The Boy Crisis

With special guest:

• Dr Warren Farrell
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

The big issues of today include ISIS on the international stage, gangs of youths in our cities and disengaged sons in our families. Our guest today has found a common link in each of these and that is the preponderance of dad deprivation for both the boys and girls involved.

Dr Farrell has been researching for 11 years in order to produce his latest book and some of his findings are eye opening. For example we discover that the downward spiral of boys in the developed world is leading to physical changes. Young men of today have a sperm count of only 50% what their grandfathers had at the same age and it is dropping by 1.5% every year.

Boys and men have become invisible as shown by reports on natural disasters when there are descriptions of women and children missing but no mention of men and boys. How is that when violence is so much greater against men that we only hear about violence towards women? There is not a single shelter available for men who suffer.

We hear about wage gaps that women are supposed to labour under but the real situation is something different. Not only is a wage differential against the law but if anyone has cause to complain it is single men. Single men on average earn less than single women.

The trend is towards women representing over 60% of University graduates. Men’s physical unqualified jobs are disappearing but the caring social jobs are multiplying and men are generally excluded from even applying for them. No wonder dads-to-be are almost twice as likely to prefer a daughter to a son. As for mums-to-be they are 24% more likely to prefer their first born to be a daughter.

These unsettling statistics are then reflected in the suicide figures around the world where as boys turn into men the rate of suicide takes off as against the rate for girls and women.

So if we accept that there is a boy crisis as a result of cultural changes what is to be done about it? This is the critical part of Dr Farrell’s book and the message that he has presented at seminars around the world. Starting in the family we need to revive the family dinner where issues can be discussed. We need to change the educational process for boys and we need to open up the options available for young men in the way that women have. For some time women have had the option to be a full-time mum, a part-time mum or a full-time worker for the family income. Men for a long time have had only one option, earn enough for the family.

Our guest today might be regarded as having controversial views but the evidence is in. We must do something about the way our society is heading and do it quickly for the benefit of not only our sons but our daughters who will most likely be looking for a good husband and father to their children. It is also important to our community generally if we are to avoid the terrorism and waste of our youth on the wrong path. This is a most important discussion that we have to engage in, starting today.

Dr Warren Farrell

Dr Warren Farrell is the author of books published in 17 languages. They include two award-winning international best-sellers: Why Men Are the Way They Are plus The Myth of Male Power. Warren has been chosen by the Financial Times as one of the world’s top 100 thought leaders.

Dr Farrell is currently the Chair of the Commission to create a White House Council on Boys and Men. He is the only man in the U.S. to have been elected three times to the Board of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in New York City. He has started more than 300 men and women’s groups, including those joined by John Lennon and his co-author Dr John Gray. Dr Farrell has appeared repeatedly on Oprah, TODAY, and Good Morning America, and been the subject of features on 20/20, in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, People, Parade, and The New York Times.

Song selection by our guest: Cat’s in the Cradle by Harry Chapin

Note: This program is an encore presentation of the one aired on 7 June 2018.

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