Bullies & Manhood: Sociological Analysis of Perpetrator-Part V

In the undergraduate Human Growth and Development class I teach at Mercyhurst College, I use this story to illustrate important concepts from George Herbert Mead. George Herbert Mead was a social psychology professor at the University of Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. He is responsible for developing a line of thinking that [...]

Bullies & Manhood: Perpetrator-Part IV

When I played high school football, hazing was still very much in vogue. Sophomores were treated like rookies and were expected to be obedient to an upper classman’s request as crazy as it could be. When I was a rookie and attended my first football camp in some God forsaken place, the upperclassmen would use [...]

Bullies & Manhood: Teachers can be bullies-Part III

Upon leaving Ben Fairless Elementary School for the middle school, I thought the bullying might be behind me. There’s a tendency to think of bullying as it relates to one’s peers, but it is not limited there. It can be adults who bully, whether a parent, teacher or coach.
I was excited about 7th grade [...]

Bullies & Manhood: Part II

I am in the 6th grade at Ben Fairless Elementary School in the fall of 1964. Given that this was only our second year in the school district, I couldn’t enjoy being in the eldest group of students in an elementary school the way I would have had we stayed in the country school. This [...]

Bullies & Manhood: Thoughts Part 1-and-a-half

I want to digress for a moment and ask a larger question. What function or purpose does bullying or bullies serve for the community or society?
Most cultures have their own ways of preparing boys for the hardships of life, a kind of toughening process. As this line of thought goes, through this toughening, when the [...]

Bullies & Manhood: Part I

I’m sure bullying exists everywhere that there are people. But in some places it is worse than others. When we moved as a family from rural Mount Pleasant to the mill town of North Braddock in the summer of 1963, it was an eye opener. I became aware of how much time boys spend jockeying [...]

Father’s Day Thoughts: Dad’s first 911 call goes to the Coast Guard to find 25 year old son

Well, this past Saturday was interesting! One of my sons is up from Pittsburgh to attend the graduation party of his first cousin. The Friday night prior, my son asks my wife if she’d like to come take a walk on the beach to keep an eye on him while he swims at Presque Isle. [...]

Mom always loved strays: “Unto the Least of These”

My mom had a heart for the disadvantaged. I’m sure her faith had something to do with it, but I think she just loved everyone. I recall two people my mom reached out to when we were children. Our grandmother commented once, “Your momma always loved strays and that can be people as well as [...]

Where does “I love you, but I’m not in love with you” originate?

I’m fascinated with the language our predominant culture uses to understand relationships and they’re changing all the time. For example, several years ago, an undergraduate student explained to me that I was being inappropriate when I commented to an adult student we should “hook up” sometime. I thought the phrase referred to having an interesting academic conversation [...]