Organization Announces Groundbreaking National Campaign to Address Boys' Slide in Educational Achievement and Social Adjustment

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Boys Initiative, a groundbreaking Washington, DC based effort, today announced its official launch with the unveiling of its website (www.theboysinitiative.org) and blog, as well as pages on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

The Initiative is an unparalleled national campaign to address alarming negative trends in recent years pertaining to boys' educational achievement and social adjustment.  

The spark for the initiative was the now well documented worsening in boys' educational performance over the past two decades.  This is one of a number of disturbing trends of boys' slide in other areas impacting physical and emotional health, including suicide, bullying and substance abuse. These trends are approaching historically significant proportions.

Besides boys themselves, these trends negatively impact families, spouses and communities in significant ways.

"Just in the past year we've seen a shift from a debate about whether boys are in trouble to a discussion about how to craft solutions to the problem," said Richard Whitmire, a veteran education reporter, author of Why Boys Fail and TBIN advisory board member. "The Boys Initiative promises to be an important player in advocating strategies for reconnecting males to schools and colleges."

"Our sons are a precious resource," said family therapist Michael Gurian, a member of the Initiative's board of advisors and author of THE WONDER OF BOYS and THE WONDER OF GIRLS.  "I believe our culture is entering a Decade of the Boy in the same way the nineties were a decade of study and solutions regarding girls.  The Boys Initiative is a crucial part of that new vision."

"We are honored to be joined in our effort by a board of advisors composed of accomplished and respected scholars, educators and experts in the field of boys' education and health," said Washington DC attorney Ronald Henry, the founder of the Initiative.

"The initiative will fulfill its role through outreach to parents, teachers, affected communities, scholars, the media and policymakers and by providing a nexus for collaboration among these individuals and the groups that represent them," said Dennis Barbour, Executive Vice President.

The Initiative is a project of Family Reunion, a Washington DC based IRS Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

CONTACT:  Dennis J. Barbour, Executive Vice President of The Boys Initiative, +1-202-841-7475, [email protected]

SOURCE The Boys Initiative