Article | January 6, 2023
Smartphones Aren’t the Problem: A New Mythos
Featuring George Martin
Read OnHeightsCast | May 5, 2023
“I totally lost it”: Colin Gleason on Paternal Patience
Featuring Colin Gleason
Read OnHeightsCast | April 3, 2025
A Parent-Teacher Conference for the Everyman
Featuring Tom Steenson
Read OnArticles & Essays
Having Better Mentoring Conversations
Conversation, though natural to us, is not something we naturally think to work on. Here are ideas to help you grow as a parent or mentor.
By Alvaro de Vicente | July 16, 2025
Forming Generous Men
Age is a question of time; maturity is a question of responsibility. A boy is mature to the extent that he is and feels responsible not merely for himself but for many others.
By Alvaro de Vicente | July 01, 2025
The Truth Shall Set You Free
Sincerity is crucial for moral growth. Here, Alvaro de Vicente concludes his series on personal challenges to a boy’s true freedom with a look at insincerity: its roots, its results, and how to encourage a boy to the truth.
By Alvaro de Vicente | June 17, 2025
Guiding an Obstinate Boy without Crushing His Spirit
As a natural course, the teenage boy seeks autonomy—but he doesn’t always have the prudence to pursue his goals well. This can lead to obstinacy, a challenge that stiffly resists parental advice. In his latest article, Alvaro de Vicente helps parents to guide their son’s obstinacy while being mindful of his growing need for independence.
By Alvaro de Vicente | June 03, 2025
Answering Anxiety
Too many children today suffer from serious anxiety, and parents are not in great shape either. It did not used to be this way. This unfortunate trend is well documented by academics such as Jonathan Haidt in his book The Anxious Generation, and it is apparent to anyone working in education who has their eyes open. The explosive increase in childhood mental health challenges over the past few decades, notably anxiety, affects most of the members of a school community in one way or another. The causes of this crisis...
By Michael Moynihan | May 30, 2025
Looking for a Few Good Men
Boys in America are falling behind—in school, work, and life. Explore why young men are struggling, what healthy masculinity really means, and how educators can help boys grow into strong, virtuous men.
By Alvaro de Vicente | May 27, 2025
Helping Boys Overcome Laziness
The following essay first appeared as an article in Alvaro de Vicente’s Substack publication, Men in the Making. For more articles like this one, you can visit his page here. Subscribe to the publication to stay up-to-date on Alvaro’s writing. Jean-Jacques Rousseau begins his famous 1762 work of political philosophy, The Social Contract, with the observation that “man is born free but everywhere is in chains.” The problem with Rousseau’s poetic observation is that it is false. Perhaps if the Geneva-born thinker had not abandoned his five children, he would...
By Alvaro de Vicente | May 20, 2025
Escaping the Void: A Review of Thunderbolts*
Content Warning: Language, Violence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Age Recommendation: 14+ The Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t done itself any favors since Endgame (2019). Between emasculating beloved male characters, inserting contemporary ideology at every turn, and generally sacrificing good storytelling on the altars of agenda, Disney has managed to turn a multi-billion-dollar franchise into a string of box office duds. Thanos with his gauntlet couldn’t have ruined things any more thoroughly than has Disney with its blinkered ideological commitments. But amidst the wreckage of the post-Snap MCU, the studio...
By Joe Breslin | May 15, 2025
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Book & Movie Reviews
Pure Murder
"I never want to see this movie again. Granted, this might sound a bit harsh coming from a Classics undergrad who spent most of his Classics ..."
- Conn Mehigan Read the ReviewCutting Edge, but Get to the Point
"Fantasy authors have a league of their own. They play for various intramural teams, such as The Snarky Sendups (Terry Pratchett’s Discworl..."
- Joseph Bissex Read the Review
Manners Make (More Than) the Man
"Some books have you read them slowly. Some books have you keep turning the pages. The best books do both. Such is A Gentleman in Moscow by A..."
- Robert Greving Read the ReviewA Quick Pull That’s Well Worth the Effort
"From the opening moments of Daniel Brown’s The Boys in the Boat, we learn that there’s more to “the boat” than the finely crafted ra..."
- Peter Vitz Read the ReviewArmageddon in Slow Motion
"Mankind will end in four hundred fifty years, and its opinions about that fact may be largely irrelevant. That is upshot of Cixin Liu’s Hu..."
- Joe Breslin Read the ReviewThe Most Dangerous Quest of All
"Children of the eighties and nineties may remember the film The Neverending Story with a combination of wonder and dread, but the novel upon..."
- Joe Breslin Read the ReviewA Series of Unfortunate Events – Reviewed
"The thirteen books in Daniel Handler’s A Series of Unfortunate Events provide humorous if formulaic escapism which, like an emergency room..."
- Joe Breslin Read the ReviewMan in a Mosaic – A Review of Joe Breslin’s Other Minds
"Samuel Johnson claimed the two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new. Heights fifth-grad..."
- Tom Cox Read the ReviewSkullduggery, Published
"Skullduggery Pleasant is about as bodiless as its titular character. Notice I didn’t say “protagonist,” for Skullduggery, the skinless..."
- Joe Breslin Read the ReviewEverything Sad Is Untrue (A True Story)
"As Roald Dahl did in his childhood memoir, Boy, Nayeri takes painful, embarrassing, and sometimes violent moments, and reframes them. Nayeri..."
- Joe Breslin Read the ReviewBrowse all Reviews...
