Boys struggle with concentration and discipline as college enrollment rates decline

But phones aren’t the real story, they’re just a show. All across America, something is wrong with too many of our young people. They are not stupid, and they are not desperate, but many of them have become drifting, less flexible, less consistent and less willing to take on adult responsibility when life ceases to be more negotiable than previous generations.

like University PresidentI see the consequences up close. Young people arrive with talent and ambition, but many struggle with the disciplines that make success possible, such as sustained focus, perseverance, teachability, and the maturity to control impulses rather than control them.

I’ve sat across from students who were smart enough to succeed and motivated enough to dream big—and yet were held back time and time again by the mundane responsibilities we all take for granted. They fell behind not because they lacked intelligence, but because they couldn’t sustain interest, accept feedback without taking it as a personal attack or treat deadlines as real until they actually passed. By the time the university sees this pattern, this will no longer be a campus-only problem, but one that has been years in the making.

Over-reliance on cell phones is not a big problem for young people. (Istock)

Broader evidence points in the same direction. In October 2024, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that among recent high school graduates between the ages of 16 and 24, 69.5% of young women had enrolled in college, compared to 55.4% of young men.

In 2025, Gallup reported that 25% of American men between the ages of 15 and 34 said they had felt lonely a lot in the previous day. An analysis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that labor force participation for men ages 20-24 declined from 82.6% in 2000 to 73.1% in 2022, with a further decline to 68.2% by 2032.

Higher education is a powerful path to preparation, but it is also one of many honorable paths. Our country depends on builders, tradesmen, entrepreneurs, service members, skilled workers and professionals alike. But every young person needs a path that builds discipline, competence, and purpose. When boys become men without lasting friendships, meaningful work, and mentors who not only inspire them but know their names, the consequences don’t stay private, they play out in families, workplaces, and communities that rely on dependable men.

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We should not be surprised by what we see, because our culture has weakened the conditions that help boys become men. We have mistaken love for the removal of hardship, lowered standards in the name of compassion and avoided difficult conversations in the name of sensitivity. Empathy is important, but compassion that never expects growth becomes resignation. Boys often rise or fall to meet expectations, and when expectations disappear, many of them do not grow stronger, and become fragile.

We also outsourced too much of our childhood to screens and then wondered why attention, patience, and self-control were eroded. When used without restrictions, the phone becomes a training ground for impulsiveness, distraction, and endless stimulation. A boy composed of constant gratification will suffer from the unattractive habits that adulthood requires, such as showing up, committing to difficult tasks, finishing what he starts, and doing the right thing when no one is watching.

We’ve also made a huge mistake in the way we talk about masculinity. In denouncing what is truly destructive in some expressions of masculinity, we often treat masculinity itself as questionable. Children hear what they should not be, but rarely what they should become. This void is filled with indifference, anger, or false bravado that imitates power while evading responsibility. The answer to toxic masculinity is not hostility toward masculinity. that it Noble manhoodStrength under control, courage in the service of others, self-control over appetite, and honor that needs no applause.

If we are serious about changing this, we do not need to wait for another perfect federal plan or national commission. Families, schools and churchesEmployers and civic leaders can start now to rebuild the conditions that turn boys into men. This means that mentoring has to become normal again.

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I’ve sat across from students who were smart enough to succeed and motivated enough to dream big—and yet were held back time and time again by the mundane responsibilities we all take for granted.

Every school community, church, civic club, and neighborhood should be able to say with integrity that no child grows up here alone. Boys need constant contact with good men who demonstrate integrity, hard work, self-control, and responsibility, and who challenge them, correct them, and draw them into real life through service and honest conversation.

It also means restoring norms that actually mean something, including respect for women and authority figures. Schools must enforce a code of conduct that protects learning and requires decorum. Coaches must catch talent who does not respect their teammates. Employers should reward reliability and correct immaturity. Parents should insist on household choresPunctuality and integrity at home and teaching boys early that power is never an excuse to degrade, objectify, intimidate or manipulate women.

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This is urgent, and we must stop pretending otherwise. The window to transform boys into men does not remain open forever. Habits are learned early, reinforced often, and strengthened or neglected with each passing year. If we continue to discuss this as a theory while kids continue to drift apart in real time, we will lose another generation, and reform will be longer and more difficult than prevention.

America doesn’t need more comments about youth. They need adults willing to reconstruct the circumstances that shape them. Families, churches, schools, and communities have a role, and at universities like mine, we shoulder that responsibility by helping to shape not only graduates of ability, but men of character. Do it now, before drift becomes the default and before another generation is harmed in ways we will spend decades trying to undo. We are not simply trying to transition boys into adulthood. We are trying to raise noble men.

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