Hey there. It's Gerd here, writing to you from my desk at FreeAstroScience headquarters—which is really just my apartment, a cup of cold coffee, and a whole lot of questions I can't shake.
You know what keeps me up at night? It's not the physics problems I'm trying to simplify for our readers. It's the silence. The deafening quiet around something that should be screaming from every headline: young people are drowning, and we're all just watching.
Let me hit you with three ideas you've probably heard before. Maybe you even believe them.
First: "Young people are just lazy. They don't want to work hard like we did." Second: "It's just a phase. Every generation thinks they have it tough." Third: "They spend too much time on their phones. That's the real problem."
Here's what I discovered when I dug into the data, read the stories, and talked to people my age across Italy and beyond: all three of those ideas are complete rubbish. And here's the number that proves it—suicide rates among young men have risen by one third since 2010 . That's not laziness. That's desperation.
The Weight of an Impossible Future
I'm twenty-something, sitting in this wheelchair, running a science education group, and I'm supposed to tell you about the future with enthusiasm. But let me be honest—most days, the future feels like a locked door with no key.
When I talk to my peers across Italy, I hear the same refrain. It's not about wanting a "passport to productivity" or another unpaid internship . We're asking for something simpler and infinitely more ambitious: the real possibility of building a future that isn't founded on individual gamble .
Think about that phrase for a moment. Individual gamble. That's what our lives have become—a casino where the house always wins.
Work doesn't mean just a salary anymore. It means the possibility of affording a home . Time to actually live rather than just exist . The freedom to choose where you stay without being forced to flee your own country .
The smell of my morning espresso should remind me of possibility. Instead, it reminds me I'm lucky to afford it.
The Material Reality of Youth Discomfort
Here's what precarious work actually looks like on the ground: fixed-term contracts that end just when you've settled in, false autonomy that makes you an "independent contractor" with none of the actual independence, rhythms that demand you're always available, and salaries that allow neither independence nor the ability to plan beyond next month .
Is this serious? Absolutely. This material condition makes everything else fragile—your studies, your relationships, your mental health . You can't build resilience on quicksand.
I've watched brilliant classmates abandon their master's degrees. Not because they weren't smart enough. Because they couldn't afford to eat while studying. The texture of cheap pasta becomes familiar when you're choosing between textbooks and groceries.
We're not asking for luxury. We want more time for personal life and family . That's not laziness—it's a demand for basic human dignity. Work needs rethinking: more humane hours, flexibility as choice rather than blackmail, actual rights, accessible welfare .
Where the Crisis Actually Lives
You want to know where youth discomfort originates? Right here: exhaustion, distrust, disillusionment, the sensation of never having solid ground to build on .
And here's what really gets me—this isn't just an Italian problem. In the United States, one in ten young men aged 20-24 is doing nothing—neither enrolled in school nor working . That's double the rate from 1990 . Double.
But there's something even more disturbing beneath the statistics. Twenty-five percent of boys and men aged 15-34 experienced significant loneliness on the previous day when surveyed . One in seven young men reports having no close friends—up from just 3 percent in 1990 .
Read that again. No. Close. Friends.
Two-thirds of men under 30 believe "no one cares if men are okay" . That's not a statistic. That's a scream into the void.
What Universities Can—and Must—Do
Universities can help us find work, certainly. But they mustn't stop building critical thinking . We don't want campus transformed into a placement agency. We want institutions that give us tools to understand and transform the work world, not just enter it in silence .
Hyper-specialization without critical thought? That's the perfect recipe for becoming obsolete immediately .
So what do we actually need? Let me break it down because this matters:
First, an anti-exploitation pact on internships. No more agreements with organizations that don't pay, don't train, or replace actual jobs with infinite "curriculum-building" experiences . Mandatory transparency on tasks, mentorship, compensation, and prospects .
Second, recognition of work during studies. Academic credits for relevant experiences, class schedules compatible with working, legal support desks against undeclared work, targeted scholarships .
Third, ethical and diverse placement. Not just big tech companies, but the third sector, public administration, cooperatives, culture, research . Universities can bridge those creating social value and those seeking dignified work .
Fourth, transversal skills. Workshops on labor rights, health and safety, unionization, negotiation . The minimum alphabet for not entering disarmed .
Fifth, mobility as possibility, not flight. Scholarships for paid internships abroad, reentry and reintegration programs . If we leave, it should be choice. If we return, there should be a bridge .
Sixth, real data. Public monitoring of employment and salaries, not brochures . Without truth, there's no informed choice .
Finally, housing and services. There's no access to work without the possibility of studying .
The sound of keyboard clicks fills my apartment. It's 2 AM. I'm still working because tomorrow I have physical therapy, then meetings, then more writing. This is what flexibility actually means when you're disabled and self-employed—endless work masked as freedom.
The Civic Crisis Demanding Civic Response
But here's what fascinates me as someone who studies patterns and systems: we've been here before.
In the early 1900s, America had a "boy problem" . Boys on streets causing trouble. Boys becoming truants. Boys caught up in crime . The disruptions of technological change, immigration, and growing socioeconomic inequality sound familiar? They should.
The policy response was important—universal public schooling, for example. But the civic response proved extraordinary . In less than a decade, most major child-serving organizations were founded: Big Brothers (1904), Federated Boys' Clubs (1906), Boy Scouts (1910), Girl Scouts (1912), and 4-H (1912) .
Today's male crisis mirrors this. Since 2010, as I mentioned, suicide rates among young men have climbed by a third . The share of college degrees going to men has fallen to 41 percent—lower than women's share in 1970 .
