Struggling School-Age Boys

All very valid points. However if this were the key issue, boys and girls would be affected equally/

I have been saying this for years. The way to let a boy be a boy is to LET the BOY BE a BOY! We start them in school at 4 here where I live, this year he is 4 and goes all day to school. Fortunately I have wise children who let their kids get dirty and dig and play, and yes, have swords and guns (they are NOT allowed to shoot at each other, only THINGS). My gorgeous grand-daughter is allowed the same lee-way---get dirty----it will wash off. By the 5th grade here recess is no longer available. When will we figure out it doesn't matter HOW smart you are----if you don't know how to play well together in the sandbox, you are doomed to be cut out of the picture. Kudos to you!

Actually Susiejose, you're right and wrong. There is nothing in either gender that inherently make one better. Because better itself in evaluating an individual, without specific criteria, is subjective. While you may be correct in stating the "femminixation" of society isn't to blame, you miss the equally critical point the "imasculating" of society is the problem. There is a difference.

Inequity for girls is somehow the results of a male dominated culture. Inequity for boys is well, because of of the boys.

For years countless millions dollars have been spent trying to "level the playing field" between the genders in schools. Initially the focus was on middle school aged girls who couldn't measure up mathematically to boys. Then it became funding in sports. While these measures in many respects were (and are) admirable, they have lead us down a slope where girls can do anything boys can, but boys can not do anything girls can..

Smart policy could improve the conditions for boys. But unfortunately for the past two generations and quite a few to come, the dye has been cast.

Normal male activity is deemed disruptive and medication is the solution. Schools no longer subscribe to the adage "boys will be boys" It's amazing for their testicles have the courage to drop.

i agree with this article completely. i remember when i was in elementary and middle school i watched recess slowly disapear as the years passed. until finally mid year my second year of middle it was cut due to test prep. that was about 6 years ago. i think the best thing you can let your young son do is play outside, get dirty, and build forts or play with sticks stones and dirt like my friends did.

Although I'm sure that there are real cases of ADHD, I believe that most cases are simply a result of trying to unnaturally force a child to be still and concentrated for 8 hours straight at an age when they should be playing around and being creative. I know grown men who cant stand to stay in one place for more than a couple of hours, so how on earth can you expect little children to do so, every single day, and continue to do so for twelve years straight.

I have 10 grandkids and I am firm in my thought that children should NOT go to school until they are 7. They need to be home with their mom, or in some cases grandmothers. They need those years to grow. I talked to a teacher a couple of weeks ago and she agreed with me; saying that boys especially should be at home until they are 7. As a teacher she has seen that boys are not as mature as girls and they want to play with the toys, while the girls are wanting to do their school work. What is the matter with our system allowing children to get on a bus at 4 years old and travel an hour to and from school...better yet, what is the matter with the parent putting them on that bus. They are babies! They belong at home with mom! Things are only going to get worse! Just watch...you will see!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! As a pediatric occupational therapist, I am seeing a large increase in the number of children (not just boys) who are being diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, depression, and other emotional/behavioral disorders. I believe that the reasons the author listed are true, but we also have done our children a disservice by taking away playground equipment (like the merry-go-round, seesaws), discouraging tree climbing and other "risky" play behaviors, and by stepping in to solve problems (instead of allowing a child to accept the repercussions of not doing his/her homework or forgetting something). I know parents who actually do the child's homework for them because they want their child's project to look as good as the other children in the class (whose parents have also completed their projects for them).

What is curious to me is the fact that the people who are making these changes are the same people who grew up with me, in same public school system that I attended. My public school education (which I earned on my own as my single mother was working and didn't have time to do my homework for me- thank God!) allowed me to attend a prestigious liberal arts school, earn a second bachelor's degree and a master's degree, and have a positive impact on my community and my work environment.

The current education plan leaves all children behind - we need to understand where our children are psychologically and physiologically! A 1st grader is not able to think in abstracts, yet this is what the current education plan calls for on the standardized tests. A kindergartner's hand muscles aren't ready to hold a thin pencil and write on a flat surface - yet this is what our current education plan is asking them to do. We do not have a place in our current education plan to teach basic penmanship, yet we expect a first grader to write paragraphs that are legible. And when they can't do so, they are sent to me (and other occupational therapists) to "correct" their poor handwriting! The system is very broken.

My comment was too long and got cut off! Here is the end!
Please dont forget that your children are individuals! These kids are having an incredibly hard time figuring out who they are. They want more than anything to be accepted by their peers! But the one thing they crave more than that is to be ACCEPTABLE to their moms and dads! GOOD LUCK!!!

