‘I don’t understand why my fellow men are so aggressive’

Reading the news on a daily basis as I often do, 99.9 per cent of the time there is a story of a male involved in violent drama of some kind. Rape, robbery, murder, domestic violence, traffic offences, sexual assault on children, mass shooting at United States’ schools … the list goes on. Statistics reveal that, alarmingly, more than 80 per cent of murders and robbery and other violent crime in Australia are committed by men, and more than 90 per cent of sexual assaults too.

Guys, come on! What is going on? Stop being so angry!

Sorry, I’ll say that again a bit more sotto voce. Guys, please, let’s all take a breath.

Sure, there are less-than-perfect females involved in crime, violence etc. too, but the majority of bad stuff is done by blokes. I don’t understand why.

According to my father, who told me when I was growing up, a ‘real man’ is someone who respects not just women but other men. A ‘real man’ doesn’t hit a woman ever (or a man for that matter!), no matter the situation. A ‘real man’ talks about a situation then either turns his back on it (as in ‘let’s not worry about that’ or ‘let’s agree to disagree and let’s move on’) or works it out without physical violence, aggravation or verbal abuse or any other drama. This is what my dad called a ‘compromise’.

Read more: ‘I’ve realised the importance of compromise’

Has it worked? For the most part, yes, but we’re all human after all and not perfect, right? That’s not the point, though.

My concern is that generations of parents in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the US, to name just a few countries, have grown up with what I’ll call an easy life. No major wars post-World War II (Korea and Vietnam were not quite as on our doorsteps as previous conflicts), plus a relatively easy/affluent life with the expectation in many cases that government (and/or parents) will look after them if they can’t get a job etc.

There’s also a growing disrespect for ‘authority’. A ‘F the cops!’, ‘F the government’ mentality. A surefire recipe for anarchy if ever there were one!

I’d agree it’s not just the lower so-called socio-economic sector involved in the bad stuff or maybe even what some would call immigrant cultures. I’m sure there are a great number of high flyers too, but it is still tilted towards males.

A woman should not be scared to walk 100 metres from a railway station to her home in relative darkness, her hand on a set of keys ready to jab an attacker. I wonder why we all now lock our doors and windows at home and in many cases our cars, when years ago you only did that if you were going away on holiday!

If the politically-correct pundits want equality for all genders, then stop wasting our time on semantics and start educating kids from kindy up and every year to the end of school about the concept of compromise, respect for both sexes and understanding of other people’s feelings.

In time this will hopefully ensure those children grow up with — and pass on — the idea of love, peace, compromise and respect for each other. Otherwise, we really are a doomed society.

Who do you feel is responsible for educating children in the ways of respect and compromise? How do you demonstrate these qualities to your children and grandchildren?

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