Your Sons: The Best Reason to Be a Better Man

A group of men and their sons—ages 6 to 25—got together for a weekend in the mountains a couple of weeks ago. Those of you who have participated in father/son events may think you have an idea of what took place. I've been involved in many father/son events, some of which have been great fun and an opportunity to spend time with my son in the company of other men. But the BetterMen Father/Son Retreat was something else all together.

It went beyond Boy Scouts, beyond Indian Guides, and even beyond the father/son events I've attended that were hosted by other men's organizations. This event was a true rite of passage for the boys, and life-changing for some of the dads. And the only reason it was the success that it was, was because of the dads who have been doing men's work, and who were willing to reveal themselves to the men and to their sons.

As I write this, I'm aware that my words may not adequately describe the experiences we all had. The dads learned from their sons. They learned about courage, honesty and how to have real fun like only boys can. More importantly, the boys learned what it looks like to be a three-dimensional man. The boys saw their dads teach each other, laugh and play, as well as cry and talk about their own fathers. They saw their dads being the men they wanted to be with other men. How often does that happen in our society?

Some of these boys saw sights they had never seen before. The results: much deeper relationships among all of the participants, and greater respect between fathers and sons, as well as for this process we call BetterMen's work. The boys are now asking their dads, “When's our next father/son weekend, dad?” Now that's the beginning of a beautiful relationship; a relationship with a solid foundation wherein the son has a good chance of growing up to be a healthy and good man—because his father is doing his best to be an example for his son.

We believe it takes a community of men to raise our boys to be good men, good dads and good husbands. That's the kind of community we're building here at the BetterMen.org . We hope you'll help us make this community grow by joining us, supporting our efforts, and by spreading the word to the good men in your life.