Struggling School-Age Boys

This is really just a symptom of what has gone wrong with our society. Some people say our children have no discipline, but how can they have discipline when society will punish any adult who tries to impose discipline on a child? There is no corporal punishment in our schools anymore and very little in our homes. Why? Because parents sue teachers or schools and children can sue their parents. When I was growing up, nobody sued anybody over the treatment of children. It just wasn???t done. Parents supported teachers. If I got punished by a teacher at school, I could expect to receive more of the same when I got home. Now, ???child abuse??? is a buzz phrase and everyone is too afraid to instill discipline in children.
Boys learn differently than girls, but this is nothing new. Since the dawn of time, it has been known that boys and girls react differently to their environment. They tend to learn more easily from different stimuli and they use different mechanisms to create and store memories. Education has been sliding toward a girl-biased approach to learning for so long now that it should be no surprise that boys are having trouble in our educational system. And we continue to accelerate the pendulum???s swing.
Gender-based learning differences aren???t going away, and what we???re doing isn???t working. Gender-segregated classes may be necessary to achieve equal educational opportunities. Opponents would say that children will lose their cross-gender socialization opportunities if they are separated. Every tactic that was used to destroy racial segregation in the last century will be pulled out to use against gender segregation even though the two types of segregation are totally unrelated. Most proponents of gender segregation are only advocating it for middle school, those years when girls??? hormones kick in faster causing their brains to ???mature more quickly.??? The truth is that girls just lose their minds due to the hormonal imbalances of adolescence (and then recover them) earlier than boys.

In the past 10 to 15 years there has been a movement in the classroom to put girls first because of a perceived bias against girls. This backlash now has caused problems for males because majority of elementary school teachers are women who are looking to put the girls first over the boys. This is absolutely incredulous that people CANNOT see the cause and effect of this agenda. If we would just treat everyone the same way and try to do a good job with all students regardless of gender, race, or stature in society there would not be a problem.

Well, kids have more to do now than before. I agree. Inel chief once said I worry for my grand kids future because, if I have to hire I need not hire from US any more. There are people smart enough from China, Japan & India like countries. I advise this author to travel to Japan, China or India and see how much a 12 year old handles on a 245 days an year/ 6 day school week , come back and compare. World is lot more competitive now. One advise, take away TV and game console from kids bed room.

The school system has become a test droning center. Some of the teachers do not have control of themselves much less their classroom. It's amazing just a few years ago we were worrying about the girls... now its the boys. Its both for different reasons.

Parents nowadays are not united on the home front even when they are married and living in the same house. Single and teen moms' kids are now ruling the system.... how can we expect any more out of them when they don't expect much out of themselves.

I want to recommend that parents of boys and teachers read this book:: Hear Our Cry:Boys in Crisis by Paul Slocumb. It's a great book that discusses the many differences between the male and female brain, and is directly related to academics. I tried to get my prinicipal to have our staff use this book during summer training and professional development, but he never did it. I attended a workshop on the book myself in the summer, and thought it was great. It provides a lot of understanding as to why boys usually struggle more than girls.

When I was a little boy, my friends and I played army or cowboys and indians. We would ride our stick horses all over the neighborhood and the surrounding countryside, shooting each other and generally causing mayhem without hurting anybody or anything. Today, parents think that those games are too violent and anti-social or even racist. Excuse me, but we knew it was all pretend...we were just having fun and burning off excess energy without damaging anybody's property. We built stick bows and arrows and went hunting whatever wildlife that crossed our paths (though I don't think we ever did anymore than scare a few critters).
Boys are physical creatures and need an outlet for their energy and emotions. If their play doesn't give them those outlets, then they will find other, less acceptable, ways to blow off steam. Girls have a lot more socially acceptable ways to release emotions. Girls can cry and everyone will sympathize with them. Ask even the littlest boy if it???s OK for boys to cry and he will tell you, ???No.??? This isn???t taught. This is something that is hard-wired into boys, and therefore over the millennia boys have developed other acceptable ways to release their emotions through their play activities. So, now, all of a sudden, Western civilization has been dominated by feminine thought and free playtime is discouraged or even punished. Why? Because girls don???t generally play like boys, so even after they grow up, they don???t understand why boys need free play.

I DEFINATELY agree!!!! I am a mother of three children and the school systems these days don't allow them to be kids...and also, it seems as though they don't do much in school. My 1st grader last year had more homework every night than I think I had in 8th-9th grade. It is getting rediculous and out of hand, but what do we do about it??? I DO NOT believe that ADHD is a factor...I think it is ALL because these children are being expected to do way tooooooo much and not be able to be children!!! If only the schools would see this. There is way too much homework and testing!! Think back to when our generation was in school....we did not have homework until 7th-8th grade...NEVER did I EVER have a test until at least 4th grade...It is just getting OUT OF HAND!!!

I'm a little confused because the girls are treated the same but the beginning of the article states that girls aren't having these problems. So is the theme that boys need to be taught to handle stress?
And Jabbrewoki- feminism?? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. What an idiot! And being a woman, I can tell you that the goals surely have not been met.

