Article critique

In the article, It’s Dangerous to Be a Boy, Michael Reichert explains the fight that an
individual has to put to survive in life if they are born male. While gender is not something that
one chooses, in Reichert’s words, there seem to be more dangers if one is born male than if he is
born female. He states that boys are more likely to die young than girls. Murray-Law (2011)
seems to agree with Reichert and asserts that men die five years earlier than women on average.
They engage in fights, smoke, use drugs, and engage in rater dangerous behavior that tends to
endanger their safety. In almost every country, girls live longer than boys, except in countries
where there is a strong son preference (Ritchie & Roser, 2019). Evidence shows that boys tend to
die younger compared to boys. Thus, Reichert’s argument is not only based on his personal
experience but also backed by facts and statistics. He, however, notes with concern that although
boys tend to engage in riskier behavior than girls, this violence, aggression and attitude are not
innate (Reichert, 2021). On the contrary, boys are socialized to be violent. They are not born
violent or rater; it is not a genetic predisposition issue. Society is to blame for how the boy-child
turns out and how he conducts himself within society. The author holds that boyhood immerses
boys into acts of violence and bullying. They bully each other as well as girls. They do so to
prove that they are strong, as weakness among boys is often ridiculed. Boys develop into adult
men and carry on with their risky behavior. They engage in riskier sex and reckless driving. Such
activities tend to endanger their safety. Ludden (2020), agrees with Reichert and asserts that
males tend to engage in riskier behaviors and the likelihood is even higher when there is an
attractive female around. As such, it appears to be a well-known fact that boys and men, in
general, engage in risky behaviors more often than women. Evidence also supports these
assertions. Based on these facts, Reichert is concerned about the welfare of boys. He

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acknowledges that the problem is sometimes bigger than parents can handle. The boys become
ungovernable as their allegiance is directed more towards their brotherhood and peers. He
however urges parents not to give up yet and ensure that they do not underestimate the power of
listening to their male children. Reichert appears to be making an appeal to parents to intervene
and try to make the environment safer for the boys to grow. They have too much power in their
hands, which has been handed over to them by society. They can and often use this power to
engage in self-destructive acts, and this explains why the author is convinced that it must be
dangerous being born a boy. Overall, Reichert reiterates the influence of authority figures in
boys’ lives who will hold them accountable and who will empower them to believe in their own
abilities without necessarily acting violent.

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References

Ludden, D. (2020). Why Do Young Men Engage in Risky Behaviors?. Psychology Today.
Retrieved 16 November 2021, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-
apes/202003/why-do-young-men-engage-in-risky-behaviors.
Murray-Law, B. (2011). Why do men die earlier?. https://www.apa.org. Retrieved 16 November
2021, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/06/men-die.
Reichert, M. (2021). oklahoman.com: Local News, Politics & Sports in Oklahoma City, OK. The
Oklahoman. Retrieved 16 November 2021, from
https://www.oklahoman.com/article/feed/9779903/its-dangerous-to-be-a-boy.
Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2019). Gender ratio. Our world in data.