Why Boys Are In Trouble

May 12, 2009

Interview with Michael Gurian, author of The Purpose of Boys.

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Mike Carruthers:
Boys (especially boys between the ages of ten and twenty) are in trouble.

Michael Gurian:
Boys are dropping out of school. Most of the student's receving D's and F's are boys. They don't see relevance especially when they get to middle school and high school. So I see a pretty sad growing trend.

Michael Gurian, author of the book The Purpose of Boys, says boys need a male figure to help guide them to a purpose.

For many of them, the dads that they really need to have when they hit ten, eleven, twelve are drifting. They may be working really hard and so they're not really active... there may be a divorce... there are many reasons that dads are not close to their kids. Secondly, the extended family and the mentors that used to substitute for dad if dad wasn't there, well a lot of them are gone.

It's so important, says Michael, to understand that boys are different than girls by nature.

Boys are driven by an aggression chemical, so they live a very high-risk life from around ten to twenty. Girls are driven by bonding chemicals and generally they will try to form communities in which to bond. Whereas boys will generally, if they form communities, form them to go take risks - three or four boys are going to go out and do crazy things and that's very natural.

In the last few decades there has been a real emphasis on equality - making men and women equal.

But what we ended up doing is forgetting that males are built a certain way. They've got this male energy, they've got hormones, they've got a male brain, they think in a very male way and they need direction.

To hear the complete unedited interview, click here.