Crisis for Britain's boys left with 'no positive models of manhood

BRITAIN has become a “disaster” zone for boys and young men with too many facing educational failure and an early death, ministers have been warned.

- By David Williamson

A landmark report has laid bare an unfolding crisis and warned that Britain is suffering from an “epidemic of family breakdown”.

The Centre for Social Justice said “millions of boys” were deprived of “any positive model of manhood”.

It claimed that on “virtually every yardstick” men in this country are “falling further and further behind women”.

Former England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio has also addressed the issue, condemning a “disaster in our classrooms, prison cells and mortuaries”.

'Boys are struggling, more likely to take their lives'

Mr Dallaglio, whose charity Dallaglio Rugby Works helps children excluded from school, said: “Something is going wrong in our society when it comes to boys and young men.

“While we tiptoe around just about every other social group, when we are not taking them for granted, we treat them as the lowest of the low.

“The result is a disaster in our classrooms, prison cells and mortuaries. No boys are born bad, they’re just born into chaos.

“Young boys need positive relationships that build trust, and a constructive way to vent their energy.”