The Trouble with Boys

Across America parents are growing more troubled at the reports they get back from teachers regarding their sons' performance. Not only have girls bridged the achievement gap that was first widely reported in the book Reviving Ophelia, they're surpassing boys at every educational level--which might simply add up to a hearty Congrats! to the girls, were it not for the fact that boysjust aren't learning what they need to.Boy preschoolers are being tossed out in record numbers; reading...
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Across America parents are growing more troubled at the reports they get back from teachers regarding their sons' performance. Not only have girls bridged the achievement gap that was first widely reported in the book Reviving Ophelia, they're surpassing boys at every educational level--which might simply add up to a hearty Congrats! to the girls, were it not for the fact that boysjust aren't learning what they need to.Boy preschoolers are being tossed out in record numbers; reading and writing scores are plummeting; by 8th grade, in 20 different American states, a full 40% of boys score below basic on reading tests; non-sport extracurricular activites are now solely the province of girls; and it is the girls who're filling out most of the college applications. This year, there'll be 2.5 million morefemale than male graduates. The underachievement gap is so extreme that college admissions boards, to maintain gender parity, are accepting thousands of marginal male applicants.In THE TROUBLE WITH BOYS Tyre identifies a myriad of factors that are the culprit, including: draconian No Child Left Behind-inspired writing and reading regimens from which active boys recoil; the outlawing of running at recess and games like tag; Ritalin overdosing (the ADHD diagnosis has grown 48% in five years!); pro-feelings and anti-violence curriculum trends that have banished traditional boy reading and boy play from the library and the playground; soaring video game addiction; and even the lack of male role models. The number of male teachers is now the lowest it's been in 40 years, and currently, 32% of boys don't live with their biological fathers. Educators are finally waking up to the declining boy performance trend and are alarmed. And many parents are beside themselves with worry. For this book, Tyre has pored over all the data, consulted the experts, huddled with concerned parents, and observed cutting-edge programs meant to solve the crisis. In pre-schools, kindergartens, middle schools, high schools, and colleges throughout America, the boy wars are being fought, and this is Tyre's exhaustive--and enormously enlightening--report back from the front.