The Men’s Group Network starts the Community Building Process by finding men that have complementary values, beliefs, and priorities. That doesn’t mean the exact same but principles that can co-exist with each other.
In the Boys’ Group, we start with an existing community of boys in a local school or neighborhood. This puts an emphasis on every boy to share what each principle means to them.
We do this by introducing it as the “What Are Your Thoughts?” exercise. This allows every boy to share their thoughts fully unfiltered. There is a space for every boy to fully express themselves. By doing it in a more indirect way by using the Council Sharing Method, there is less resistance to understanding and having compassion for each other.
The Men’s Group Network is then able to compile all of the boys’ definitions of the shared principles to create their own agreements on how to behave within the circle. What the circle defines each principle as, totally understood and agreed on.
This exercise allows them to participate in the creation of their own constitution and to help facilitate them in keeping their commitments. To keep their word. To be able to trust each other and most importantly to be able to trust themselves.