A problem with boys...

This is a serious problem and I think anyone on here who has kids or is thinking they might ever have kids or, more important, is thinking of teaching as a career, should read this and other articles like it.

And this is another reason andyns should not give up.

For every male that quits teaching there is a simpering mis-educated feminist idiot ready to take his place.

 

That article stretches some points, but it is true, boys are doing poorly in school. Not much more you can say.

 

Ouch...that last statement (the "simpering mis-educated feminist idiot" dig) was a bit much, P'fog. I'm speaking not just for the women on this forum, but also the fortunate, beleaguered and battle-worn proud few of us who are teachers.

 

The article, by the way, makes no sense. I saw no studies that indicated what guided the curriculum (which "relationship-based" literature is he referring? The closest thing I teach that is "relationship-based" is ROMEO AND JULIET as an introduction to Shakespeare! In fact, at most grade levels, most of the literature we read is by the ubiquitous "dead white guy"). To suggest that we are emasculating students with what we teach when we must meet specific performance based standards and are lilmited by our own curriculums is ridiculous and overly-simplistic.

The idea of "cooperative learning" (which he did not define adequately) is in response to creating learning environments most like what one would find in the "real world." Having worked in corporate (once for a locally owned digital imaging company and once for a major home improvement chain), I know one must learn how to work with others. In college, it is also common to work in a group environment. We are giving students at a high school level the tools to function in a business setting, even if they do not go on to secondary education.

This is what I see with my boys...overall, and this is where I agree with Dr. Nemko, boys receive messages in the media that stress success, but do not stress work. They see the cooperate big-wigs, celebrities, attorneys, cops, athletes, etc.- mostly men- in the media, but there is no emphasis placed on the education that got them there. If you see a guy with a book in a movie, he's probably getting kicked in the face by the football star and laughed at by his cheerleader girlfriend. I've had struggling male students tell me that they don't want to be seen as a "nerd." It's not cool to be smart...and no teacher, even someone as cool as I am **har, har**, is going to convince them otherwise.

Male teachers are very important and can serve as role-models, but there is only so much we/ he can do. And I cannot think of ONE teacher I know who discounts the importance of educating our young men.

Broad generalizations that suggest such nonsense hurt teachers...and in turn, hurt students.

 

I think there's a lot of truth to this article but the problem is also greatly exaggerated-especially when it comes to schools. Our schools are not trying to do "one size fits all" education; it's quite the opposite. Education is expected to be tailored to every conceiveble "learning difference" imaginable. An impossible task that will only become more impossible the longer that we do it.

The interesting thing is that I think a lot of young boys are diagnosed with learning differences when in fact they are just boys and in five years the "issue" wont be an issue. Examples of this are reading ability and "sitting still". On average, girls in K and 1st grade can read and sit still better than boys. These days, reading is taught more aggresively in K and 1st grade and as a consequence, sitting still is more important. The more attentive parents and schools will want to do something about the boys who fall into the wrong end of this spectrum and unfortunately this often ends with Ritalin or "special education". Worsening the problem is that boys are more competitive and they notice in kindergarten that others can read better than them so they start to hate reading.

However, I dont think this situation stems from society being PC when it comes to girls and minorities. It comes from schools trying to get better results in a society that doesnt value education enough. The result is that we are now expecting boys to read before a lot are developmentally ready because when society and parents dont care you have to start earlier.

Another thing about schools, they are by no means igoring this issue. If there are less male teachers then that probably has more to do with all the crap they have to put up with than some conspiracy on the media's part or the schools or feminists part. Where I live, public and private schools get into bidding wars over male elementary school teachers. They are very much valued. However, the good ones almost always end up going into school administration, probably due to the more competitive nature of men. Meanwhile, the female teachers are more content to be making a difference in the lives of children.

This article makes a lot of the media and society emasculating (Terrinh73 is that really a word) boys and that's a wee bit over the top. Yes, society is not so supportive of the head-of-the-house, all-powerful archtype male bread-winner, but as a woman it is hard to feel sorry for men in this world. Take a look at popular culture and it is more damaging to the self esteem of women than it has ever been. Petty your previous pop slut signature is as much a testament to this as anything. The cure is a strong family and that goes as well for girls as it does for boys.

Also, a lot of all-boys schools cater to the notion of teaching boys in a society that is no longer centered around men. I've heard more than one story of a boy struggling in school who switches to an all-boys school and then begins to thrive academically. The reason always seems to be that in an all boys school it's okay to be smart. Again, as a woman it's a little hard to feel sorry for the boys when girls have been dealing with this forever (i.e. who cares if you're smart as long as you are hot). We've just brought white boys down to the lowest common denominator along with the rest of us.

I think the problem is how our society corrects itself. When we determine that something was wrong in the past we overcompensate. We throw everything out as if it was all wrong rather than respect the generations before us and realize that some of what they did, and in my opinion, most of what they did was right and for the right reasons. We today are much more arrogant than our forefathers.

And this goes to why Petty's little rant against the feminists doesnt bother me even though I'm a female who went into a male dominated profession. The feminists made wonderful improvements for 50% of our society but they also had a negative impact and legacy. To my knowledge, they refuse to admit where the feminist movement failed and continues to fail today. They still fight for equal pay for equal work and sexual harassment and all that other crap that isnt nearly as important as children, families, suitable role models, womens rights in other parts of the world, and Fulham FC.

