The Link Between Technology and Youth Struggles

I read an article that discussed a riot that broke out in August in New York City’s Union Square.

Thousands of kids threw smoke bombs, broke windows, fought among themselves, vandalized cars, and much more. 

The police arrested 65 people, half of them under age 18.

The author pointed to “the breakdown of tribe and community, which has been happening in slow motion for several decades, as the old social fabric has steadily eroded.”

He continues, “Once upon a time, these boys would have been absorbed by other things: a boxing gym; a basketball court; a church; a job; a classroom; their apartments overflowing with siblings, cousins, friends, their mother in a cramped kitchen making dinner.

"Young men in search of themselves had a degree of freedom to try out different groups or tribes or personalities within the relatively safe confines of their community. It was hardly free of violence or danger. But there was a way things were done. There were guardrails.”

And those social structures DO work to contain certain forms of acting out. Churches, schools, ethnic communities all serve to occupy the time and energy of young men, AND young men are reluctant to act out in ways where they will be punished by the community.

How Technology Addiction Affects Mental Health

But social constraints alone are NOT enough now. Not nearly. Why?

Because these days, kids have influences that are overwhelming neighborhood and culture. Between social media, video games, and porn, the effect on kids is like a hurricane, with wind and water capable of knocking them down and drowning them.

In the old days, a child had a slight chance of running into a source of drugs, for example. But now there is a drug dealer on every corner and—most important—drug dealers (plural) in every home, in every bedroom, in every phone, everywhere.

Not drugs like heroin, cocaine, or meth. No, even worse: excitement, drama, emotional numbing.

I saw a graph that showed the increase in depression, anxiety, addictions exactly corresponds to the one of Internet and phone usage.

The Cause and the Cure

NO ONE is identifying the real cause of all acting out.

No one is preaching the solution.

Men are not taught how to be unconditionally loving, so they cannot teach unconditional love, Real Love®, to their boys.

That's the cause.

If you can’t teach a boy how to be a man, you’re not a man yourself.

And not your fault.

Where are men being taught to be men to be fathers? 

Well right now, HERE, men are being taught to be fathers. Men are being taught to be men as they study the parenting training, for example.

You'll get much more practical application through the videos on our YouTube channel in learning how to be a man yourself.

Be a man for your boys. Be a father and teach your boys how to be men.

The first hope a boy has is to be loved and taught by his father. You can learn it.