Podcasts & Videos
HeightsCast
Enjoying Our Children and Why It’s Important
They know we love them; but do our children sense that we like them? And how does that relate to their formation? In the intense season of togetherness that is summer break, headmaster Alvaro de Vicente recommends four practices to help us live more in the present and enjoy our children—even when the anxieties of life come knocking. Chapters: 2:17 Distinction between loving and liking6:49 Four tools for cultivating “like”:8:02 One: Express triple-gratitude10:45 Two: Spend unnecessary time15:25 Three: Find the humor17:15 Four: Pray for the grace18:38 Why liking them matters22:59...
Featuring Alvaro de Vicente | July 10, 2025
Forum Faculty Podcast
Assigned Reading: A Gateway to Lifelong Learning or a Killer of Joy?
In this episode of the Forum Faculty Podcast, we’re joined by teachers Finn Mehigan, Joe Bissex, and Shane O’Neill, to discuss how assigned reading can affect a student’s interest in literature. They delve into the reading habits of students across different school levels, the decline in reading for pleasure, methods to encourage reading engagement, and the challenges of assigning and assessing reading material. Finn, Joe, and Shane share their experiences and insights on making literature exciting and meaningful for their students, while also addressing the balance between assigned reading and...
Featuring Finn Mehigan, Joseph Bissex, Shane O'Neill | July 09, 2025
The Sex Difference in Education: A Review of the Literature
Months ago, Heights teacher Joe Lanzilotti took up a prodigious project: reviewing the body of popular literature on boys’ education. Partway through his journey, Dr. Lanzilotti catches us up on the diversity of scientific, biological, psychological, and moral perspectives—and how they cohere into a bigger picture of boys and where their developmental needs differ from those of girls. Framing the evidence with papal guidance from the last century gives us a solid starting-point to consider the education of boys according to their nature. Chapters: 00:04:09 The timeline of research on...
Featuring Dr. Joseph Lanzilotti | June 26, 2025
The Tech Exit: How Smartphones Undermine Our Parenting—and How to Reverse Course
The ever-changing tech landscape and the ever-growing research on interactive screens means that we must look at the topic anew year after year. For parents trying to keep pace, Clare Morell has compiled the most up-to-date research into her recent release, The Tech Exit. Armed with the facts and interviews with dozens of Tech Exit families (including some from The Heights community!), Morell encourages parents that it’s never too late to reverse course on smartphones. United with other families trying to do the same, we can replace the new “smartphone...
Featuring Clare Morell | June 12, 2025
The Mortara Case: Parental Authority and Thomas Aquinas
In 1858, six-year-old Edgardo Mortara is forcibly removed from his family’s home in accordance with civil and canon law. His Jewish family’s legal appeal invokes, to great effect, the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Dr. Matthew Tapie and former Heights teacher Dr. Lionel Yaceczko join us this week to pull apart this difficult case with the assistance of St. Thomas, who gives a theological basis for parental authority in accordance with natural law—a useful perspective for our culture today. Chapters: 4:06 The Mortara Case (1858)11:12 The personality of an original...
Featuring Dr. Matthew Tapie, Lionel Yaceczko | June 05, 2025
On Grades: Building or Breaking Growth?
In this episode of the Forum Faculty podcast, host Tom Cox is joined by Mike Hude, Joel Sellier, and Shane O’Neill to delve into the complexities and controversies surrounding grades in education. The discussion covers the transactional nature of grades, how they can detract from genuine learning, and the ways in which teachers can use grades as both motivational tools and communication devices. The teachers share personal anecdotes and experiences, debate the merits of public versus private grades, and explore potential alternatives to traditional grading systems. The conversation wraps up...
Featuring Michael Hude, Joel Sellier, Shane O'Neill | May 29, 2025
Beyond the Traditional Classics: Finding Your Next Novel
In a world competing for our attention, our guest this week admits: “It’s probably harder to read novels now than it ever was.” But their value cannot be overstated. The novel’s unique humanity, its careful and open treatment of the human experience, helps us to develop a sympathetic imagination, tuning our hearts and minds in a way that non-fiction argument simply cannot. Christopher Scalia, author of 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read), makes the case that it is a distinctly conservative interest to explore the Western tradition...
Featuring Christopher Scalia | May 29, 2025
A Change of Soul: Reimagining the Purpose of Vacation
As we conclude the school year, parents are turning their sights to summer and the much-anticipated family vacation. We bear such hope for rest and connection on these trips—but we can too easily end up chasing a bucket-list. Head of Mentoring Joe Cardenas offers a timely intervention for our vacation planning, reminding us to plan for people before places. Bringing his own family traditions and Crescite Week experiences to the question, he offers a new set of questions to help us plan and enjoy a truly transformative, restorative vacation for...
Featuring Joe Cardenas | May 22, 2025
Choosing a College—Or Not
As more families scrutinize their post-high school options for virtue and value, the field has perhaps never been wider. Choosing a path carefully, with the right balance of priorities, should be the goal for every high school graduate. Before serving as our headmaster, Mr. Alvaro de Vicente was the Heights college counselor. Over the last few decades, he’s witnessed an exciting shift in the way students and their parents can evaluate, prioritize, and choose a path after graduation that serves the whole person well. And while colleges are responding more...
Featuring Alvaro de Vicente | May 15, 2025
Human Reason: An Attentiveness to Reality
Human reason: what is it? How does it cooperate with faith and the will? How can we distinguish between authentic reason and its counterfeits—particularly in an age of relativism, pluralism, scientism, and artificial intelligence? Here to unpack a heavy topic is Fr. Gregory Pine, a Dominican friar, instructor at Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC. You may recognize his voice as a frequent contributor to podcasts like Godsplaining and Pints with Aquinas. Following a talk with our juniors, Fr. Pine graciously joined us in the studio to offer a...
Featuring Fr. Gregory Pine | May 08, 2025
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