Ticking time bomb: The risks of neglecting the boy child

As Namibians, we must confront a pressing issue that deeply affects our society.Avoiding the topic won’t make the problem disappear – in fact, it will only make matters worse.Almost daily, we read about violent crimes, including rape and murder, committed by men.A few months ago, a 17-year-old killed all six of his family members. Just two days ago, a 15-year-old boy tragically took his own life.Alarmingly, boys as young as 12 to 17 have been making headlines for their alleged involvement in rape cases. To find a solution to this problem, we must trace it back to its root causes.Namibia has made significant strides in empowering women. The goal was gender parity – 50/50 – and we can proudly say that we have not only reached it but, in some cases, even surpassed it.While we applaud this accomplishment, we must recognise that in the process, the boy child has been left behind. One should realise that over-empowering one gender in relation to another will only result in the oppression of that gender, and we risk being back to square one again and creating a state of imbalance.If one were to conduct a simple search on social media for girl child empowerment initiatives, the results would yield hundreds of programmes. However, the same cannot be said for initiatives focused on the boy child.The boy child has been neglected for far too long. Yes, fathers who should guide these boys are in most cases absent, but we must remember that "an absent father was once a neglected boy who was not taught the importance of being a present father and taking care of a family". As a nation, we have a responsibility to fill this void because, right now, the streets are raising our future generations of men.Balance Namibia, as a matter of urgency, needs to implement serious initiatives to address the challenges faced by our future generation of men: one of the most critical and often overlooked issues is the education of sexual discipline and emotional intelligence. The surge in rape cases can be traced back to a lack of sexual discipline among men. We need to teach boys, from a young age, about sexual discipline and the importance of controlling their impulses.We are witnessing a generation of men lacking emotional intelligence, men who lash out and can’t control their emotions. I totally get it – no one ever taught them how.Unemployment among men is another critical factor. Men often face greater challenges in securing jobs compared to their female counterparts.It’s important to note that “a man left to fend for himself and survive will survive by any means necessary, and an angry, broke man is a danger to society.”Statistics indicate that the majority of suicide cases involve men, most prison inmates are men, a majority of mental health patients are men, a majority of drug users are men and a majority of street kids are boys – despite males being a minority in Namibia.We should keep in mind that empowered women need equally empowered men to be their partners, husbands and the fathers of their children. And let us not forget that we need these men to defend our country when the need arises. We should keep a balance – no one should be left behind. Neglecting the boy child is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.*Moses Uyepa is an advocate for the neglected boy child.

Ticking time bomb: The risks of neglecting the boy child

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-17

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Ticking time bomb: The risks of neglecting the boy child

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-17

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