Teachers and public officials don't make boys into men. It is every father's God ordained duty to teach their sons how to be productive, patriotic and responsible men. I agree that the education system is better structured for girls to be successful however, boys who are recieving enough of their father's attention and encouragement can be just as good. Dad's need to play with their sons, teach them to love God and their nieghbors and how to be respectful to women. Dad's need to be involved in their son's interests and support them in their endeavors. My father took my brother and I camping, hunting and fishing all the time. He taught us how to fix stuff on the car and around the house. Most importantly, he told us he was proud of us when we were successful and encouraged us when we were not.
We both finished school with good grades, served in the Navy and are productive in our communities and churches. We are both raising our own sons to do the same.

Men aren't made by teachers, they're ultimately made by their fathers. Sure teachers have an effect on a boy's perception of manhood but, it is a father's duty to ensure his boy's are raised to be proper men.

Politics and The Boy Crisis in Education

So, candidates for public office at all levels, which of you are going to face reality, face radical feminists, and finally get around to doing something about the boy and man crisis in education? Gordon E. Finley, Ph.D.
Gordon E. Finley, Ph.D.

G

I think this hypothesis is ridiculous on not based on any real evidence whatsoever. Are you seriously suggesting that American education is too stringent? In a time when most students test well below their grade level? What country are you living in?? Do you really think children do math and learn mandarin in preschool? That's not what mine was like. And are you not aware that most Americans only speak English? I think maybe lack of parenting and the need for both parents to work in a struggling economy may be more to bblame. Why boys and not girls is an interesting question I definitely don't think you have the insight to answer.

Hardly!

My wife does a preschool in our home. The things mentioned in the article as "what is not happening in preschool" is exactly what is happening. Infact today the preschool played duck duck goose, played along with other children outside, read stories, used crayons ect. I think preschool helps children focus. I think the article was trying to say "Our children need to avoid focussing so that they are less 'ADHD' ". I understand that we should not shove curriculum at our children in place of good old fashion playtime. Although, I think alot of this "ADHD" generation comes from the fact of constant stimulation from t.v. and movies and the lack of quiet foussing time such as reading stories.

The fact is we do live in a different time. We do have fears of school shootings such as Columbine. But we should not look to school as a substitute for learning and play time that should happen in the home. The fact is too many parents both work outside the home. This forces our young ones to gain most of their influences, education, and playtime at school and day care. We need spend quality time with our offfspring so that we can make up for whatever the school system doesn't. I see too many parents who complain to teachers "you are not challenging my kid enough" . Well in a class of 30 students it is hard to give individualized attention. It has to be more of a general curricculum. Again, that is where the parent who has a complaint must take action to give the child privtae tutoring or by simply teaching the child theirself.


Study shows us that boys mainly have trouble in school because the learning atmosphere is designed for girls. Boys do better learnig hands on. For girls, however, taking notes, doing worksheets while sitting in their seats has been proven effective. So there has been an unfair advatage for girls to do well in school. We need to provide more opportunities for boys to do hands on work, whether this happens in the home or at school, hopefully it happens at both.

James

Add to this the fact that it is completely unnatural for a young boy or girl to sit in a chair for six hours a day. At my son's school the kids are not allowed to run on the playground even during recess. The school system is insane to insist that kids be deprived of physical activity for six hours straight, and then they wonder why kids have ADD or ADHD, and/or obesity problems!

I totally agree. My son has suffered due to not having playtime. In the last couple of years he has been "lucky" to get recess once or twice a week. Whats up with that? Children have energy to burn and I don't see how anyone can sit in one spot for more than an hour and be expected to sit still. i'm almost 40 and I sure find it difficult to remain focused in a class without regular breaks.

I am one of those parents that has taken to getting help mainly due to the constant badgering from the school saying that my son can't sit still (up till now he has been an A/B student but is considered disruptive in class).

From memory when I was in school we had morning recess and then recess after lunch as well. I would be more than prepared for my son to stay in school longer each day to give these times back to him, and I am pretty sure that he would not be such a "problem" in class anymore.

I can't home school him as I work full time and it is just not an option for us.

You are so right. The whole educational system has gone test and skills crazy. I support high expectations but is it really necessary that children need to learn everything in elementary school before their brains have really developed the ability to do much abstract reasoning? The science and social studies text books in fourth and fifth grade are bigger and harder than what I had in High School. What is the rush? There is only one time in a child's life when he/she can play in the Kindergarten housekeeping area or the sandbox. Most schools have removed those to make time for more standards and test prep. We spend millions of tax payers dollars to remediate children that fail tests. Most of these children are simply average, regular kids who just aren't ready to learn algebra and genetics in fifth grade or geological plate techtonics in fouth grade. All day long it is push, push, push to learn more and more and more. I would not be surprised that serious and fatal emotional situations will be an increasing part of many children's futures. Sure all this is great for the gifted children. But everyone is not gifted. Everyone does not have to, or want to go to college- and that should be okay. Instead I know many, many students, mostly boys but not all. who in second grade already feel like failures and are full of anger. Too much of even a good thing is bad.

Remedial Elementary Education Teacher in Georgia