"Failure to Launch" (real world edition)

Boys Adrift by Dr. Leonard Sax
Review by Ms. Carson, HHS Librarian

Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men has been sitting on my desk for a few months and I've finally gotten around to finishing it.  This is not because it isn't an engaging or thought-provoking read, it is, in fact, scarily so. 

Dr. Sax presents a very real and well-researched argument for why the "boys" (i.e.: men) of my generation (kids of the Boomers) are refusing to "grow up" and move out or move on with their lives.  For one, they don't have to.  Many are allowed (and content) to live at home and sponge off their affluent parents.  He also gives five good reasons why this continues:

1. Video Games - why bother going out and working for something in the "real world" when you can play video games in the comfort of your home and be instantly gratified when you win (and turn off the system when you don't)?
2. Teaching Methods - school kids today sit in classrooms listening to teachers, they are not engaged and focused and physically rewarded for learning.  Also, many boys thrive on competition, which has largely been weeded out of our schooling in favour of inclusive "everybody wins" efforts to preserve children's "self-esteem."
3. Prescription Drugs - more and more kids (especially boys) are being put on medicine for ADD or ADHD which saps their energy and motivation.
4. Environmental Toxins - endocrine disruptors found in modern plastics are leeching into our food and water supply, causing boys to be more infertile, overweight, and more likely to have genital abnormalities than their fathers.
5. Devaluation of Masculinity - what does it mean to be a "man" in our culture?  Homer Simpson?  50 Cent?  Most longstanding cultures, like Orthodox Jews or Native American tribes, have enduring traditions and rituals that endow men with manhood.  What are these in North American culture?  Strip clubs and playing Xbox?  Dr. Sax argues that we need adult men to step up and be role models (ahem! gentlemen) for the next generation.  That boys cannot teach themselves how to be men, as seems to be evident in a culture where a large portion of men in their 20s still live at home.

So, why was this so difficult for me to read?  Well, I have a son.  I have male friends in their late 20s and 30s that still live at home.  I am a librarian in a high school filled with adolescent boys.  I have a responsibility to help educate (not alienate) this next generation to fulfill their potential.  Luckily, Dr. Sax, has outlined in Chapter 8, how we may do this. 

I highly recommend picking up this book at the HHS library and reading it yourself, even if you may not agree with everything he has to say.  It is essential for the parents of boys, young men who are feeling lost and don't know why, and educators alike.