Sunday, February 20, 2022

Bill Crawford: Boys & Men Failing in Mississippi Too?

 “Where have all the real men gone?” asked Enterprise-Journal Publisher Jack Ryan in a recent editorial.

He quoted entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang who said, “Here is one of the biggest problems facing America: Boys and men across all regions and ethnic groups have been failing, both absolutely and relatively for years.”

Huh?

Yang had numbers to back up his claim – boys are more than twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADHD), five times more likely to spend time in a juvenile facility, and less likely to finish high school. Adult men, Yang said, now make up only 40.5% of college students, one-third of men are either unemployed or out of the workforce, and more men age 18 to 34 are living with their parents rather than with romantic partners. 

Yang aligns male failure nationally with the decline of manufacturing jobs from the economic transformation to technology from traditional industry, increasing numbers of father-less single-parent homes, and the decline in marriage rates.

Ryan wrote, “If Yang’s statistics are anywhere near accurate, it’s going to take a long time to get a grip on these problems.”

Hmmm.

Comparative statistics for Mississippi were hard to find. I could not find current ADHD data for the state but research shows boys are more susceptible. A Mississippi Today article reported 92% of incarcerations in Mississippi are male, but I could find no data on juvenile incarcerations by gender. Mississippi Department of Education data showed the male high school graduation rate at 83.8% compared to 91.6% for females (the drop-out rate comparison was 11.6% to 6.1%).

Data from the IHL and MCCB web sites showed just 40.6% of enrollment in Mississippi colleges and universities to be male (only MSU had more men than women). Census data showed 40.8% of males over the age of 16 not in the labor force or unemployed. I could not find data on young men living with parents, but PEW Trusts reported 47% of young adults living with parents last year.

Humph. Mississippi seems pretty much in line with Yang’s numbers. No doubt, as Ryan concluded in his editorial, “It’s time for good men to step up,” if this decline is to be addressed.

So, what does that mean? 

Yang’s solutions included modeling more schools after those that do a good job leading boys, expanding vocational education, more assistance for organizations like Big Brothers, and subsidized marriage counseling.

That and more are needed. But where in Mississippi are the non-political, forward-looking leaders capable of making such things happen?  

They better appear soon. Other transformational and societal trends will only make the future harder for unmotivated, uneducated, and untrained males – the rise of automation and AI, ongoing talent migration from rural areas to crowded urban areas, waning work ethic, the impacts of climate change, continued disruption of core social institutions such as family, school, and church, and so on.

Hmmm.

Maybe all we can do is what the Bible urges us to do anyway – “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,” Hebrews 10:24.

Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.

Kingfish note: There is one piece of information missing from this column.  Hmmm.... what could it be? The unwed birthrate in Mississippi which just happens to be the biggest factor to dooming boys to failure in school and a life of crime.  This website reported nearly four years ago: 

A high unwed birthrate continues to plague Mississippi as it leads the nation in unwed births.  The State Department of Health's 2016 report states that 53.2% of all babies born in the Magnolia State have unwed mothers.  The overall unwed birthrate rose from 45% in 1997 to 53.2% in 2016.  Unwed white births increased the most - from 20% in 1997 to 34% in 2012 while the black unwed birthrate only increased from 75% to 80% in the same period of time.
In some Mississippi counties, the unwed birthrate among blacks is 90%.  

Simply put, the staggering unwed birthrate in Mississippi is something no one, and I mean no one, wants to discuss while they whine about its effects.   


24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Donna Ladd kicked your racist ass off her site. I hope she put the heel and everything in your ass. Lolololololol.

Anonymous said...

The unwed birth rate is not an accident or unplanned pregnancy in most cases within the black community.

These are intentional acts to generate an income resulting from the government assistance awaiting a single mother and her child. It's a way of life that dooms all of those involved.

You want to reduce the unwed birth rate?

Cut back the cash for the single mothers and the "accidents" will get reduced.



Anonymous said...

Maybe stop rewarding lazy, uneducated people with taxpayer money

Anonymous said...

11:33. Did you have anything relevant to the subject of the article to say? Or is your idea of a useful comment merely an insult? Insults usually are the response you get from ignorant people, you know?

Anonymous said...

Ronald Reagan started this myth, and did more to increase unwed mother poverty family dysfunction than anyone else in the 20th century (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/07/29/reagan-welfare-cuts-found-to-worsen-families-poverty/077278f9-a875-4791-9c34-d1cf3cd148b5/). I suggest reading The Turnaway Study by Marjorie Turner Green who did excellent research on lack of reproductive health care access and the impact on stability of marriage/relationships, educational achievement of mothers, economic success of mothers, and educational achievement of children. We can make all this much better, we just need to do it.

Anonymous said...

February 20, 2022 at 11:33 AM = OCD

Anonymous said...

We've raised a generation of drug-heads, and they act accordingly. They are prescribed amphetamines for ADD, etc., when they are children, and the results are predictable.

