About the Boys

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Boys

Factual: Life Stories

Exploring the challenges facing boys and young men in Britain today.

BBC Radio 4 FM

Boys: About the Boys: 3. Education

3. Education

BBC Radio 4 - Boys, About the Boys, 3. Education

Boys all over the UK talk to Catherine Carr about how they feel about school.

Teenage boys from all over the UK talk to Catherine Carr about education, behaviour and crucially: their relationships with adults at school.

In this episode, teenage boys all over the UK talk to Catherine Carr about their school lives. She hears their take on their behaviour at school, the importance of the memories they are making with friends and, critically, the importance of trusted relationships with adults while in education. Teachers also share the results of work done to close the attainment gap between boys and girls, and Catherine visits a pioneering project which is designed to intervene early in boys’ lives, to help them achieve academically.

Thanks to 

Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic School, Rochdale
Taking Boys seriously, Ulster University
Dance United Yorkshire
DRMZ Carmarthen Youth Project 
Oasis Multi Academy Trust
Johanna Primary school, Waterloo
Mark Brooks OBE
Steve Chalke MBE


Producer: Catherine Carr
Researcher: Jill Achineku
Executive Producer: Marie Helly

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Boys: About the Boys

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

From porn to friendship, boys from all over the UK talk frankly to Catherine Carr.

Boys from all over the UK talk frankly to Catherine Carr about sex, consent, life online, fun and friendship. They discuss porn, their struggles at school and becoming men.

Catherine Carr has been talking to teenage boys across the UK about their fears, worries and ambitions - a unique generation shaped by Covid lock-downs, #MeToo and a cost-of-living crisis.

They speak with striking candour about everything: their worries about the hierarchy in friendship groups; being tall, being rich, being poor, being accused of sexual assault. They're vulnerable about their feelings and what it means to hear 'all men must die' bandied around at school when you're just 12 years old.

They feel pressure from online influencers to be strong men, but they're also very aware of the complicated issues around sex and consent. They see girls doing better at school - and they are struggling to work out what their role in the adult world will be.

Throughout the series, you'll hear boys revealing some shocking experiences, like watching porn aged eight, or the attractions of joining a gang.

They also share their successes - older ones setting up businesses, while younger ones glory in being able to do 20 press-ups without stopping.

There are also nuggets of wisdom from the adults who spend their lives working with boys and fighting their corner. Teachers, coaches and youth workers talk about how they see boys navigating their way in the world, and experts provide insight and data from research done into boys' changing lives over the last 50 years.

But the mainstage in About the Boys is given to the boys themselves. This is a chance for them to explain what life in 2024 looks like for teens trying to find healthy and happy ways to grow into men.

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

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