The crisis facing American boys might trace back to one essential problem

America spends a great deal of time talking about what has gone wrong with young men.

They are falling behind in building families and in their careers.

Too many lack direction, discipline, purpose and confidence.

Many worry about pornography, loneliness, video games, declining marriage rates, anger, apathy and more.

Yet remarkably little attention is paid to a more fundamental question: Who should be forming boys to become men? For much of American history, the answer was men themselves.

DADS AREN’T OPTIONAL — AND AMERICA’S KIDS ARE PAYING THE BRUTAL PRICE Before education became synonymous with brick-and-mortar classrooms, a boy learned first from his father, then from a career mentor, from older male relatives and from other leading men in his community.

Education certainly included literacy and arithmetic, but also scripture, history, duty, courage, self-control and how a man was expected to conduct himself.

At least until reformers such as Horace Mann came on the scene.

Mann, known as "the father of American education," wanted standardized education across the country, which required enormous numbers of teachers.

Women, who were up until then typically homemakers, became the answer.

Some argued women were naturally nurturing and morally suited to shape children.

Still, others noticed something else.

Finding inexpensive labor for the growing number of schools became a priority.

Women at that time could be paid considerably less than men.