The alarming numbers tell the story.

American men are in crisis and have been for several years now.

The following statistics are from various online sources and are relative to within the past five years.

Seventy three percent of those in prisons are men. Since 1982, 103 American men have carried out mass public shootings as compared to just three women. American males have committed nearly 100 percent of the number of school shootings. Men commit suicide three and a half times more than women do, and 78 percent of those who take their own lives are middle class white men.

In fatherless homes, 28 percent of single mothers live in poverty. Ninety percent of child runaways lived with no adult man in the house. Behavioral problems in school often come from families with no dad present. Seventy-one percent of students who drop out of school and 75 percent of substance abuse problems involve youth with no father living at the residence.

More facts add to the crisis. Divorced men tend to be less active in their children’s lives, causing their sons’ behavior to worsen. In addition, alcoholism strikes twice as many men as women, and 53 percent of adult children living with their parents are males who are not financially solvent.

According to these sources, not much if anything is being done to address this disturbing phenomenon.

Most would agree that happy young males do not commit murder, become alcoholics or think about ending their own lives. Most boys and girls living with two loving parents in the home still have traumatic experiences and emotional failures, but do not become threats to themselves or to others.

Apparently, many caused social problems are by males who do not have men to teach them good coping skills.

Professor of Sociology at Princeton University Matthew Desmond said, “You learn how to cope from those who are coping.” Children, and in particular school-aged boys, are very observant when their parents face difficulties. If their father acts irrationally or if no father is present, the effect upon young males is that they learn to cope by releasing their anger at a conflict they believe they cannot resolve.

Back in the day, a father was the breadwinner who came home from work, propped up his feet, and relaxed until the next day of the routine. He had limited interaction with his son and would use physical discipline whenever mom had said to their boy, “Wait until your father gets home!”

Today dads are asked to be much more than providers and disciplinarians, and many have willingly accepted their expanded roles. From changing diapers to cooking dinners to helping with homework, a good dad is unquestionably a significant reason why his sons do not become alienated young men poised to cause trouble.

In Eileen F. Toplansky’s article “Stop Diminishing Men,” she quotes a line from “The Flipside of Feminism.” “American women have managed to demote men from respected providers and protectors to being unnecessary, irrelevant and expendable.”

Norma Schaefer Riley from The Washington Post wrote about how heroic some women are in saving their sons from drugs and crime. Then there are single moms who take their boys on dinner dates to show them how to treat women, but Riley says, “there is something sad about the fact that these boys do not have a father to offer these lessons in a more effective way.”

Several studies report that since the responsibilities of becoming a family provider have declined substantially for young men, a growing number see graduating high school and going to college as a waste of time.

In Kaye Horowitz’s “Boy Trouble,” she states that the “nuclear family meltdown in the past half century has been particularly toxic to boys’ well-being.” She also contends that since boys mature slower than girls, they have a better chance of thriving if their fathers live with them.

Men fail their families. There are valid reasons such as domestic violence, infidelity and addictions for the high number of divorces in which single mothers and their children can be better off without a father in the house. The fact remains, however, that the decline in the two-parent family has left estranged fathers without a purpose they once had within their families.

To give an adolescent boy his best chance to grow up to be a proud man who respects women and is a good example of his gender often requires both a loving mom and dad to be involved in his life.

I raise my glass to the many American men who commit themselves each day to their families and to their responsibilities. They are unsung heroes who are teaching the next generation of men to be strong and compassionate human beings that will be vital contributors to the stability of our society.

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.