One out of four high school student relationships is suspected of involving physical abuse. The pressures to speak and act violently are everywhere. You are being taught by society to be violent. It is no secret that adolescent males often talk and act aggressively, even violently. You are becoming men.
Adult males talk and act aggressively and often violently.
Masculinity is tied to aggression. To be a man is to be in charge. In 1991, adolescent males such as yourselves are coming of age before an openly violent backdrop unmatched in our history. It is no surprise, therefore, that there is a marked increase in violent crimes committed by teenage males. In the past five years, murders, rapes and beatings by young males have risen sixty-eight per cent.