    What does it mean, to be a man?

    Beliefs about what makes a ‘real’ man have changed enormously over time. So what does it mean to be a man in the twenty-first century? Do traditional ideas about masculinity still apply, and if not, what kinds of new ideas have replaced them? Explore our interactive below to learn more.

    Take part now to access more details of What does it mean, to be a man?

    Activity

    Level: 1 Introductory

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