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The Trouble With Boys
Newsweek, MSNBC ^ | Jan. 30, 2006 issue | Peg Tyre

Posted on 01/22/2006 4:45:41 PM PST by Lorianne

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To: WorkingClassFilth

700%, eh? That would explain why universal health coverage for kids is such a big issue in lib-land...Gov't ought to pay for all those pharmaceutical marvels that are producing such healthy well-adjusted kids/s


41 posted on 01/22/2006 5:55:20 PM PST by Frank_2001
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To: nopardons

I dont think the generalization that "drugging" isnt a good thing is a fair assumption. We homeschool our three oldest kids. The youngest is in an 8 student private Kindergarten. My oldest son simply can't focus long enough to get through an algebra lasson...believe me, we've tried. He's not hyper, he just doesnt have the wiring right now to keep his attention focused to read and comprehend and do the lessons. We reluctantly tried the short acting (four hour) adderral and the difference is amazing. I finally came to the conclusion that it isnt fair to him *not* to give them the medicine that can allow him to succeed. He only takes it 4 days a week and only one dose per day. Believe me, I struggled with this for a very long time. It's not fair to make sweeping statements about all such medications being bad or used for the wrong reasons (which they all to often are, but not always).
As for the article, I hear and see this so much from other moms I talk to. I think homeschooling is on the verge of an explosion because schools (public and private alike) simply cant meet the needs of every individual student.


42 posted on 01/22/2006 5:59:53 PM PST by kcmom
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To: mosquewatch.com
"YES , YES, YES!! I am about as organized as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs lol."

A kindred spirit! I see we understand each other. Thank you, friend.

Mr. Adler told me recently that for years the way I went about getting almost anything done (in my stop-and-start fashion) used to drive him absolutely insane, and he thought I would never finish anything. He is finally reasonably resigned to my flightyness (partly because he now understands Perceivers better). We have learned to value each others' opposite qualties and understand that we have always had a lot to give to each other. We fill in each others' gaps in a lot of ways. LOL!

43 posted on 01/22/2006 6:13:26 PM PST by Irene Adler
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To: kcmom
My older daughter took the Adderall XR for quite a while. She is in college now and uses the short acting Adderall when she feels she needs it. One day years ago, I commented to her psychiatrist that maybe if I home schooled her, she wouldn't need the medication. She told me that 1/3 of the prescriptions she wrote were for HS kids. I don't know if the doctors' practice is unique or the average, but it made me think that if you can't pay attention, you can't pay attention no matter what the situation.


She uses much less now than in the past and she controls how much she uses. On Tuesday and Thursday she has her creative writing classes and her art classes. She does not take it those days. But on Mondays and Wednesdays she has math and bio. Those are the days she uses it.

44 posted on 01/22/2006 6:19:32 PM PST by Thoeting
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To: Irene Adler

You know, something just struck me. In earlier times, kids overwhelmingly walked to and from school. Is it possible that just this much extra exercise helped boys, and perhaps all students with "extra energy" to settle down more and focus in class? Nowadays, so many are trapped in a seat on a school bus to and from school. Could this make a lot of kids more restless? Could it be one factor? Just a thought. Don't know exactly what we would do about it since most kids today simply can't walk to and from school due to a host of factors. Maybe students should do something active for awhile right after school takes up and before they start class.


45 posted on 01/22/2006 6:21:50 PM PST by Irene Adler
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To: Irene Adler

In some countries (China springs to mind) all students start the school day with calisthenics. I'm sure that helps the more jumpy to burn off energy, and helps to wake up the sluggish.

In our house, weather permitting, I send several of the children out to run right after morning prayers, and assign housework to others, before they start schoolwork.


46 posted on 01/22/2006 6:25:52 PM PST by Tax-chick (“Oh, that alters the case. Whatever General Lee says is all right, I don’t care what it is.”)
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To: Lorianne

And you wonder why homeschooling is rising rapidly in popularity.


47 posted on 01/22/2006 6:28:24 PM PST by RayChuang88
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To: SoftballMominVA
Bingo! I had two daughters, no boys. They were content to play with Barbie dolls, nice and refined, etc.

One daughter now has FOUR boys. I found out really soon that they need to run, jump, climb, wrestle - all that guy stuff. It's that good ol' testosterone!

Whenever they came over when they were younger, we'd take them to the school playground so they could climb on the monkey bars, swing, run around. We'd get them totally pooped out, then they'd be happy to sit for a while and play board games or watch some TV.

They also would sleep like rocks.

48 posted on 01/22/2006 6:32:16 PM PST by Inspectorette
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To: kcmom
Far too many children are now doped up, for absolutely no REAL reason. Apparently, your son needs his meds and I'm glad that he's on them; since they help. But a lot of children, girls, now, as well as boys, are given medications the simply do not need, because teachers are incapable of handling not only the students they are hired to teach, but also the job of teaching.

