Young men aren't failing America — America is failing to give them purpose

What could 2 men from wholly antithetic generations, politics, and backgrounds perchance stock successful common? A communal interest for America’s aboriginal and the young men increasing up successful it.

Our shared lived experience—an acquisition that we’re seeing go little frequent—is driving our interest arsenic we spot it determination from the norm to the exception. As young men, some of america volunteered. It instilled in america a consciousness of pride, duty, individuality and connection. For Neil, it was a summertime with a nonprofit to prosecute with kids successful a tiny low-income sportfishing colony successful Labrador, Canada. For Alex, it was clip spent arsenic a Boy Scout learning the powerfulness of corporate enactment and shared responsibility to community. 

These work experiences were formative successful shaping who we are. However, arsenic volunteering declines and isolation increases, opportunities for transportation done work are not top of caput for astir young American men. 

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Across classrooms, workplaces and online, we’re seeing what happens erstwhile young men go untethered from their communities. The information unsocial tells a almighty story. Among 18-35 year-olds, men are significantly much likely to consciousness lonely compared to their pistillate counterparts. Fifteen percent of young men today report having nary adjacent friends, compared to 3 percent successful the 1990s. Perhaps astir alarmingly, suicide rates among men successful 2021 were four times higher than those of women. And the most communal past words men usage to picture themselves earlier they instrumentality their ain lives are "worthless" and "useless." 

No situation tin beryllium solved overnight, but the choices we marque close present volition find the aboriginal we manus disconnected to all young people.  (iStock)

People are taking note, but we need to instrumentality action. This year, California launched a statewide inaugural to radiance a spotlight connected this increasing exigency and, much importantly, an unexpected solution: volunteering.

Volunteering gives men a structured way to physique relationships and consciousness portion of thing larger than themselves. Research shows that young radical who unpaid amusement importantly amended well-being. Youth who unpaid person 25% little anxiety, are 35% little apt to person behavioral problems, and are 66% much apt to beryllium "flourishing" compared to non-volunteers.

IF YOU WANT TO HELP AMERICA, START SERVING

Yet successful 2023, only 34.1%  of young radical ages 16 to 17 volunteered in the past year. Consider a recent NBC poll in which Gen Z men ranked making their household oregon assemblage arrogant and utilizing their talents to assistance others among the apical 5 markers of success. Volunteering is 1 of the fewer cost-free ways to unrecorded retired these values and make intent and transportation arsenic a result.

Volunteers invited assemblage members during an outdoor foundation and outreach event. (iStock)

So, what indispensable we bash to reconnect young men to assemblage done service? We need to rebuild the civic infrastructure astir volunteering truthful that radical understand where and how to get involved. We besides need to amusement young radical that volunteering isn’t conscionable bully for their communities – it’s profoundly bully for them too.

Points of Light recovered that 44% of radical who privation to unpaid are unsure however to get involved and wherever to find opportunities, oregon accidental they cannot find opportunities adjacent wherever they unrecorded oregon work. 

Every young antheral should person entree to opportunities that foster purpose, pridefulness and belonging.

That’s wherefore Points of Light is calling for a corporate nationalist response—to elevate the worth of volunteering, trim these barriers by gathering young radical wherever they are, and yet treble the fig of volunteers by 2035.

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Already, the organization—whose ngo is to summation volunteerism astir the world—engages 4 cardinal volunteers annually. But expanding our unpaid infrastructure done nationalist and backstage concern is captious to achieving this goal.

Every young antheral should person entree to opportunities that foster purpose, pridefulness and belonging. That could mean corporations putting existent dollars and clip wherever it matters, offering paid unpaid hours for workers to mentor and service alongside young men. It could mean schools–from superior to post-secondary–community centers and younker organizations strengthening the programs that marque volunteering accessible: from service-learning successful classrooms to after-school and weekend opportunities.

As America approaches its 250th birthday, it raises the question: what benignant of federation bash we privation the adjacent procreation to inherit? How tin we guarantee it’s 1 that doesn’t leave anyone behind? 

Governments, institutions and leaders indispensable travel unneurotic to marque work cardinal to American life. In turn, this volition physique a civilization wherever a procreation of young men feels connected to 1 another, arrogant of their roles and rooted in the communities they serve.

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No situation tin beryllium solved overnight, but the choices we marque close present volition find the aboriginal we manus disconnected to all young people. We tin either proceed to ticker our young men drift further into isolation, oregon we tin connection them a beingness raft—an opportunity that we cognize volition work.

Together, we tin assistance the adjacent procreation of young men find intent and belonging—one enactment of work astatine a time.

Neil Bush is an planetary businessman and serves arsenic seat of the Points of Light committee of directors, wherever helium expands his father’s (President George H.W. Bush) imaginativeness of inspiring, equipping and mobilizing volunteers to summation capableness for captious societal services and for uncovering innovative solutions that assistance individuals, fortify families, and renew communities. Neil chairs some the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and the Bush China U.S. Relations Foundation and serves connected the advisory boards of the Bush School of Government and Public Service astatine Texas A&M, the Houston Salvation Army and the Asia Society Texas Center.