At Build Up Boys, we believe boys are born emotionally whole ? and deserve to stay that way.

Emotional intelligence makes boys feel whole.

It builds stronger friendships.

It builds healthier communities.

Boys arrive in pre-K perceptive, articulate, and eager to connect. By age five, many have already learned to hide what they feel. Boys are told to ?toughen up? at home, in classrooms, and on screens ? and the cost shows up fast: boys are disciplined more often, score lower on social-emotional competence, and are less likely than girls to talk about their feelings. For boys of color, those pressures are even heavier.

None of this is inevitable. Together, we can help boys hold onto what they were born with.

Build Up Boys is doing that work every week by:

• Running play-based circles for boys in pre-K through 6th grade, led by trained male facilitators who reflect the boys they serve
• Teaching six core skills: Identifying, Expressing, Regulating, Connecting, Grounding, and Caretaking
• Equipping caregivers and school staff to carry the work home and into the classroom
• Building spaces where every version of boyhood is welcome
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Since fall 2023, we?ve reached 500 boys across New Jersey ? and they?re showing us what?s possible: a 27% increase in boys? self-reported emotional awareness, and every surveyed caregiver reporting they feel better equipped to support their son?s emotional growth.

When boys can feel the full range of their emotions:

• Mental health takes root
• Friendships flourish
• School gets easier
• Communities get safer
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Every shirt and sweatshirt funds the circle. Twenty dollars puts a Resiliency Kit ? feelings charts, fidget tools, and take-home activities ? in a boy?s hands. Your order helps us bring BUB to more schools, more boys, and more communities.

Wear it for the boys. Wear it for the men they?ll become.

The men we want in the world are not men we have to construct from nothing. They are boys we have not dismantled.