The Trouble with Boys

Alicia Eames, Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 12/2/2008

The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parents and Educators Must Do (Crown. 2008).

Expanding upon her 2006 Newsweek cover story of the same title, Peg Tyre, a journalist and a former senior writer at the magazine, offers a thoroughly documented and highly readable examination of the hurdles many boys encounter as they make their way through our nation’s educational system. The author recognizes that she’s bound to raise the eyebrows and ire of some. However, she’s convinced (and passionately convincing) that research shows boys are quickly falling behind girls academically, and immediate action should be taken to address their low achievement levels, especially in reading and writing.

In the first few chapters, Tyre defines the extent of the achievement gap, takes a close look at the impact of Title IX, and challenges academics and policy makers who are reluctant to admit there’s a crisis by citing statistics from government agencies along with anecdotal evidence from families whose bright and inquisitive sons are just not connecting in school. From there, she takes readers through the grades, from kindergarten to college, examining the declining achievement rates of male students and offering some possible solutions along the way. Tyre’s findings, which are sure to generate discussion and debate, are well worth exploring. They include: 

• “boys were 60 percent more likely than girls to get held back in kindergarten”
• “39 percent of all first-graders in the country get 20 minutes a day of recess or less”
• “14 percent of boys across the nation were identified as having ADHD by the time they reached their sixteenth birthday”
• “72 percent of girls and only 65 percent of boys graduate from high school”
• “57.2 percent of undergraduates in college are female, and that disparity is expected to grow”

While the author is obviously sounding an alarm, she outlines simple suggestions to engage boys early on. Tyre encourages teachers to create classroom libraries that don’t “marginalize the kind of reading that boys like” and to incorporate classroom management techniques and routines that allow students to move about throughout the day.

The importance of male role models is discussed as well as the need to examine inconsistent societal expectations that negatively affect boys’ academic performance. Of course, increasing children’s motivation to do well in school will take concerted effort by educators at all levels of instruction, but for many of us trying to reach and teach the boys under our care, recognizing that a problem actually exists just might be half the answer.