3:10 pm today

Feature interview: the 'boy' problem

From Afternoons, 3:10 pm today

Boys are in trouble with soaring rates of depression, anxiety and loneliness. This is what the statistics tell us time and again. NYU professor of developmental psychology Niobe Way sees it a little differently. We don't just have a 'boy problem' , we have a human problem. Dr Way argues we have created a culture that tells boys to lean into masculine attributes like stoicism over vulnerability, the hard over the soft. Boys tend to lose close friendships in adolescence, leading to a crisis of connection. Dr Way makes a plea for more curiosity to break down stereotypes and see the humanity in each other. Her new book is called, Rebels with a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves, and Our Culture.