Someone with a long history in the construction business told me that meth and crack have taken out the white male manual labor force. If it wasn't for Mexicans, nothing would get built, he said.

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine Marjorie Turner Green having anything to do with the Turnaway Study (which is very flawed in its design, and really has no bearing on this discussion anyway-this discussion centers around children who are already born). Maybe you're looking for Diana Green Foster?

Despite BLM's stated goal of eliminating the advantages of children growing up in traditional two-parent families, the biggest single statistical predictor of whether a child will grow up in poverty is whether the father lives in the same home that the child does. The result of that fact is that lifestyle and reproductive choices by these parents are made that shift the cost of providing for these children from the families to the public in the form of various kinds of welfare. And a large segment of the population thinks that this is something owed to them, and that it's perfectly normal. OK, how about if you're an never-married woman with a child who receives no form of child support from the child's father and you have no job, then any government subsidies do not increase with any additional children. Sounds like a plan?

Anonymous said...

Emasculation and marginalization of the male has been going on for years. It's a sure way to create a permanent and dependent underclass which empowers the "leadership" class. This is especially true in the Black community where the cult of Democratic leadership has embraced all things non-family for years. The best example is the rise of the anti-family "Black Lives Matter" which openly seeks to destroy the foundation of Black stability and the role of Black men as responsible leaders. The numbers you quote are not accidental and they have dire consequences now and in the bleak future if the trends are allowed to continue. Men must be Men or there is no order.

Anonymous said...

12:55 This may be hard for you to wrap your head around but poverty did not create this situation. In fact government "help" has made it worse.

Anonymous said...

Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson deliberately engineered it so he'd have the women's vote forever.... subsidizing single mothers translates to them voting for democrats (socialism) so they can live and take care of their child(ren) and not really work.... while all hidden behind "it's for the children"....so no one can question it.

Stop the government subsidies, and you'll stop single motherhood in its tracks... and fatherhood just might make a comeback, if the government would stop being daddy.

Anonymous said...

Many factors and it was kicked in late 60’s . It’s been a slow kill that is especially bad here in the USA. If 5 of 10 boys are candied …… not good for anyone but the other five. Ugly dudes now can get a date assuming the gal isn’t ummmm gay.

Unknown said...

There are several reasons for this. First, LBJ and his War on Poverty made men in several cultures, particularly the black culture, obsolete. Second, we have been told for a long, long time that each generation wants the next to have things better. "Better" has been translated into "easier". Kids for several decades have had it too easy. Life to them is about being entertained. They have never had to work, to make sacrifices. One reason we see so many suicides among young people is that they have never had to suffer. The Bible tells us in Romans: "because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. And that's the reason so many of these kids take their lives - lack of hope because they have never suffered.

Anonymous said...

Maybe all we can do is what the Bible urges us to do anyway – “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,” Hebrews 10:24.
Maybe we can also do what 1 Corinthians 6:18 commands.

Anonymous said...

Immigrant men don’t seem to be having any issues with success.

Anonymous said...

@12:34 PM
Did whatshisname get at you yesterday?

Anonymous said...


“Simply put, the staggering unwed birthrate in Mississippi is something no one, and I mean no one, wants to discuss while they whine about its effects.” This is one of the most important sentences ever written on this blog. This one issue is the driving force for increased poverty and the social problems that come with it. I am not sure how to fix it?

Anonymous said...

I agree with cutting back the free money. Many states have changed laws so that after the first child there is no more government help as a girl can choose birth control or abstinence ! All this talk from young girls about being allergic to birth control or not using this because t makes them sick, all the while choosing to bring a life into this world totally innocent MUST stop. Teaching Bible classes would be a great help in every school in the US! MS Legislators step up and change state law after 1st child out of wedlock no more $$ and see what numbers are in a few years with research!

Anonymous said...

"one-third of men are either unemployed or out of the workforce, and more men age 18 to 34 are living with their parents rather than with romantic partners."

And all some of y'all can come up with is "young people need to stop having sex." Old folks and Baptists having been trying to crack that nut for many generations, with little success.

It isn't the "welfare queens," either. Black men only make up about 14% of the total U.S. male population, so we can't really blame them for this massive trend.

White folks, maybe it's time we take a long look in the mirror on this one.

Anonymous said...

2:15 - you are incorrect. Zip Code determines poverty rate.

Anonymous said...

2:15, Marjorie Taylor Greene is the Congresswoman from Georgia. Diana Greene Foster is the author of the book on The Turnaway Study. God only knows who Marjorie Turner Green is.

Anonymous said...

Or,it be that for too many decades men have married for looks and submissiveness?

It's in the genes.

I'm always stunned when a very smart man is upset that his male children aren't doing as well in school as he did. And, then I talk to his wife and have to bite my tongue not to say, " Gee, you are lucky your boy isn't dumber".

Anonymous said...

Anyone know where I can get some Testosterone, for a friend. His level has dropped significantly and has sudden crying jags often.

Anonymous said...

11:49 You are correct ! Stop rewarding bad behavior and the bad behavior stops.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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