He heard it from older boys on the school bus, told it at dinner, laughed, and then looked confused when nobody else did. It was the kind of joke where the girl is the punchline. I asked him which part was funny and he couldn't say. I don't want a lecture he tunes out, and I don't want to let it pass either. What has worked with boys this age? I'm also wondering whether to say anything about the bus.
Asking him to explain it is exactly what we did. Ours got embarrassed halfway through explaining, which did more than anything I could have said.
What worked with our son was hearing it plainly from an adult man he looked up to: I don't find those jokes funny, and here's why. Is there someone like that in his life, a coach, an uncle, a teacher? Boys that age copy whoever they want to be like.
his cricket coach is probably that person right now. i'd feel a bit odd asking, but it's not a bad idea
The bus is where ours picked up all of it too. We didn't go to the school. We just kept talking at home whenever something came back from the bus, and by 13 he was the one rolling his eyes at the older boys. It took a few rounds, not one conversation.
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More from the parents who were here.