Boys show evidence of pulling away from engagement with the real world well before the mental health declines of the 2010s. For boys, their time spent with friends started declining in the early 2000s, with an acceleration after 2010. Girls’ rates were flatter until 2011, with a decline after that. Consider also the response to this statement: “People like me don’t have much of a chance for a successful life.” Only 5% of American girls used to agree with that statement back in the 1970s, and there was essentially no change until the early 2010s, as you can see in Figure 7.1. But for boys, the
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