Stop it Young: The Silent Crisis Among Boys
The Dangerous Beginnings
A lot of men start young, smoking, drinking, partying, and engaging in all sorts of substance abuse. Why? Because no one ever truly cautioned them.
Their first drag of a blunt or sip of alcohol was met with, “Leave him, boys will be boys.” Fathers, the ones meant to guide the boy child, dismiss it with, “I did worse when I was your age.” Mothers, the nurturers, shrug and say, “That’s how men are.”
But just because that’s how things have been doesn’t mean that’s how they should be.
Normalizing Destruction
Normalizing harmful behaviours as “just how the male gender behaves” is part of why we are here today, a generation of men battling addictions, mental health struggles, and broken identities. By encouraging or overlooking destructive habits, we are creating men who lose themselves before they even know who they are.
That “innocent” first taste of alcohol or reckless behaviour isn’t a rite of passage. It’s a red flag. It is not what boys do. It is not what makes a man. Substance abuse is not a personality trait; it is a cry for help, often from a boy child who never received proper guidance or protection.
Emeka’s Story: A Lesson Too Late
Let’s talk about Emeka.
At 12, Emeka and his friends stumbled upon a bottle of whiskey in his home fridge. Curious and emboldened by what they had seen adults do, they drank. When Emeka’s father found out, he laughed. “You’ll get used to it,” he said.
And they did. Over time, they became boys who could finish a whole bottle. Emeka grew into a man who could drink until he passed out. He lost jobs, ruined relationships, and ultimately lost his life to liver failure caused by excessive drinking.
One day, he asked his friends if their drinking had gone too far. They laughed and mocked him. To prove he wasn’t “weak,” he drank more.
The Price of Our Silence
This is not just Emeka’s story. This is the story of what happens when we fail to intervene early, when we don’t do our part to rescue the boys.
This is what happens when we allow the male gender to be defined by emotional suppression and destructive habits. This is what happens when the boy child is raised without correction, direction, or compassion.
Worse still, when men struggle, they often suffer in silence. They’re told to “man up,” to “handle it like a man.” So they bury their pain, mask their weakness, and pretend to be okay until they’re not.
A Call to Change
It doesn’t have to be this way, We can change the narrative.
We must stop excusing abuse and bad behaviour as gender traits. We must guide the boy child with wisdom, empathy, and boundaries. We must nurture them into the kind of men who are whole, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
Rescue the Boys
Mothers, fathers, teachers, friends, this is your call to action. Correct the wrongs early. Speak life. Rescue the boys.
Join Elizaabethan Foundation in rewriting the story for the male gender, one healed heart at a time.
https://zabethan.org/rescue-the-boys/
Shaping the Future of Our Young Men
“The future of our male children is worth investing in. Let’s equip them with the skills, knowledge, and values necessary to succeed.”