Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men | 
 enlarge | Author: Leonard Sax
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 2619
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0465072097
Dewey Decimal Number: 371.823
EAN: 9780465072095
ASIN: 0465072097
Publication Date: August 13, 2007
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Condition: Over 600,000 Feedbacks Posted!!! BRAND-NEW IN-HOUSE READY TO SHIP!!! NOT A REMAINDER, BARGAIN OR BOOK CLUB BOOK!!! WE ARE A FIVE-STAR SELLER!!!
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Product Description
Something scary is happening to boys today. From kindergarten to college, they are less resilient and less ambitious than they were a mere twenty years ago. As for young men, it turns out the film Failure to Launch is not far from the truth. Fully one-third of men ages 22-34 are still living at home with their parents-about a 100 percent increase in the past twenty years. Boys nationwide are increasingly dropping out of school; fewer are going to college; and for the first time in American history, women are outnumbering men at undergraduate institutions three to two. Parents, teachers, and mental health professionals are worried about boys. But until now, no one has come up with good reasons for their decline-and, more important, with workable solutions to reverse this troubling trend. Now, family physician and research psychologist Dr. Leonard Sax delves into the scientific literature and draws on his vast clinical experience to propose an entirely original view of why boys and young men are failing in school and at home. He argues that a combination of social, cultural, and biological factors is creating an environment that is literally toxic to boys, ranging from environmental estrogens to the over-prescription of ADHD drugs. And he presents practical solutions-from new ways of controlling boys’ use of video games, to innovative (and workable) education reforms.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
 Completely New Ideas July 22, 2008
The idea that boys are in trouble was a completely new idea to me. I have always heard about girls needing help with self-esteem and acedemics (like science & math). But boys in trouble . . . nope, never heard of it. My sister recommended this book because I have a young son and it was an EYE OPENER!
MUST READ - for partents of boys and girls. Very, very easy read and it will change how you look at our children and gender forever.
Fabulous! Well written. June 14, 2008
The book was fabulous! Well written and supported by research, not another opinion book, very logically persuasive. His supported ideas regarding the reasons our young boys are becoming unsuccessful, unmotivated, and underachieved are quite correct! We discussed these matters in book group and were greatly motivated to make changes within our own families which Dr. Sax suggested.
 Where is the next chapter June 9, 2008
This book identifies a number of serious issues in our educational systems and culture which make it difficult for boys to grow up motivated and with self discipline. What it does not do is identify concrete steps to help with boys who are already adrift- those who have been raised in this less than perfect environment and are struggling as young adults. While the identification of preventative measures is admirable, the book sorely lacks solid guidance to address the numbers of young men who have been damaged by the issues identified.
Best Teen Boy Book Ever Written!!!!!!!! June 9, 2008
This is the best, most sensible book ever written about underachieving teenage boys. It is well written, easy to read, and easy to understand. All the indicators have been right under our noses for years but to see them summed up in print by authority on the subject is both enlightening and empowering. If you have an underachiever please, please read this book!!
A Must-Read For Parents of Boys June 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Something strange is going on with boys today. My memories of boyhood revolve around the great outdoors--running through fields with hockey stick guns, climbing trees, playing any and every sport, getting sunburns, heatstroke, ticks, sprained ankles and all the other bumps and bruises guaranteed to come to an active, rambunctious boy. Though today I live in a neighborhood filled with boys, rarely do I see them out and about; rarely do I see them engaging in the activities we'd expect of them. Something has changed. So many boys are inactive and unmotivated.
The changes go deeper than just the activities of young boys. "Fully one-third of men ages 22-34 are still living at home with their parents--about a 100 percent increase in the past twenty years. Boys nationwide are increasingly dropping out of school; fewer are going to college; and for the first time in American history, women are outnumbering men at undergraduate institutions three to two." This lack of activity or lack of motivation seems to continue through life. Parents, educators and doctors are concerned.
Leonard Sax is a family physician and a research psychologist who has witnessed this change. He has seen it in a close and personal way through his busy medical practice. In his book Boys Adrift Dr. Sax offers his explanation as to why boys and men are failing in school and at home.
He narrows in on five factors: changes in educational models; video games; medications for ADHD; endocrine disruptors; and a lack of good role models. Schools, he says, have begun to focus on academics at too early an age, leaving boys hating education from their earliest days. Programs that focus more on fun and less on academics up to age seven or eight would reap educational dividends. Important also is the distinction between learning as merely collecting facts and learning as experience. Regarding video games he believes that boys today are dedicating far too much time to this form of entertainment. As boys play these games they gain false perceptions of power and inadvertently remove themselves from reality until eventually they prefer the world of video games over the real world. ADHD is vastly over-diagnosed and huge numbers of boys are given medications they simply do not need. These medications have been proven to change the way boys develop and do far more than simply calm down hyperactive children. Endocrine disruptors, and especially artificial estrogens found in plastic bottles and other similar products, are delaying boys' development (while accelerating girls' development) and contributing to many associated problems. And finally, boys are suffering from a distinct lack of good and manly role models, both in their homes and in their communities. Each of these five areas receives a chapter-length treatment and in each case the arguments are convincing. Yet the book does not end with only this list of problems, but with the author's attempts to suggest solutions.
While Dr. Sax does not claim to be a Christian, he shares many things that could easily have their roots in the Bible. For example, in discussing problems with discipline he writes, "Thirty years ago, if a boy cursed his parents and spit at his teacher, the neighbors might say that the boy was a disobedient brat who needed a good spanking. Today, the same behavior from a similar boy might well prompt a trip to the pediatrician or the child psychiatrist. And the doctor is likely to `diagnose' the boy with Conduct Disorder (DSM-IV 312.82) or Oppositional-Defiant Disorder (DSM-IV 313.81). The main criterion for both these `disorders' is disobedient and disrespectful behavior that persists despite parental efforts.' Is there really much of a difference between a neighbor saying `That boy is a disobedient brat,' and a doctor saying `That boy has oppositional-defiant disorder'? I think there is. If another parent whom you trust and respect suggests that your son is a disobedient brat who needs stricter discipline, you just might consider adopting a tougher parenting." In a similar vein, he writes about problems inherent in making behavioral issues into medical issues. "You can see how the assignment of responsibility differs in these two cases. If your son is a disobedient brat, then your son and you (his parents) have to take responsibility. You have to own up to the problem. You will probably have to make some changes. But if your son has a psychiatric diagnosis, that means he has a chemical imbalance in his brain. He-and you-are no more to blame for that imbalance than if your son were diagnosed with childhood leukemia, right? Psychiatrist Jennifer Harris recently pointed out that today, `many clinicians find it easier to tell parents their child has a brain-based disorder than to suggest parenting changes.'"
While Christian readers may find it a bit difficult to read about Dr. Sax's comparisons between humans and their "primate cousins," this is one of the book's few missteps. It is well-researched and thoroughly convincing. Though some of the five concerns Sax lays out may be more important or urgent than others, and while there are many boys for whom only a few of the five will apply, I believe any parent will benefit from reading this book. The lessons he shares are applicable to children who are in public or Christian schools as much as to children who are homeschooled. Dr. Mohler calls Boys Adrift "essential reading" for parents and I am inclined to agree. If you are a parent blessed with boys or if you are a young man yourself, buy this book and read it. You won't be sorry you did.
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