Boys' suicide crisis in USA

Kleinfeld points out.

In her review, she cites data from the National Center for Health Statistics to show the "alarming" suicide rate among boys. From 1995 to 2005, the rate of suicide among 20 to 24 year-old boys was 20.7 suicides per 100,000, while the rate for girls was just 3.5 per 100,000. Among 15 to 19 year olds, the rates were 12.5 per 100,000 for boys and 2.8 per 100,000 for girls.

And the difference between the gender suicide rates is rising. "In 1933 the young male suicide rate was 1.54 times higher than for young females. In 2005 the male rate was 4.63 times higher than the female rate," Kleinfeld said.

In general, suicide is a problem that is downplayed in our society, experts say. In fact, suicides are more common than homicides. Overall, the U.S. murder rate is about 6 per 100,000; for suicides it's 10.8. It's higher among adult men than women.

"There’s no doubt that in relation to suicide, boys and young men are in a crisis," said Pollack. "And almost nothing has been done to remediate it from the gender perspective."

Unlike Kleinfeld, Pollack does not feel that the word "crisis" should be avoided when discussing boys' issues.

"The term crisis tends to sometimes bring more heat than light to the conversation because it seems as though someone is saying that boys have critical problems and girls don’t, which is ridiculous," Pollack said. "But the crisis about boys is, their problems remain more hidden, misunderstood, or attention is not paid to them in a positive manner."
http://www.livescience.com/5505-society-ignoring-boy-problems.html