Dr. Leonard Sax, in his new book “Boys Adrift” reports that girls now outperform boys by wide margins in every content area K-12, including math and science. Girls now outnumber boys by more than 2-to-1 among high-school valedictorians. Young women are now much more likely than their brothers to attend college.
The girls’ success is great but why are boys not keeping pace? It seems that one factor is that schools have become less boy friendly. Certain behaviors that used to be seen as “their just boys being boys” is now not tolerated and often leads to a boy being disciplined. If a Kindergarten boy points a finger at a fellow student and says “bang, bang” or draws a picture depicted violence he most likely would be sent to the guidance counselor or the principal and his parents would be alerted. In earlier times the teacher might have ignored the issue or made a brief comment about the behavior and that would be the end of it. When a boy perceives that a punishment imposed upon him is excessive or unjust he will dislike school, underperform and develop a negative attitude towards school.
However, there are strategies that teachers can employ to better engage boys.
For example, teachers often ask, “why are boys less responsive to cooperative learning practices so essential in today’s heterogeneous classes?” Research tells us that boys tend to prefer competitive, hierarchical groups in a constant quest to prove self-worth and identity whereas girls tend to seek and thrive in a cooperative type of learning environment. The implication for teachers is to structure cooperative learning projects that balance these gender differences. In general boys prefer reading more non-fiction and adventure literature. Teachers, especially in the earlier grades, should be picking reading assignments with gender preferences in mind. Boys also tend to gravitate to hands on activities especially when they can be physically active. Modifications in instruction which do not require more resources – just additional training for teachers – would go a long way in closing the gender achievement gap.
Another factor not mentioned by Dr. Sax is the current viewpoint governing gender discourse that stresses gender neutrality as the means to achieve gender equality. This is an unfortunate byproduct of modern feminism and has negatively affected boys who struggle with their masculine identity. Boys need to be taught a revised man code that highlights the archetypes of masculinity in the light rather than the shadow. Examples of prominent men who have demonstrated the best of masculinity can be contrasted with men who inhabit the manosphere world.
I think that we can all agree that society cannot afford losing the productivity of half of its population. There are ways to keep our boys from going adrift without diminishing the achievements of girls.