Britain is in danger of abandoning a generation of boys to a life without hope with “destructive” consequences for the nation, leading campaigners have warned.

It is feared the UK will face more riots and even higher prison numbers if the country’s crisis of “lost boys” spirals further out of control.

There is alarm that Britain is storing up problems for the future if it turns a blind eye to boys’ educational failings and young men’s high suicide and imprisonment rates.

Former England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio called for society to stop treating boys and young men as the “lowest of the low”.

He is fed up seeing youths “on the employment scrapheap and filling up our prisons”.

Declaring that “enough is enough”, he said: “Boys and men matter just as much as anyone else, and it’s time that we got serious about that.”

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is launching a major new research project on how boys can avoid disaster.

Miriam Cates, a former MP and senior fellow at the CSJ who battles to protect the quality of childhood in the UK, said: “We must step in to rescue a generation of boys and men who are at risk of falling out of society at great cost to themselves and us all.”

She warned that “large numbers of disenfranchised young men are always a destructive force in society” and claimed the “riots over the summer were in large part a reaction to the sharp decline in value and status felt by working-class British males”.

The think tank states men have a suicide rate more than three times that of women and are much more likely to be behind bars or sleeping rough. Ninety-six percent of prisoners are men, and in London, 82% of those on the streets are male.

A top concern is that boys struggle in school and get into trouble early on. They are twice as likely to face suspension and permanent exclusion than girls.

There is a glaring difference in how well boys and girls perform academically.

Three-quarters of girls are judged “ready to learn” at age five, but just six out of 10 boys. When it comes to post-school education, 1,279,970 women and just 882,225 men with permanent in-home in the UK enrolled on an undergraduate or postgraduate course.

The CSJ is launching the Lost Boys project to identify how boys can have a better start in life. It accuses Britain’s political class of “wilful institutional neglect” towards boys and is pushing for a radical change in attitudes.

Mrs Cates cl aims the modern focus on “fashionable identity politics” has led to the neglect of boys and men – especially if they are poor.

She says that much attention has been given to the dangerous impact of social media on girls; many boys suffer from “debilitating gaming addiction” and “exposure to violent and extreme pornography from a young age”.

The mother of two boys argues that the condemnation of “toxic masculinity” in schools and the media has left boys wondering if it is possible to be a “good man”.

She warns that if our culture “turns traditional male attributes such as strength and risk-taking from virtue into vice,” we should “not be surprised when young men struggle to find their place in education, employment and wider society”.

“Almost all of the post-pandemic increase in young people who are not in education, employment in training is driven by men – a 40% rise amongst males compared to just seven percent for females,” she said.

She claims that “boys are more likely now to own a smartphone than to live with their dad” and says that they must be “taught, trained, encouraged and inspired” to “harness their natural masculine tendencies for good”.

Nearly one in four pupils in England qualifies for free school meals – a key indicator that children may be at risk of deprivation. This is the equivalent of around one million boys.

The latest figures show that just 33.5% of “white British” boys on free school meals gained a grade four or above in English and mathematics at GCSE in 2022-23. This compares with 57.3% of boys from a “Black African” background who also qualified for free school meals and 67% of boys from an Indian background.

Nick Fletcher – who has campaigned for a dedicated minister for men and is now running to be mayor of Doncaster – is in no doubt what will happen if white working-class boys continue to fall behind.

He said: “All we’ll end up doing is building more prisons.”

If this challenge is not addressed, he warned, more men will suffer from mental health issues and drug addiction.

Labour MP Shaun Davies, who is backing the Lost Boys project, said: “The challenges facing men and boys in Britain are a cross-party issue that affect all of us and I am glad to see that serious work is happening in this space. Whether it’s education, family life, crime or health, boys are faced with increasingly poor outcomes.”

Former education minister Robert Halfon is concerned about the plight of both white boys and girls from disadvantaged backgrounds and wants this to be one of the top priorities for the Government.

He said: “At every stage, right from early years to university, the white working class are one of the most underperforming groups in the country.”

Mr Halfon said this is partly because “all the investment goes into big cities whereas often these communities live in towns”.

He is also concerned that talk of “white privilege” can have a harmful effect.

“If you tell people from disadvantaged backgrounds they are privileged, you are just perpetuating angst and resentment, and it doesn’t help at all,” he said.

Mr Halfon wants extra funding for “outstanding teachers and mentors in those disadvantaged areas”.

When chair of the education committee, Mr Halfon led an investigation into the struggles of white pupils from poorer backgrounds. It found just 16 per cent of white pupils who were eligible for free school meals had started higher education by age 19 in 2018-19 – the lowest of any ethnic group other than those of Irish traveller or Gypsy/Roma heritage.

This is compared with 72.8% of children from a Chinese background who qualified for free school meals.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said: “Our Plan for Change sets out our clear mission to give every child the best start in life, breaking the link between background and success.

“We know there are baked-in inequalities that remain in our education system, which is why we are taking swift action to break down barriers to opportunity.

“This government will drive high and rising standards in schools by recruiting 6,500 new teachers, rolling out career advice, guaranteeing work experience, improving mental health support, reforming the SEND system and delivering a cutting-edge curriculum to set young people up for life, work and the future.”

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