What is the boy crisis? It’s a crisis of education. For the first time in American history, our sons will have less education than their dads. It’s a crisis of mental health. As boys become young men, their suicide rates go from equal to girls to six times that of young women. It’s a crisis of sexuality. Sex is a minefield for our sons. They’re bombarded with mixed messages, afraid of being either too sensitive or not sensitive enough. It’s a crisis of fathering. Boys with less-involved fathers are more likely to drop out of school, drink, do drugs, become delinquent, and end up in prison. It’s a crisis of purpose. Boys’ old senses of purposes, being a warrior, a leader, or a sole breadwinner, are fading. Many bright boys are experiencing a “purpose void,” feeling alienated, withdrawn and addicted to immediate gratification. Compounding this issue are addicting video games that lead to distraction and ADHD.So, what is The Boy Crisis? A comprehensive blueprint for what parents, teachers, and policy-makers can do to renew our sons’ sense of purpose to help them become men, fathers, and leaders worthy of our respect.

1. Teenagers whose dads and moms live separately but who have equal time with both parents were more easily able to make friends.
2. Both boys and girls suffer after their parents divorce, but the greatest feelings of deprivation and depressive behavior were observed among boys.
3. Children with father loss have by age of nine, a 14% reduction in telomere length – the most reliable predictor of life expectancy.
4. Adolescents with minimal or no father involvement account for 71% of high school dropouts. They are also more likely to skip school, be kicked out ( expelled)
5. The most frequent a father visits the hospital of an infant who is born prematurely, the more quickly the infant is released from the hospital and the better the infants social -personal development and ability to adapt
6. Students coming from present father families score higher in math and science even when they come from weaker schools
7. Father involvement is at least five times as important in preventing drug use than closeness to parent, parental rules, parent trust, strictness.
8. Living in a home without a dad has a greater correlation with suicide among teenagers than any other factor
9. Among pre-school children admitted as psychiatric patients…80% came from homes without fathers
10. The amount of time a father spends with a child is one of the strongest predictors of the child’s ability to empathize as he gets older

Source : Farrell, W & Gray, J ( 2019). The Boy Crisis: Why our boys are struggling and what we can do about it.