One of the most disturbing news stories last week was the news from the NSPCC via their What Boys Talk About To Childline report that the number of boys calling their Childline has more than doubled in the past five years.
Their key findings included:-
Between 2002/03 and 2007/08, the annual number of boys counselled by ChildLine more than doubled, from 24,823 to 58,311.
The boy-to-girl ratio of callers has increased from one boy to every four calls from girls, to one in very two.
Bullying was the single biggest reason for boys calling.
Disturbingly, there was a high number of boys reporting sexual abuse and the number of boys ringing because they were depressed, lacked self-esteem or lonely had increased fivefold.
On the latter point, the seriousness of male depression is one that continually is overlooked not just because of the implications for the boys who call but also because I would suspect it is one of the main reasons for the increase in bullying being seen in schools and has lead to more calls.
Why is there an increase in bullying, perhaps it is because those bullies are also lacking in self esteem and I suspect this is in some part due to the lack of progress they make at schools with their exam results. Is it because of the general debasement of men in UK society that instead of finding ways to channel their testosterone into learning or being seen as role models, they take it out on other boys. There is no outlet for them and society, the media, the state and The Government do not seem to care.
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I would expect fatherlessness was perhaps as big a factor as the issues you have highlighted. Though it is obvious that if schools are rigged against boys then they're undoubtedly going to become more frustrated and angry and take such anger out on others.
Posted by: John Kimble | Monday, 03 August 2009 at 03:56