The decline of the Boy Child and possible solutions

In Kenya, we are experiencing an increase in the number of boys dropping out of school. During a typical evening lecture session in campuses across Nairobi, most of the occupants taking these classes are women, which begs the question; where are their counterparts? Furthermore, crime rate is on the rise and the highest number of individuals behind bars mostly consists of young men. The menace of Drug and Substance abuse has never reached alarming levels as the situation stands currently. We are on the brink of a crisis if stakeholders do not make an effort to mitigate this ticking time bomb. Stakeholders in this context include the family unit, religious and learning institutions, policy makers, mentors and generally the society as a whole.

I have mentioned on different platforms that we lose objectivity when we start this conversation by arguing that the empowerment of the Girl Child came at the expense and detriment of the Boy Child. The crisis we are facing falls squarely on the failure of the men in society not playing their roles as father figures. There has always been a misconstrued notion that the measure of a man depends on his financial capabilities. Due to this social construct, for years we have witnessed men perfect the art of making money while unconsciously disregarding the basic element of spending time with their families and specifically mentoring the Boy Child. The younger men have picked up this trend and are participating in "Get-Rich-Quick-Schemes" to fulfil the misconstrued assumption that finances define them.