In the journal Gender Issues (June 2009), Judith Kleinfeld writes,
American boys are suffering serious problems. In education, these center in the areas of far lower literacy, lower school grades, lower engagement in school, higher dropout from school, higher rates of repeating a grade, higher rates of emotional disturbance and learning disabilities and placement in special education, higher rates of suspensions and expulsions, and lower rates of postsecondary enrollment and graduation... Young men are far less prepared than young women to succeed in the current knowledge-based economy, are more likely to suffer from substantial declines in real income, and are far more vulnerable to unemployment in times of economic recession.
That's quite a mess. And the problems start young. One study I looked at examined 5-year-old boys' attitudes toward reading by showing them pictures of kids engaged in all sorts of activities (including reading books). The study found that these emerging readers had already formed definite attitudes toward reading (ranging from hatred... yes, hatred, to enjoyment) that were strongly rooted in earlier experiences (mostly from day-care programs and household/family encounters with reading).
You might guess that the boys who fell more in the negative range frequently had experiences in their home or day-care environments that either did not model reading behaviors at all, or included messages (particularly from older male siblings, fathers, and other adults) that communicated to them that reading was "stupid," a "waste of time," and even "gay," while the boys who had the more positive perception read at home with their families and were able to choose and describe their favorite books (even if they couldn't recall the titles -- they knew what the books were about).
So... Dads... you know what this means, and you know which of those groups of boys mentioned above is headed toward crisis and which is headed toward college -- all at the age of five.
On the one hand, the thought that we have such an influence over kids to predetermine a significant predictor of life success at such an early age is frightening; on the other hand, it means we, as parents, have the opportunity to take the initiative and provide our sons with a set of values and skills that will tremendously affect their future economic and social success.
Because there is nothing our sons will ever be expected to do that they won't do better with higher skills in reading and writing. To sit back and simply observe the decline in literacy for boys as a population is to pave the way for a future in which males will become an economic, academic, and social underclass.
6 comments:
It is sad how true that is. I have a friend that never liked to read and her husband didn't either so both her boys grew up not liking and yes hating to read. She would say to me "Why can't I get my boys to read?" and I always told her she needed to read to them when while they are little and let them see her read but she said she wouldn't, she just hated to read. Both are in high school now and hate the reading assignments because they never learned how wonderful reading is when they were young. Hine site is always 20/20 and she really regrets her actions now.
My middle son made this comment to me just the other day "Mom, I know where I get my 'reading' from" I said "Really" and he said "Yeah, dad because all he does is read at home". Of course I'm thinking What about me! I read too! haha
Also, he was one of 6 3rd grade students last year to read over the amount of books the librarian required for a special end of the year party - 20 of those books were Bluebonnet books. He also finished with all A's and plays on a tournament baseball team.
My point - all of my boys read and they never thought it was girly, or gay, or nerdy but that goes back to how they were taught at home, whether its by words or actions.
Thanks for posting that, Connie. That age, around grade 3, is super important for boys, too -- especially having the male role model -- because that is the age when they really begin to develop a consciousness about gender roles. So don't feel bad about your son saying he gets his reading gene from Dad, there are few things more significant to a boy that age than having an older male (brother or father) in the home who sets the example of reading.
Well done to you and your husband.
We both read to our boys when they were young (and not so young). However, when they entered public schools in the US in 2000 they were discouraged by their teachers. Reading well above their level, they were told they could not read books they chose. One of them dropped out of HS and the other just left college after his first year. I'm not too concerned right now because they're both still young but I was very disappointed with their schools. My older son is now reading again and is happy to be able to choose whatever he wants. As a result, he is catching up with his Hemmingway, just finished a couple Cormack McCarthys and is excited to find more books he likes.
This is all true, as is the previous post. We are actively discouraging boys from reading. It's like a conspiracy between schools and the broader culture and no doubt some parents and publishers to make it absolutely impossible for boys to read.
Thanks Andrew but I should add and give credit to his older brother who is 13. Chase (my middled one) has watched his older brother for years (and still does) take a book with him every time he jumps in the car, even for the 20 minute drive to his baseball practice. The only thing negative my oldest has said about reading is the comments of the low reading levels of his friends and/if they read at all for fun.
Troy and I learned from our parents and we have just passed along the love for reading to our own kids.
**My oldest is required to read Lord of the Flies next year and he is so excited. It will be his second read through.
Thanks for all the great comments. Gail and Michael, I totally agree that schools are doing the greatest damage to kids -- boys in particular -- because schools have largely moved away from "education" in the direction of "management," and it isn't working.
When I was at ALA, I also nostalgically recalled a competitive reading program we had when I was in elementary school -- I think it was called SRA (I may be wrong), but the idea was very competitive, working your way up through various levels of achievement in reading -- and it always seemed that boys loved that program and strove to get to the uppermost (uncrowded) levels. A lot of the librarians who were my age nodded, knowingly. The program was effective because boys love competition. Today, education erases all the male-oriented approaches in favor of esteem-boosting fluff (GREAT article in today's Chicago Tribune about the tremendous waste of over-inflating teens' self esteem in school).
And Michael, I think there's even a broader anti-male conspiracy going on, too, whose long-term result is actually going to be the creation of a lesser gender... it's not only restricted to schools and reading, but it starts there.
One of these days, I'll have to grow the nuts to post my bit about who drugs like Viagra and Cialis are really being marketed to (here come the Japanese spam comments), and why they apparently haven't invented a pill to make women want to have sex.
And Connie, that's exactly what I was talking about... the older brother being such an influence. And, by the way, a terrific companion read to Lord of the Flies is Michael's book (series), Gone.
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