Adolescence is full of exuberance yet has a shadow side. Big on self-confidence, teens ache to be special, to be right, yet still expect to be bailed out when things go wrong. Teens like to win regardless - to do what they do, because they can, not because it’s right.

Should we fail to leave adolescence, we continue to experience all the vulnerabilities of teen life, leaving us forever blaming and complaining, caught up in erratic self-centred behaviour, and agonising over what we’re meant to do with our lives.

And with the arrival of Netflix and Uber Eats, there’s less and less incentive to leave home. Could our constant need for connection be messing with our brains? Is this why we’re losing our ability to strike up a conversation with anyone we don’t know? And given that so many of our kids lack one-on-one attention and regular touch, are we raising this new generation to be profoundly lonely?

In a few short years our girls have become vulnerable. Why are girls as young as five concerned about their looks and addicted to shopping? Why binge-drink so young? What’s the appeal of social media? Why all the online bullying? Why are depression, cutting and eating disorders on the rise? Informed, revealing, compassionate and at times shocking, What’s Happening to Our Girls? is a book for all those who want to better understand and support this new generation of girls.

What kind of world are our boys inhabiting? Why are so many boys suffering body image and self-esteem problems? Why are they drawn to countless acts of violence on TV, in movies and in computer games? What impact does our highly sexualised climate, our emphasis on success and money, have on them as they grow up? And why are so many boys vulnerable to cyber bullying and to porn? In this follow-up book to What's Happening to Our Girls?

What do men long for, agonise over, aspire to? Why is it men are often silent in dark and dangerous, or difficult situations? Why do so many men find it hard to express how much they care? What do they look for in women? What do they want from committed relationships, from friendships? What motivates them? What do they worry about? How do they see their bodies, their world?