 

I DID NOT say 'woman', I did not say FEMALE, I said 'feminist' and in the context: 'miseducated feminist'.

Suppose you put this in the REAL context where playground rules are made to make the teachers' jobs easier.. 'no running', no physical adversary games, etc.

Suppose I should have looked up that study where the conclusion was that taking away old-fashioned boys play and play objects is a mistake.

Overall, Clevelandmo gets the point exactly.

and... gasp.. I consider myself a 'moderate feminist':
I like women... I liked WORKING for women, and they liked me working for them.

By the way, Terri:

When I was a kid, I was that 'always reading something', skinny glasses-wearing 'nerd'. BUT I was lucky in that I grew up on a farm, and was much tougher than I looked and after walking away once or twice, didnt take s%#@@t the third time and laid into whoever bullied me. Even if I got my ass kicked, that made a huge difference, both in my self esteem and, more importantly, in how I was treated by my peers.

No one taught me to do that. But no one said I shouldnt do that, either.

 

Does this have to do with teachers?

 

RE: Re: A problem with boys...

I think we have had nearly this discussion before. 'Fog, do you know where that topic is buried?

In a nutshell, the focus on bringing girls up to speed in the curriculum, has left many boys behind, because too much focus is on teaching to ensure that girls learn.

 

RE: Re: A problem with boys...

Yep.. but that's in keeping with pub-talk, aint it? I'll look.

Voila! The Over-sanitization of America

There' been a couple others, I think.

 

When I say "it's not cool to be smart"- I'm referring to what their peers say, not what I believe. Trust me, I was/ am that nerd, as are most of my friends. We live in a society that does not value education...and articles that suggest that educators are the reason we do not value education make it less valued.

The quote and its subtext:
"For every male that quits teaching there is a simpering mis-educated feminist idiot ready to take his place."

It wasn't so much the "simpering mis-educated feminist" as the insinuation that if a MALE doesn't take a teaching job, then all that's left in education are a bunch of "simpering, mis-educated feminists." I know you didn't mean to make such a sweeping generalization of those who teach...but it sure sounds like it.

@ C'Mo- I agree with your statements especially about the push to diagnose every child with ADHD...there is this assumption that teachers can write presciptions for Ritalin for any child who can't sit still. It has to come from the parents and doctors. Everytime I am handed a form from a parent that requires me to record a student's behavior in class, I cringe. I've found that students who are more active simply need to be placed in a classroom with a smaller class size so they are not lost in a room of thirty and a change in diet...too many kids live on sodas and other crap (which, if consumed by anyone else, would make them climb the walls as well).

Also, it is true that we lose many male teachers to administrative positions.

And, BTW-

Emasculate \E*mas"cu*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Emasculated;
p. pr. & vb. n. Emasculating.] [L. emasculare; e + masculus
male, masculine. See Male masculine.]
1. To deprive of virile or procreative power; to castrate
power; to castrate; to geld.

2. To deprive of masculine vigor or spirit; to weaken; to
render effeminate; to vitiate by unmanly softness.

 

In other words, like don, you put a meaning to my words that I avoided saying.

Suppose I should have said that many simpering mis-educated feminist idiots were, in fact, male.
And that I thought most 'males - meaning male role models- who gave up teaching' did so because they were not just fighting the boys' typical lethargy but the 'establishment' as well...but at least I got some buzz going.

 

Not the silver bullet, but boys need to play. And mandating 35 minutes a day is woefully, pathetically, and should be criminally, insufficient.

Why do we think it is acceptable to essentially lock kids in a classroom?

 

Let's borrow from the educated urban culinary world:

"boys need to be raised 'free-range'." At least somewhat.

And BTW, this is excellent fodder for me to point out that the 'informed educated elite' ONLY support 'Darwinism' when it doesnt inconvenience their pet social science theories.

Sort just like a mirror of the Christian Fundamentalist Farmer... heh.

 

My second grade boy gets 20 minutes a day. Even stupider, when kids misbehave or dont have their homework done, the typical punishment is to miss recess. Also, many teachers reward the kids for proper behavior with candy and then the schools send home "nutrition nuggets" telling us to limit our children's junk food and make sure they get enough exercise. Ridiculous!

 

Not just ridiculous, but a disservice to our future.

Does anyone think that our ancestors who built this country were so coddled and excessive?

We have a REAL problem on our hands. "Civilized" should not equal more cases of diabetes, especially in kids (as young as 3). If I had one thing to express to teachers out there it would be, take your class for a walk.

 

Enjoying all the comments.

The problem with school, teachers, and education is, everyone thinks they know what's going on and how to fix it, because after all, you've been to school.

Well I've been to a hospital.

 

I would not so easily dismiss people's comments about this. For me personally, I work with kids in the youth soccer league that I am director of, and yes, I have a child and was one also.

I have never been a doctor.

There are many different ways that we could improve our educational system and how we raise children. To dismiss ideas on that with a hospital analogy is offensive to me.

 

Andy.. to the contrary, while I have a good idea what's going on, and how it might be addressed, I dont have a clue on how to reverse the trend in a practical manner.

The LAST part is key and why it ISNT easy.

But recognizing the true facts is the first step.