This isn't about competition between genders. Governor Wes Moore said it perfectly: "As the father of a son and a daughter, I want both of my children growing up with all their God-honoring and God-given opportunities" .
But here's what we've lost: civic institutions that specifically serve young men. Most organizations formed during the last boy crisis have gone coed . The YMCA banned gender discrimination in 1978 and now has mostly female members, employees, and volunteers . Boy Scouts no longer exists—it's now Scouting America, with around 20 percent girls . Meanwhile, Girl Scouts remains single-sex with over a million members . There are 50 percent more girls than boys in scouting overall .
I'm not arguing against inclusion. I'm pointing out an unintended consequence.
The Mentor Gap Nobody Discusses
Only 20 percent of young 4-H volunteers are men . There are almost twice as many women as men signing up through Big Brothers Big Sisters . Result? Almost twice as many teenage boys as girls on the waiting list for mentors—waiting sometimes up to a year .
Having a mentor is associated with a remarkable 10 percent rise in college enrollment . We're systematically disadvantaging boys by starving them of the mentorship they need.
Former President Barack Obama recently said: "As a society, we have to create more structures for boys and men to have guidance, rituals, frameworks, encouragement" . He suggested that community men should act as "sort of elders to boys, so they're not just looking at one particular role model, but many" .
It takes a village to raise a child. But some villagers must be men .
The radiator hisses in my apartment. Winter's coming again. Another year of watching friends leave Italy for opportunities elsewhere. Another year of wondering if we'll ever build something sustainable here.
Technology: Governor or Governed?
Do we believe in "new labor markets" with high technological content? Only when technology improves life rather than consuming it . Without rules, it becomes an accelerator of inequality . Universities must form people capable of governing processes, not suffering them .
This connects to something profound that the Italian students manifesto recognizes: work can bend even the most rigid decision-making processes . People who work, organizing themselves, shift history .
Here's where universities meet their real purpose: forming conscious workers capable of reading the present . Work isn't just punching a clock. It's strength, community, responsibility .
What This Crisis Really Demands From All of Us
If universities have the courage to hold together employability and critical spirit, technology and rights, we won't just "find a position." We'll finally build a place worth staying .
But this extends beyond institutions. As a society, we need what the Progressive Era delivered: not just public policy but equally important action from civic institutions .
We need what Governor Gavin Newsom described in his recent executive order: a comprehensive plan to tackle "California's growing crisis of connection and opportunity for men and boys" . He said the order was "about showing every young man that he matters and there's a path for him of purpose, dignity, work and real connection" .
Michigan, Utah, and Maryland have announced similar initiatives .
The challenge facing boys and young men today may appear different from a century ago . The trouble comes from algorithms rather than alleyways . But results are comparable: schools struggling to keep boys engaged, wages stagnating for men without degrees, marriage rates collapsed in lower-income communities, job growth in female-skewed sectors like health care .
We have too many lost boys desperate for positive male role models .
The Call That Needs Answering
At the same time, men in their twenties and thirties face higher social isolation risk than female peers . Many are hungry for purpose and opportunities to contribute . Getting more men serving as mentors, coaches, and tutors benefits both the boys they serve and gives their own lives more structure and meaning .
A century ago, men stepped up to build spaces for boys and were celebrated for doing so . The need today is just as urgent . We have boys seeking guidance. We have men seeking purpose. We have civic institutions desperate for male volunteers .
Today's boy crisis demands a new call to men—and for men to answer that call .
My coffee's gone cold again. The cursor blinks on the screen. Outside, Padova sleeps while I write these words for you.
What You Can Actually Do (Starting Today)
Whether you're a student feeling this discomfort, a parent worried about your kids, an educator watching this unfold, or a professional with time to give—you can act.
If you're struggling: Know that your exhaustion is real. Your need for stability isn't weakness. Your desire for work that allows you to live isn't entitlement. Connect with others. Organize. Speak. Your voice matters more than you know.
If you're a man with time: Volunteer. Coach. Mentor. Tutor. Your local community has boys desperately needing what you can offer. Big Brothers Big Sisters is waiting for you. So are sports teams, after-school programs, community centers.
If you're an educator or administrator: Advocate for the changes outlined here. Push your institution to prioritize anti-exploitation in internships, recognize work during studies, develop ethical placement programs, teach labor rights.
If you're a parent: Support safe environments and activities when they benefit your son or daughter.
If you're an employer: Offer dignified work with actual futures attached. Pay interns. Provide mentorship. Create pathways rather than dead ends.
The Revolution Happening Quietly
There's something happening beneath the surface of despair. Young people organizing. Students writing manifestos. Governors acknowledging crisis. Institutions beginning—finally—to listen.
At FreeAstroScience, we simplify complex scientific principles so everyone can understand them. But some truths don't need simplifying. Young people are suffering. The material conditions of our lives are crushing us. The social fabric supporting young men is shredding.
And yet.
We're still here. Still writing manifestos. Still starting organizations. Still pushing for change. Still believing that work can shift history when we organize around it .
The laptop screen glows in the darkness. My wheels creak as I shift position. These words will reach you wherever you are, whoever you are.
This isn't just about policy or institutions. It's about recognizing that we've abandoned a generation to individual gamble when they deserved collective support. It's about understanding that youth discomfort isn't teenage angst—it's a rational response to impossible conditions.
The question isn't whether young people are struggling. The data screams that we are.
The question is whether you'll answer the call to do something about it.
Gerd Dani
President, FreeAstroScience
Where complex scientific principles meet simple truths
P.S. I want to hear from you. How has youth discomfort shown up in your life or the lives of people you love? What are you doing about it? Drop your thoughts in the comments. We're building something here, and your voice matters.
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