Every Tuesday, a group of fourth-grade girls at Maxine Johnson Elementary in Parma gather in the school counselor’s office. The room is decorated with a western theme and blends in with the acres of farmland outside the school. There are photos of livestock on the walls and cowprint cloths on the tables.
In lessons guided by the school counselor, Lori Cafferty, they learn about friendship and trust, eight at a time.
“The girls seem to love it, but I try and make them very applicable to real life situations and things that are challenging sometimes right before you hit that middle school age,” Cafferty said.
In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that three in five teen girls report feeling “persistently sad or hopeless.”
Puberty and adolescence are when mental health issues most commonly arise.
The group ran last school year through the spring of 2025. Each month, participants rotated through to ensure every fourth grade girl was able to participate.
“We had a real successful year last year,” Cafferty said.
Towards the end of the year, she was teaching a lesson to an entire fourth grade class, both boys and girls. The boys noticed the girls group was meeting regularly and asked her, “Why is there no fourth grade boys group?”
She thought about it.
“And so I said, you know, I'm not sure. There just isn't.”
One of the boys reminded her “You know, boys have problems too, to me. And that just touched my heart. And I thought about that all weekend.”
How could she recreate the weekly group — but this time for boys?
The National Institutes of Health reports that despite depression and suicide being a leading cause of death for men, they are less likely to seek support for mental health concerns compared to their female counterparts. Boys' emotional well-being is also typically overlooked and underaddressed.
“And I told my husband, I'm going to ask if we can also have a fourth grade boys group,” said Cafferty. “And I think I'm going to name it. Boys have problems too.”
Teachers from each fourth grade class selected a few students they thought would have interest in shaping the group. Those boys were tasked with deciding the topics they wanted to learn about each week.
When the group was established, Cafferty reached out to the principal and counselor at Parma High School. They picked three senior male students who were strong leaders to work with the younger boys.
“We try and reflect on, like our life and like the things that have helped us in the past to kind of help relate to them in a sort of way, because, I mean, we're all guys,” said Trevor, a minor who asked only to use his first name. “We all have problems. And so it's very easy for us to, you know, kind of relate back to them.”
Once a week, he walks from his high school to the elementary school during his lunch break.
In week one, they discuss anger.
“I talked about, like when I was younger, when I was in second grade, I used to have a lot of anger issues back then, just like them,” said Trevor. “So I kind of talked about how like my, my counselor, like when I came in and talked to her, she told me, like, if you ever, if you ever need to like, cool off, if off. You ever need to get some anger out? Just go to the drinking fountain, get a drink of water. And I was able to share that with them.”
The National Institutes of Health reports boys are most expressive with their anger during the middle school years. This can come out in aggression and violence when not regulated.
Seventeen-year-old Trevor says this group has been beneficial not only to the fourth graders, but also to himself.
“It also has helped me to understand, you know, problems I still face in my life,” said Trevor. “And it kind of just reminds me of some of the things I talked to them about.”
At the end of every session, the boys receive a reminder of the things they learned. For the anger session, they got a black bracelet with a red stripe. When they work on integrity, students receive a button. The final week is about choosing their path and they are handed compasses.
“I have always been involved in sports throughout my whole life,” said Liam, another mentor. He helped guide a discussion on sportsmanship and sports. "I love them dearly. Which means I'm a very competitive person. But when you play sports, you also got to have good sportsmanship.”
Liam and Trevor both say mentoring for the Boys Have Problems Too group has given them the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on their community.
“I love the fact that I get to come and share my experiences and my knowledge with them,” said Liam. “Because, like I said, I wish that I would have had that when I was their age, and I would have took that to heart,” said Liam.
At the end of each four week session, Cafferty’s goal is to help shape each boy’s future.
“My hope for them is to be happy and healthy humans, and kind,” Cafferty said. “I feel like I want boys to understand and girls that it's okay to talk about it if we're having a struggle.”
By the end of this school year, almost every fourth grade boy at Maxine Johnson Elementary will voluntarily participate in the group.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, you are not alone; help is available. Call or text the Idaho Crisis and Suicide Hotline at 988.