Not everyone can or should homeschool. But it is an alternative to public schooling and when private school is beyond someone's means.

49 posted on 01/22/2006 6:35:46 PM PST by nopardons
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To: SoftballMominVA
If this kid's English teacher had a clue, she would work with him on writing lyrics and use that as a springboard to formal writing. But I noticed that his classes have **40** kids in them! That is a crime right there

I respectfully disagree. In the 60's, classes of 30-40 were routine from jr high and up. And, we spent half as much per pupil in real dollars to produce easily twice as much because came out with a pretty good education.

Today, the school system produces crap with classes of 20 and twice the mony. The problem is not class size nor is it money.

50 posted on 01/22/2006 6:40:41 PM PST by ModelBreaker
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To: Irene Adler
Mrs. wbill and I have much same relationship as you and Mr. Adler. We make an excellent team, and I'm glad to see that the two of you are as successful as you've been, for as long as you've been. Gives me hope for the future.

I tolerate Mrs wbill's disorganization.....to a point. Then, I need to clean things up a bit. She tolerates my cleaning tears....to a point. It's a give-and-take type thing. :-)

51 posted on 01/22/2006 6:41:44 PM PST by wbill
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To: SoftballMominVA

you sound like an amazing teacher!
what a gift! and im betting your
students truly love your class :)


52 posted on 01/22/2006 6:47:07 PM PST by leda (One brown eyed babe who's headed for a better life.)
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To: Cogadh na Sith; Lorianne
Yeah, all those fellows will be waiting in line to see a movie about two goat-ropers buggering each other.

Don't bet on it.

I was one of those boys and look how I turned out.

:^P

53 posted on 01/22/2006 6:53:18 PM PST by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
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To: humblegunner; RockinRight
Hi Humblegunner-

"...Buy the kid an Ozzy anthology..."

They're clearly raising a son who will have sissy peacenik tendencies. It is silly stereotyping on my part, but I can oftentimes guess a person's political persuasion just be learning their taste in music. Phish fans are among the lefties...

This artificial softening of little boys is terrible for this country. We need to ensure we have future leaders, scientists, warriors, mathematicians, technologists, soldiers, and statesmen...

~ Blue Jays ~

54 posted on 01/22/2006 7:14:52 PM PST by Blue Jays (Rock Hard, Ride Free)
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To: Cogadh na Sith

Focus on playing the guitar!


55 posted on 01/22/2006 7:22:55 PM PST by TNoldman (911 took away my tolerance!)
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To: Lorianne

There is no reason for them to excel. Schools are to busy affirming the underacheivers and holding back the natural competition between students. Boys function on competing, take it away and they are lost.


56 posted on 01/22/2006 7:26:18 PM PST by SouthernFreebird
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To: wbill
"I tolerate Mrs wbill's disorganization.....to a point. Then, I need to clean things up a bit. She tolerates my cleaning tears....to a point. It's a give-and-take type thing. :-)"

We had a lot of conflict before we got to where we are today. Now we look at our differences more from a humorous perspective and appreciate the differences as we did not in the past. We have been married 33 years (two daughters, 28 and 24). Now that I am retired, I am trying to achieve a tidier house so that it's more rewarding for Mr. Adler to come home to. Since he is still working a job, and I am not, it's more my responsibility, now, because I have the time, and he doesn't. I am trying hard to be fair to his need for more order. He has been pretty tolerant of my disorder for a long time.

57 posted on 01/22/2006 7:27:19 PM PST by Irene Adler
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To: Blue Jays

I've yet to meet a Phish fan whose a$$ I couldn't kick with one hand tied behind my back, blindfolded.

Start him off with some Ozzy, then work his way up to The Nuge...


58 posted on 01/22/2006 7:27:46 PM PST by RockinRight (Attention RNC...we're the party of Reagan, not FDR...)
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To: Alberta's Child
Some scholars, notably Christina Hoff Sommers, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, charge that misguided feminism is what's been hurting boys. In the 1990s, she says, girls were making strong, steady progress toward parity in schools, but feminist educators portrayed them as disadvantaged and lavished them with support and attention. Boys, meanwhile, whose rates of achievement had begun to falter, were ignored and their problems allowed to fester.

That's exactly the point. I'm in favor of separate schools myself. I think it's a bad idea having boys and girls studying together. My parents never liked the idea, so I went to a Catholic school just for girls. They believe that while boys and girls are growing up physically and mentally, each group needs a different set of rules regarding discipline, and that training and education should be tailored to deal with the specific psychological and physiological difference between the sexes. Also, there is the problem with over-socializing once they reach their teens causing distraction and lack of interest in their studies.

Disclaimer: I didn't say ALL the boys or ALL the girls, but in general.

59 posted on 01/22/2006 7:33:53 PM PST by Victoria Delsoul
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To: Tax-chick

How great to see someone who has it figured out.

Congratulation!


60 posted on 01/22/2006 8:09:34 PM PST by Syncro
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