Your school's boys are already learning what manhood looks like. This is the program that teaches them something better.

Redefining Masculinity is a six-week SEL curriculum for boys in grades 6–12. Discussion-based, facilitated by your existing staff, and designed to change what boys believe — not just how they behave.

PhD · Communication·MA · School Counseling·10+ Years K–12·Kirkus-Reviewed Author·Father of Two Boys
"One-off assemblies don't change what boys believe. Only sustained, structured, whole-school conversation does."

Most schools respond to boys reactively. Something happens — a fight, a concerning post, a pattern the counselor notices — and someone schedules an assembly, a talking-to, a consequence. Then life moves on. The belief that generated the behavior is still sitting there, intact, ready to generate the next one.

This program does something different. It starts with belief change — because behavior change without belief change doesn't hold. It gives boys a structured, repeated, facilitated space to examine the messages they've absorbed about what manhood is supposed to look like, where those messages came from, and what they actually want to be true about themselves. It happens over six weeks, with your existing staff, and it works between sessions because it gives every adult in your building a shared vocabulary to reinforce it.

Not just a curriculum. A whole-school system.

Real change requires all three — students having the conversations, staff reinforcing them, and families carrying them home.

Component 01
Student Curriculum
Six weekly sessions. Discussion-based, reflective, designed for boys in grades 6–12. Facilitated by your existing counselors or staff — no special training beyond a 90-minute orientation. The sessions are structured so the conversation can happen without a specialist in the room.
Component 02
Staff Alignment
A 90-minute professional development session that gives every adult in your building shared language and shared framing. When staff and students are speaking the same vocabulary, the curriculum works between sessions too — in the hallway, in the classroom, in one-on-ones.
Component 03
Parent Workshop
A family-facing session that extends the curriculum into the home. Parents and caregivers leave with vocabulary, strategies, and a clearer sense of what their son is working through. Because the conversation that starts on Tuesday shouldn't end when the bell rings.

Six weeks. Six conversations boys aren't having anywhere else.

1
Week One
Breaking the Box
Boys examine the messages they've absorbed about manhood — where they came from, who benefits from them, and what it costs to perform them. Not a lecture about what's wrong with masculinity. A conversation about what's in the box, and whether they put it there.
2
Week Two
Beyond Anger
Why anger dominates. How boys can safely express the full range of what they actually feel. The emotional intelligence that schools have stopped teaching — not because it doesn't matter, but because no one built time for it into the day.
3
Week Three
Accountability & Influence
What healthy accountability looks like — and how the boys in your building are already influencing each other, for better or worse. This session is about making that influence visible and asking what they want to do with it.
4
Week Four
Entitlement & Power
An honest look at how entitlement shows up, where it comes from, and what genuine strength actually requires. Not a guilt session — a clarity session. Boys who understand the difference between power over people and power with people make different choices.
5
Week Five
Values & Identity
Who am I, really? Boys build a definition of manhood grounded in their own values — not the ones handed to them by a gaming community, a peer group, or a locker room. The point isn't to arrive at a predetermined answer. It's to ask the question deliberately.
6
Week Six
Commitment & Community
Turning reflection into action. Boys leave with commitments to their community and a clear sense of the man they're choosing to become. This session closes the loop — and gives the staff something concrete to continue reinforcing.

Built for evidence — designed for pilots. Every implementation includes pre- and post-assessment instruments that measure emotional awareness, accountability, and identity development. Pilot programs are available at discounted or no cost in exchange for assessment data. Your school gets an evidence base; we get the data to improve the program. If you're not yet ready to buy a full implementation, a pilot is the right starting point.

Adults in a professional development workshop

A 90-minute staff alignment session. One shared language. Every adult in the building.

Start where you are.

Whether you're a single counselor running a small group or a district-wide rollout, there's a starting point. Piloting opportunities are available for discounted or no cost — ask us.

Small Group
Self-Implementation
$350 one-time
Includes
  • Complete 6-week curriculum guide
  • Student worksheets & activities
  • Pre & post assessment instruments
  • Facilitator notes & discussion guides
Get the curriculum
Plug & Play
Full System, Your Implementation
$3,500
Includes
  • Everything in Small Group
  • 90-min staff orientation session
  • Parent workshop materials
Start here
District / Multi-School
Custom Proposal
Custom
Includes
  • Train-the-trainer cohort
  • Multi-building rollout
  • District-wide reporting
Build a proposal
Funding note: Title IV-A (Student Support and Academic Enrichment — specifically the "safe and healthy students" priority) is the best funding match for this program. We can provide documentation to support your grant application.