‘Young Men Need Your Help’ — Focus on the Family and Trail Life USA Offer Free Resource Following Boy Scout’s “Inclusive” Rebrand

Focus on the Family and Trail Life USA, a church-based, Christ-centered alternative to the Boy Scouts, are partnering up to bring families a free resource breaking down the cultural challenges facing young men.

“By just about every measure of social well-being, young males are in crisis,” the organizations wrote in a joint statement, referring to statistics showing young men are:

Significantly less likely to enroll in or graduate from college than women.
Four-times more likely to commit suicide than women.
Far more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol than women.

Young men’s social interaction has steadily decreased over three decades. Nearly half of surveyed teen males say they’ve never dated. Most report having three friends, half of what their peers reported three decades ago.

Male participation in the work force has also decreased. In 2022, economist Nicholas Eberstadt conducted a post-pandemic follow-up to his book Men Without Work, finding:

In terms of work rates for the United States today for guys, we’re at about a 1937 level, even though we’ve got over 10 million unfilled jobs in the country.
The problem is that over the past half century in the United States, the fastest growing group of guys has been workforce dropouts — prime age men neither working nor looking for work.

It’s a bleak picture — but parents are not powerless. In “Young Men Need Your Help,” Dr. Anthony Bradley, a research fellow at The Acton Institute specializing in fatherhood, youth and family, and the crisis amongst men and boys, equips parents to combat the obstacles arrayed against their sons.

The seven-part video series is particularly poignant given the Boy Scouts of America became “Scouting America” over the weekend — the logical next step in a series of moves distancing the organization from its Christian roots.

“This is about more than a name chance,” Trail Life USA wrote on Facebook. “It reflects a broader cultural shift that leaves boys unguided, ungrounded and uninspired. It denies their uniqueness and fails to provide the clarity and mentorship they need on their journey to manhood.”

And manhood, writes social research analyst Glenn T. Stanton, is not something men are born with. It must be carefully and intentionally shaped.

A boy’s transition into manhood is not…predetermined. It must be created with significant intentionality. In other words, manhood is a behavior that must be taught, and an identity that must be bestowed by a boy’s family and the larger community of men — his parents, extended family and surrounding community.

Like Focus on the Family, Trail Life USA believes — and social science proves — young boys benefit from learning and developing in single-sex spaces. Scouting America deprived boys of this opportunity by making its organization co-ed.

“The reality is that males and females are fundamentally different in many ways — physically, emotionally, and in their relationships,” Trail Life wrote on Facebook, continuing:

Pretending otherwise in the name of progress or permissiveness might be culturally acceptable, but it does both sexes a disservice. Boys and girls deserve unique programs created with their specific needs in mind.”

Trail Life endeavors to fill the gap Scouting America leaves behind, offering Boy Scout refugees boys-only opportunities to bond with their families, learn from the example of godly men, and develop a Christ-like character.

To access Dr. Bradley’s videos, and learn more about the crisis facing young men, check out the resources below.

Additional Articles and Resources

To access Dr. Bradley’s video series, click here.

To learn more about Trail Life USA, click here.

For a Christian alternative to the girl scouts, read about American Heritage Girls.

For a young women’s perspective on making boy scouts co-ed, read Girls Don’t Need to Be in the Boy Scouts

For more on the crisis facing young men, read the articles below:

The Unique Matter of Manhood

The War on Masculinity is Toxic: Exclusive Interview with Prof. Nancy Pearcy

Superman and a Culture in Need of Masculinity

Mike Rowe Unveils Cataclysmic Decline in Men’s Workforce Participation

The post ‘Young Men Need Your Help’ — Focus on the Family and Trail Life USA Offer Free Resource Following Boy Scout’s “Inclusive” Rebrand appeared first on Daily Citizen.

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