Well, I never did that well in school because much of the subject matter just didn't interest me. I have to say I don't think it's harmed me much in life -- but then again, I did learn how to read and write pretty well.
That being said, it seems like industrial schooling has existed for a very long time, and it's more likely that the disintegration of the American family, which was just starting when I was in school, is the primary reason boys are faltering.
I'd really like to see more interesting subject matter taught in schools, but it seems like the trendy things that have been added to the curriculum have made school less interesting, not more. And why have we eliminated competition, or at least deemphasized it? It seems like that's one of the biggest motivators for males, and we've just thrown it away in pursuit of equality.
I'd like to see real creative writing instead of essays on boring novels nobody wants to read. I'd like to see something that actually had a chance at firing people's imaginations. I certainly don't remember anything like that in school.
D
I just read a great book, "Why Gender Matters". Read it and you will completely understand why our boys are getting clobbered.
I'm wondering: do you blow off your work now if it doesn't interest you?
All teenagers think they know what they need to know, but none of them do. Thus, basing education on making things interesting is going to (and already has, in my opinion) create a generation or more of people that won't do something unless it interests them. This leads to very mediocre and unprofessional work product.
When I was in HS and a good musician even then, I thought music theory was all key and time signatures, note reading, scales, etc. I learned it (at least that much) but didn't really concern myself with learning more than what I thought I needed because I wasn't interested. Later, when I got serious on the piano, I learned what I missed by not going deeper in theory. The stuff mentioned above is very basic. Theory and harmony are the foundation for an instrument such as the piano. What I learned later could have come in handy way back when. So, because of my ignorance, I didn't learn what I really would have liked to have learned.