New Balance is the perfect solution for your wide footed boy. They aren’t STRONG QUALITY for boys. Had to buy two pair (same size) in one school year, and my son aims on the cautious side. So if you have a wild one LOL count on 3-4 pair if you want him looking great in his uniform without holes. I love NB as an adult but wonder if they could reinforce for children?? Either way, reasonable and fits my Flintsone footed boy age 6. I’d rather pay $10-15 extra to last 6 plus months?? Also laces aren’t quite long enough for double knots ? IDK what the solution is but if you have a wide footed child....Stride Rite or New balance is the only answer. I may pay more for Stride Rite for next school year....just to see if they outlast?? I bought his 1st pair 9/20/19, second pair 1/2020 ? and we wears colored NB ON WEEKENDS PLUS CROCS.....IDKUpdate- These are still the best. I thought I would try Stride Rite since they were sullosed to be so orthodic, but was not impressed, so I bought yet another pair of these. At least the 8th pair my son has had.I've been buying these same shoes for my son for years. It is difficult to find leather shoes anymore and those mesh shoes are too cold in winter, plus they don't wear for long.These are available in both white and black and with laces or velcro and I have purchased each several times. I have not tried the other colors.They fit well, are comfortable and they hold up very well. We've never had a pair wear at all.I am unsure if these are leather or synthetic as some listings for this same shoe model number say leather and this one says synthetic. I can say they seem to hold up and wear like leather, they do not peel and they do not make my sons feet sweat like other synthetic shoes he has had.If you're looking for a pair of leather shoes for your child, try these. I saved about $15 buying this pair on Amazon.(Personal retail purchase).These New Balance Shoes were a purchased as school shoes for my son. Looking at the (Good) condition of them you could hardly tell that it has been 5 months already! The color has not faded or nor worn away(the color Black probably helps). Regardless if he is hard on the shoes or not, there is little evidence that he even has been wearing them. He wears them at least 7.5 hours, about 3 days a week. I am already a fan of New Balance so this isn't much of a surprise to me of the quality.New balance is my recommendation because of durability and the quality. I often get the Wide width for extra room for comfort. Not too many children shoes come in wides and many children have wider feet than even many adults.Overall, I truly am satisfied with the shoes and very worth the money I paid. When Choosing shoes that my son will wear everyday I prefer companies like New Balance to purchase from.We love these shoes. We need to get all black or all white sneakers for our sons' school, and that's difficult to find. Plus, we have the added stressor of finding wide sneakers. These sneakers are the answer for us. Our boys each have a pair for school and a pair for play. Our only complaint is that they don't wear well. As with most boys, our boys play hard and wear their sneakers hard, and it seems that we need two pairs per year for school to keep them looking nice. We rotate them though; the ones that we buy for school in the beginning of the year become the play pair when we buy new ones for school. It works, and we have a bottle of shoe polish to make them look nicer and extend their like a little.This is an excellent physical education shoe for kids. It is versatile enough for several sports or types of exercise from running to basketball to simple child's playing. Very sturdy yet lightweight with the legendary New Balance craftmanship. However, it is not a pure running shoe. If you want a running should for your kid, get other models from New Balance. They get dirty easily because they are mostly white colored, but are easy to clean with a damp cloth and a brush.At only $16 this pair was a bargain. I would have paid twice that amount because they are excellent shoes.Great looking shoes. A lot of cushioning. I purchased these as uniform shoes. They truly are all white. Shoe laces a little short. I purchased the wrong size shoe but if I can exchange them they will fit fine. My child is 5 and I accidentally purchased an 11 instead of 12.Pre K student needed a good support shoe to use with their SMO's (orthotic braces). This leather shoe is fantastic. The W (wide) width easily accommodates the brace. Inserting the brace and removing it from the shoe is hassle free-a problem I ran across with another name brand. After spending over $900.00 for the much needed orthotic it was a relief to find such a quality shoe at such a reasonable price. Since this is the only shoe that can be worn, a second pair were purchased for good wear.I just have to say, my 10 year old is the perfect child to test sneakers. He is the roughest on shoes! Other named brand shoes have been destroyed within a month. These are holding up great! I read an article about the best sneakers for kids who are rough shoes and they scored very high.