Dad Teaches Neighborhood Boys Everyday Tasks Like Grocery Shopping & Asking For Help To Teach True Masculinity
BearFotos | Shutterstock Much of the world is still hung up on traditional views of masculinity that suggest men's value comes from being breadwinners, and they shouldn't show emotion if they don't want to look weak. This has backed men into what researchers called a "man box."
Rather than focusing on outdated ideas of strength and what it means to be a man, one dad decided to teach boys in his community about how to navigate real life. He started a mentorship program to teach boys how to do everything from grocery shopping to behaving well in a restaurant. Inspired by his own upbringing, he hopes that the boys he leads will grow into good men because of his lessons.
A dad went viral for teaching a group of neighborhood boys how to grocery shop the right way.
In a series of videos on his page, a content creator and dad named King Randall has drawn widespread praise for creating a mentorship program called The X for Boys in Albany, Georgia. In one of his most popular videos, he took the group of boys he mentors to the grocery store to teach them not only how to shop but also to have the right tools to ask for help when they need it.
In the video, Randall led a group of boys through the grocery store with a budget of $150 and explained how to shop responsibly. "You want to check stuff off on your list," he said. "Because we, as husbands, sometimes we'll forget things from the store, and we go home and get fussed at by our wife."
The boys gathered around Randall's phone as he showed them a list of foods like milk, chicken, paper towels, ground beef, onions, and eggs, then followed him around the store to hunt for them.
Randall was not only trying to teach the boys how to properly grocery shop, but also how to avoid weaponized incompetence when they eventually grew up and got married. Instead of laughing off those responsibilities or making it the job of their future wives, Randall made it clear that they would need to be dependable, too.
These are the kind of chores women traditionally handle, so it's nice to see a man taking them seriously.
A survey from the Pew Research Center revealed that over half of married couples think it's "very important" for them to split household responsibilities. It doesn't usually work out that way, though, especially with things like cooking and grocery shopping.
Greta Hoffman | Pexels
80% of mothers said they are the ones who cook and grocery shop most often, compared to about 20% of fathers who said the same.
There's no reason a woman shouldn't cook or grocery shop, especially if she wants to, but those tasks shouldn't automatically fall to women just because that's who's "supposed" to do them. Randall is helping the next generation understand that.
Randall has been sharing his own wisdom with young boys for years now.
In an interview with TODAY, Randall explained that he launched his mentorship program in 2019 to help young boys figure out the world in which they'll soon be adults. He works with 7-to-9-year-olds, many of whom are high risk. He wanted to impart some of the wisdom he learned from his own family to a new generation.
"I grew up with a full family — my grandfather, my stepdad, my uncles — they taught me how to work on cars and houses, how to grow food," Randall told the news outlet. "And then I saw so many young men who didn’t have that, who were struggling with just basic things ... and no programs for them."
Keira Burton | Pexels
Randall said that kids don't have to pay to be in the program thanks to donations he's received. He started by teaching lessons in his home, but now sees the boys each weekday so they can review everything from doing laundry to making eye contact. He described it as a "confidence builder."
It's good to know that in a world that would tell boys they don't need to know how to do things for themselves or pick up certain skills, Randall is there to teach them the opposite.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