It all starts at home.As far as education is involved allow your kids to study and do their homework first , then get to go outside and play.Yes, outside that's what so many kids are missing today.So many like to be in the house all the time watching tv or playing games. this is the only part where I say let's go back to early days where kids just loved the outside nature.Being coped up at home and at school can lead anyone to emotional despair.

My sister and her son are having the same problem. The teachers want to put the kids in a "box" and medicate them when ADHD is clearly not the problem and never has been. Our children are not getting enough free time to run and play. Too much is expected at to young an age. "Teaching to the test" instead of bringing hands on experiences into the classrooms of elementary school students is a huge problem. This is the age to "experience" learning and teachers are so worried about their classrooms falling behind in testing that they can't teach creatively so children who are not ready to completely settle down suffer the consequences. There are actually very few true ADHD children, there are a lot of children who need more creative stimulation in the classroom. They need play time, time for music expression, time for art, but what they don't need is more time sitting still doing writing exercises and math speed tests! Stop drugging the children and find more creative ways to teach and more outlets for excess energy!!!

Yes! Boys and girls are different. Classrooms cater to the strengths of females, and ironically, workplaces cater to the strengths of males. As a classroom teacher, I noticed a couple things about my boys: they all fiddled with things throughout the day-erasers, paper clips, crumbs on the floor...the ones who fiddled more, previous teachers had recommended medication for their concentration. The more I observed these boys, the more I realized that by and large they had to MOVE to learn. So, I started integrating more movement into classroom instruction...I tossed a ball to the students when we reviewed a concept, we spent EXTRA time at recess (much to chagrin of principal), we jumped around when we learned math concepts...I also encouraged the boys to bring in critters that they had collected at home as we studied mammals, reptiles, and amphibians...This is when my biggest aha moment occurred...The boys labeled "ADD", who appeared uninterested during our book study became animated animal experts. My classroom was filled with lizards and frogs, but the boys were finally excited about learning!

Yes! Boys and girls are different. Classrooms cater to the strengths of females, and ironically, workplaces cater to the strengths of males. As a classroom teacher, I noticed a couple things about my boys: they all fiddled with things throughout the day-erasers, paper clips, crumbs on the floor...the ones who fiddled more, previous teachers had recommended medication for their concentration. The more I observed these boys, the more I realized that by and large they had to MOVE to learn. So, I started integrating more movement into classroom instruction...I tossed a ball to the students when we reviewed a concept, we spent EXTRA time at recess (much to chagrin of principal), we jumped around when we learned math concepts...I also encouraged the boys to bring in critters that they had collected at home as we studied mammals, reptiles, and amphibians...This is when my biggest aha moment occurred...The boys labeled "ADD", who appeared uninterested during our book study became animated animal experts. My classroom was filled with lizards and frogs, but the boys were finally excited about learning!

The other problem is ***

This information is commonly known information to many Americans who listen to alternative media. I am glad to see the "mainstream media" allow this information to be published. Our children are over worked at school and need time to play and be kids. Children have a natural desire to play for a reason. I'm only 30 years old, so I experienced some if this when I was in school. I can remember my teachers saying when we complained about the volume of homework, "Just wait till you get a job, then you'll wish you were back in school". I've worked many different types of jobs since I've been out of school (construction, farming, and in a pharmacy), and I have never wished that I was back in school. Parents need make changes to our school system a political priority, starting with fighting the teachers union and their atempt to feminize our boys!

How can we teach our kids to say no to drugs if all the doctors want to do is give them "behavorial" pills? If boys don't have the chance to wrestle with each other, how will they know there own strength? And if they don't get to play as kids will they grow up to be lazy adults? How can we teach our kids to "not stress out" if they don't get a break either? We work usually 8 hrs. there is a 3 break requirement for us....two 15 min. breaks & 30-60 min. lunches.... why can't our kids get an hour spread at school & at home? My kids & my families kids go by "monkey see, monkey do" if kids see us do it.........what is wrong with people today? When did "role model" become for celebrities only?

It is very important for a child to have play time. In the so called olden days, how did people learn? Through play, observing elders & imitating. Why take away play time or lunch from our tots? We adults make time for practising some sport. Phsical activity is a way of taking out stress & keeping fit. So it brings mental & physical benefit. Kids learn best during play. They need to trip & fall to know wht it is to get hurt. They cant learn it in books or on the white board. The lack of physical activities is wht is driving kids & adults crazy. Thus follows the list of mental illnesses.

Our son attended a Catholic elementary school we pulled him out after the 4th grade. These so called "Christian teachers" (all women) were down right mean. In the public school many of the teachers are burned out and shouldn't even be teaching. We had to listen to comments like "He's just too smart." and "Well, I don't believe you because your new here." Our son requested that he be tested for the gifted program in the public school. We requested he be given additional work in the classroom to keep him busy when his other work was done. This was never done! Our son is now 21. It makes me very angry, upset and sad to think of the pain the teachers and principals caused our son and continue to cause other boys. The teachers and administrators should be ashamed of themselves!