From being excitable, outgoing, affectionate children, they can change into sullen, introspective, monosyllabic zombies too embarrassed to step out the front door with their parents. Sometimes it seems as if they belong to a secret club with a language of its own. Perhaps, but in today's fast, media-saturated world, teenage boys do not get much good press. From statistics on performance at school to drug use and suicide rates, they lead the pack at the wrong end of the field. Since 1979, the suicide rate has grown from 12 males in 100,000 to 38 in 1998 in the 15 to 24 age group.
Teenage boys are three times more likely to become regular drug users than girls.
Women have had the sexual revolution, but by all accounts boys are still stuck in a culture that pushes them towards drinking and the testosterone-pumped sporting world, where real men don't cry, and losers are scorned by the masses. At the same time, they are pelted with messages about the need to show emotion and talk about their feelings. No wonder growing up is a little confusing. Several young men gave their view of the world. Parents have no idea.