America today is more divided, fearful, stressed, rude and violent. Mix this with a record number of guns in circulation, and you have a potentially lethal situation. Wis. High divorce rates and two-income families, coupled with mobility that separates children from aunts, uncles and grandparents, means young people have less adult support and supervision. Neighborhoods and communities also have eroded. When families stayed in one place longer, neighbors were more likely to know one another and look out for others' children.
Television increasingly fills the youths' hours.
Hollywood has scripted in more murders and gunplay over the years to maintain market share in an expanding medium. But William Pollack says showing violence isn't the problem. Something inside them has to make that happen. Boys in turmoil Pollack's studies reveal that boys are in turmoil because of conflicting expectations. They showed some kind of pain that nobody dealt with, or they bragged that they were going to hurt someone.