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The USA Today editorial board opines online that "When it comes to your sons, schools miss the mark" [posted 2007.06.15]. The article cites data published in Education Week [2007.06.12] that shows boys graduating from high school at lower rates than girls in all major racial/ethnic classifications. The overall HS graduation rates are 73.6% for girls, 66.0% for boys. USA Today argues that our schools, specifically the K-8 levels, are failing to adequately prepare boys for the challenging reading of high school. "The key to closing the gap," says the article, "appears to involve starting early — turning boys into competent and enthusiastic readers by third grade, perhaps by hiring more male teachers and using books more appealing to boys."
This male teacher wonders just what sort of books the USA Today writers have in mind. I included The Outsiders (gang fights, teenage boys being loyal), A Separate Peace (teenage boys dealing with academic and athletic rivalries), Frankenstein (a monster!), All Quiet on the Western Front (guns, horse guts, and a funny scene about bodily excretions), Romeo and Juliet (swordfights!), and Hamlet (more swordfights!) in my literature curriculum. Are those books sufficiently manly?
Or could it be that it's not the schools but our culture that's failing to get boys as ready as girls to read and succeed academically? In my English classroom, I made lots of efforts to get books in the hands of my boys and girls (and not just boring anthologies, but real books). But what reinforcement are they getting at home? How often are boys specifically shown images that reinforce the manliness of sitting down for an hour or two to read quietly every day? How many little boys' pajamas do you see decorated with books, and how many more do you see decorated with sports equipment? How many kids choose to dress and talk like their favorite scholars rather than their favorite sports stars... and how much do parents and media encourage them to make such a choice? How often do parents take their kids to the library to spend an hour just reading, and how much more often do they send their kids to sports practices and games that last for two or three hours?
The schools I've worked in are busting their chops to get kids to read and calculate and think. But they need some support from the culture around them. If ads and movies, MTV and ESPN, newspapers and even parents don't promote reading and intellectualism as a whole -- if they send the message that books aren't manly, then teachers of either sex will struggle to get kids to enjoy reading or any other academic subject.
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The argument the USA Today adheres to for the education of boys is part of the issue in my opinion. I am the parent of a gifted boy and from day one of his life we have been vigilant in exposing him to all kinds of books. We have also exposed him to outside time of wrestling with both parents so he can see that both the physical as well as the academic is needed. I believe part of the stigma that reading is effeminate for boys is part of our problem. Many teach their children that boys must be one way and young ladies another, that reading is a more young lady activity. The truth is that my son would be angry if we had gone a night without reading at least 2 books of his choice. I also believe that if the children ( regardless of gender) see their parents reading, they will be more inclined to pick up reading material as well. My household growing up had an abundance of books, magazines, and newspapers. Thus, a love for language and an ease of reading developed. I think if the attitude that boys cannot or will not read we will only give in to the idea that the graduation rates will continue to stagnate, the truth is that the statistics have little bearing on the learning and development of a young boys' mind, and more to do with a numbers' game for numbers sake. Then again, what do I know, I am simply a mother out for the best for my children.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is certainly hitting the mark. The quiet, contemplative behavior of a good reader does not fit the expectation of physical vigor often imposed on boys. We should encourage boys and girls to be both physical and intellectual, to recognize that physical and intellectual activity and prowess are equally natural and important parts of being human.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is just a matter of what kids enjoy. We read to both of our kids when young, a boy and a girl, and checked out books weekly from the library. When older though my son just wasn't interested in reading, except for the Narnia series when he was in the 6th grade. However, he went on to become a veterinarian. It didn't affect his performance in school. He still doesn't read much except professional journals.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter read avidly and still does. She has always enjoyed reading, even had her head in a book driving thru beautiful scenery on vacations, something her brother couldn't understand. But now she's the one who loves to travel instead of him. She is also a professional and still enjoys reading.
We treated them both the same with regard to books; they just have different interests, but it didn't affect their performance in school.
Interesting comment, Nonnie! Your children's succes perhaps puts the lie to this notion of measuring kids' performance and potential for success by any one statistical measure during their school years, be it standardized test scores or maybe even graduation rates. We have created a system where kids are hit over the head every day with the message that they have to get good test scores or it's the end of the world. The system also doesn't make allowances for kids' changing interests, like your son's. Just not into reading in eighth grade? Well, we're still going to subject your kid to the same reading curriculum and tests as all the other kids at that age and hold the school accountable if his scores don't measure up. Your comment shows that we need flexibility and common sense in education. Teachers aready have plenty of that; it's the bureaucrats (state and federal departments of education, so-called experts in curriculum and assessment, pretty much anyone not actually working directly with kids in a school or classroom every day) who need to back off and let education happen.
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