The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons,

The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parentsand Educators Must Do

From the moment they step into the classroom, boys begin to struggle. They get expelled from preschool nearly five times more often than girls; in elementary school, theyâ€™re diagnosed with learning disorders four times as often. By eighth grade huge numbers are reading below basic level. And by high school, theyâ€™re heavily outnumbered in AP classes and, save for the realm of athletics, show indifference to most extraÂcurricular activities. Perhaps most alarmingly, boys now account for less than 43 percent of those enrolled in college, and the gap widens every semester!

The imbalance in higher education isnâ€™t just a â€œboy problem,â€ though. Boysâ€™ decreasing college attendance is bad news for girls, too, because adÂmissions officers seeking balanced student bodies pass over girls in favor of boys. The growing gender imbalance in education portends massive shifts for the next generation: how much they make and whom they marry.

Interviewing hundreds of parents, kids, teachers, and experts, award-winning journalist Peg Tyre drills below the eye-catching statistics to examine how the educational system is failing our sons. She explores the convergence of culprits, from the emphasis on high-stress academics in preschool and kindergarten, when most boys just canâ€™t tolerate sitting still, to the outright banning of recess, from the demands of No Child Left Behind, with its rigid emphasis on test-taking, to the boy-unfriendly modern curriculum with its focus on writing about â€œfeelingsâ€ and its purging of â€œhigh-actionâ€ reading material, from the rise of video gaming and schoolsâ€™ unease with technology to the lack of male teachers as role models.

But this passionate, clearheaded book isnâ€™t an exercise in finger-pointing. Tyre, the mother of two sons, offers notes from the front linesâ€”the testimony of teachers and other school officials who are trying new techniques to motivate boys to learn again, one classroom at a time. The Trouble with Boys gives parents, educators, and anyone concerned about the state of education a manifesto for changeâ€”one we must undertake right away lest school be-come, for millions of boys, unalterably a â€œgirl thing.â€

From the Hardcover edition.
Country USA
Manufacturer Harmony
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2008-09-09
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Harmony
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2008-09-09
Format	Kindle eBook

The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parentsand Educators Must Do

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