WE were brocht up on the saying that sticks an stanes can brak oor banes but wirds can niver hurt us. Newsflash: wirds can, an dae hurt. An, worse than that, they can, an dae kill.

Although last ‘ear aire was a smaa decrease in the nummer o suicides in Scotland, it is still the number wan killer o young fowk in Scotland, an indeed in the rest o the UK an aa, wi a particularly concernin amoot o young males lossin their lives in this wye. Aire’s roughly ae death bi suicide ivry twa oors in the UK. But still, for some bizzare, unkent raison, the British Airmy seems tae find it acceptable tae lench a recruitment campaign cawin young fowk “snowflakes”, “selfie addicts” an “me me millennials”.

As though it wasnae bad eneuch that they were lurin young fowk intae a career based on violence farby they fecht for things that they micht nae even believe in, jist acause the British state tells them tae, but they are noo tryin tae recruit young anes bi makin them feel guilty for nae bein fit aulder generations perceive as “manly” eneuch, tae.

Daes onybody even ken fit cawin somebody a “millenial snowflake” is meant tae mean? Fan ye type the wirds “millennials need a…” intae Google the very first repone ye get is “war”. Ither repones include “attention”, “adulting classes, an “a reality check”. Dae baby boomers or them fa belang tae generation X (nane o whilk were actually born durin the Second Warld War) really think that millennials are saft jist acause they’ve niver hane tae ken the peril o fechtin in a warld war?

Dae they really need tae be reminded o the puir state o the warld iday acause they live in a fantasy land? Or, is the insult jist a defence mechanism?

Mebbe it’s jist a wye for aulder an middle aged men tae try an fecht back agin younger generations fa caw them oot for bein sexist, or homophobic, or onythin else that young men micht hae fund acceptable twinty or thirty ‘ear ago, but dinnae noo.

Fowk aye gie the same advice in the face o problems caused bi bullies – ach jist ignore them. But foo can ye, fan ye leuk back at the past puckle o ‘ear, an see that ivry ‘ear nae less than 500 males an 150 females in Scotland decidit tae tak their ain lives?

Ye cannae jist pin-point ae single reason for this, but it doesnae help haein insults like ‘snowflake’ fleein aboot. Toxic masculinity maun be considered a factor. Aye it promuives a patriarchal ideology, fit cannae nae hae an uncannie effect on the lives o weemin, but it also promuives the idea that young men hiv tae adhere tae a societal expectation farby they cannae express ony emotion or difference fae the social norm at aa.

A young loon wants tae spik aboot his feelins an things that micht be gettin him doon? Nae on the watch o onybody fa preaches toxic masculinity. An inability tae recognise that men, nae jist weemin, can aften hae issues wi their body image cams intae this an aa.

Aire’s still an undeniable lack o plus size, an even jist average size quines walkin doon catwalks. But, slowly ‘at seems tae be chyngin, an sae dae attitudes taewarts quines’ bodies. On the ither haund, we cannae quite yet say the same aboot men’s fashion.

Aire’s ane or twa plus size male models oot aire, but maist fowk probably willnae hiv iver seen or heard o them. It cannae be denied that young quines in particular are plagued wi problems relatit tae the issues an insecurities that they hae wi their ain bodies, but young loons cannae be coontit oot o haein sic problems aither.

If toxic masculinity is allowed tae continue tae spreid, issues sic as this are anely gaun tae get waur, an sae are suicide rates.

Then, ye hae tae mynd that young anes iday, baith loons an quines, micht nae hae the same worries as their parents did, but they arenae athoot them aither, their worries are jist o a different kyne.

Nooadays, aire’s mair pressure on scuil leavers tae gaung on tae university an pit themsels throu fower ‘ear o studies that micht nae even get them a job, in their field, or at aa, in the end. Ivery fower days a university student in the UK commits suicide.

The muckle stress students are pit unner an a faut o ony effective support structure for students strugglin wi mental health issues at maist universities across the kintra is tae blame. Maist students leave university wi a skelp o debt an student loans tae pye back, addin financial worries tae the pile alang wi academic anes. An, then aires the worries that millennials hiv got aboot niver bein able tae ain their ain hoose, considerin that a third o millennials are expected tae still be peyin oot rent tae a landlord the day that they retire.

Oh aye, an then ye can add tae that the fact that they hae worries aboot Brexit, aboot the damage that previous generations hiv daen tae the environment an foo they can reverse it, aboot the pressure pit on them tae be perfect bi the social media that they grew up on. The list gaungs on an on….

Sae naw, millennials hiv niver yet hane tae pit their lives on the line durin a warld war, but mony o them are bein guilted intae signin themsels up tae the forces acause o a “snowflake” stigma that doesnae even mak sense.

It cannae be ignored that toxic masculinity is leadin tae a tragic amoont o loons takin their ain lives but younger generations are strang for staundin up for fit they believe in, facin up tae taboo subjects, an refusin tae participate in discrimination that aulder generations mebbe didnae.

Millennials hiv tae cairy the wecht o the warld on their shouders. It’s aboot time that society was a bittie maire couthie taewarts this group o young anes that winna be young foriver, an fa will, wi a bit o luck, see the end o a wheen o kynes o discrimination.