How you can help teenage boys become good men

Father-and-son authors Andy and Oliver Cope chat to LISA SALMON about how to guide teenagers through life's challenges so they can reach their potential

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TEENAGE boys get a (sometimes justifiable) bad press, and it can be hard for some parents to see how these irresponsible and careless risk-takers can possibly transform into decent young men.

There's no doubt that some of them could do with a bit of help - and father-and-son team Andy and Oliver Cope are hoping to provide that assistance through their new book, LADULT, which aims to help boys and young men grow in confidence, build helpful habits, spend less time glued to screens, upgrade their relationships, strengthen their resilience and fulfil their potential.

The pair teamed up to write a teenage ‘survival guide’ because Andy has a PhD in positive psychology and is the UK's first-ever ‘Dr of happiness’, so he can apply psychological principles to the book's advice, while Oliver, 26, is completing a university thesis examining the link between social media and attention spans, and has the advantage of being a young man still in touch with how modern teenagers think and behave.

Pointing out that today's teens have to cope with the impact of the pandemic, neurodiversity, gender fluidity, AI, the mental health crisis, fake news, screens and social media, Oliver says: “Teenagers have always had to deal with exams, relationships and the pressures of fitting in, but the modern world is punching harder.

“Lads are having to grow up in this swirling mass of confusion - it's no wonder they're getting lost.”

In the book, the authors say they want to help teenagers make up their own mind about what kind of man they want to become.