10 Things Each of Us Should Know About Adolescent Boys
Published: March 8, 1999
by: Michael Gurian, Ph.D.
Adolescent boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed as emotionally disturbed than adolescent girls.
Studies show that boys' self-esteem drops as intensely in adolescence as girls' does, but the drop is less likely to be noticed in schools and at home.
Adolescent males are four times as likely to commit suicide as adolescent females.
Adolescent males are routinely found to channel other primary feelings—hurt, pain, grief—into anger.
Adolescent boys are 15 times as likely as adolescent females to be victims of violent crime. Adolescent boys now commit violent crime at a higher rate than adult offenders.
Adolescent boys are twice as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability than adolescent girls.
Adolescent boys receive consistently lower grades than adolescent girls. While female students have nearly caught up in math/science scores, adolescent boys are on average 1 and 1/2 years behind female peers in reading/writing.
Four adolescent males drop out of school for every one adolescent female.
Adolescent boys are in fewer clubs, student government, and school newspapers than adolescent girls; they make up a minority of valedictorians, salutatorians, and college scholarship winners.
Millions of adolescent boys experience post-traumatic stress due to family, cultural, and socio-economic situations. A post-traumatic boy is ten times more likely than his female peer to act out in a way that is dangerous to another person.
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