Posted on 01/21/2006 11:25:45 PM PST by neverdem
First lady Laura Bush and a growing number of physicians, educators and psychologists say Americans need to wake up and see that boys lag far behind girls in school, and then demand that something be done.
Mrs. Bush, mother of two grown daughters, speaks at conferences and in interviews about the declining status of boys in today's learning environment. She has charged that boys are being overlooked.
"I think we need to pay more attention to boys. I think we've paid a lot of attention to girls for the last 30 years ... but we have actually neglected boys," Mrs. Bush told Parade magazine early last year.
William Pollack, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, agrees.
"Boys are suffering. They are sitting in classrooms where they can't perform at the same level as girls and so cannot compete with girls," he says. "As a result, they have lower self-esteem. The bottom line is that they are suffering both academically and emotionally."
Mr. Pollack, who also serves as director of the Center for Men and Young Men at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., points out that both upper-class Caucasian boys and minority boys are failing.
"All in all, most schools across the country today are boy-uncentered," he says.
Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens, co-authors of "The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons From Falling Behind in School and Life," back up claims that there is a "crisis in male education" with data from the Department of Education, the State Department and other sources. They point out that boys:
•Receive the majority of D and F grades given to students in most schools, as high as 70 percent.
•Create 80 percent of classroom discipline problems.
•Account for 80 percent of high school...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I'm not going to assume anything because those are your experiences and who am I to know everything? They happened to you and not to me. To assume that we know more about someone's situation than they do personally is narrow-minded. JUST FOR ME PERSONALLY, I'm not one who puts my eggs all in one basket though because I see lots of different things happen. It depends upon each individual situation so I can't just make one blanket judgement. Heck, I have to worry about my own faults first because I have so many. I can't go out and focus on everyone else's.
I agree completely with your statements here. I think you have done a good job with your boys probably and I congratulate you for being a good mother. It was your choice and a good one for you.
Nice tagline.
Yes, I think I am on to something. Boys are wired for sucess- we need to listen to them and give them what they need to go, go, go.
I REALLY appreciate this statement and I will try to apply it. I think you're REALLY on to something there. It's funny how often the 2nd son or daughter often learns from watching the first one and even exceeds the older child in academics often (not in every case, but in many I've seen).
That's the way it was whenI was in school in the 50's & 60's. The teachers LOVED the girls, who all got A's, and always behaved. Boy's seemed to get B's, C's & D's, got whacked regularly with a ruler, and were generally treated as 2nd class students.
And treat them like the geniuses that they are.
I received a NY State Regents Diploma, which had the same or similar standards, IIRC. All the teachers were male in the least expensive, the reason it was chosen, Diocesan high school in the south Bronx in the late sixties.
I didn't expect such rigorous and challenging opportunities. When I woke up, what a dream. The Dean of Discipline was Father McCormick who was an Iwo Jima veteran. He saw me more than either of us wanted. I was quite fortunate that my mother sent me there.
P.S.The local grammar school class size was usually about 45 students taught by almost all nuns in a working class neighborhood at the north end of Manhattan.
That previous link is found on this thread: College Aid Plan Widens U.S. Role in High Schools
A guy can get D's and still be President. And he can get caught cheating, thrown out of school and still be Senator. So why do we need grades.
Agreed again. Wonderful.
Glad to hear that in Indiana. They have similar things in my area and back home.
Wasn't Father McCormick famous for something?
Not to mention those "educated" guys like Ward Churchill.
my son is also not a reader, and it is a hindrance for things like vocabulary etc on standardized tests. he took the HS placement test and scored in the 98th percentile for math and was a smidge BELOW avg for things like synonyms/antonyms, it is directly traceable to the fact that he just does NOT like to read. he does what he has to, for school, but it is not something he enjoys. we have encouraged him to read the sports page, bought hockey books and other sports books etc. It is just not what he likes to do for enjoyment.
when he was in first grade we had "reading for DOLLARS", and i literally would pay him by the book (greedy little snot was motivated by $$. a quarter per book and paid up when he got to a dollar). He does fine with the vocab and grammar in school, but really your vocabulary is enhanced tremendously by reading. good luck with your's!!
Some kids just do not like to plain read for fun, especially with how many alternatives to books that we have.
But I do think that having children reading things that they are interested in is important. I love it when I hear kids are reading street signs and other things.
One thing at home that can really help reading is reading scriptures together as a family. It did with many of my brothers and sisters. I used to hate it at first because they would take so long, but they sure learned quick after a while.
but really your vocabulary is enhanced tremendously by reading. good luck with your's!!
I REALLY agree with this statement.
My children't elementary school is excellent, and no boys are being "educationally and emotionally neglected". Perhaps you should try qualifying your remarks. My oldest son started in that school as a second grader with many problems. He left last year with excellent grades, friends, and a lot of love for his teachers, having overcome a learning disability. One of his teachers told me how they all considered him to be one of their success stories.
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