So I was pouring through that source of awesomeness known as The New York Times, when I happened upon an article about how boys are much less likely to succeed in the school system since the Women's Rights Movement. It has to do with behavior, globalization, a broken system and how schools seem to have tried to help girls as much as possible, but haven't made any major attempts to help boys struggling with academia.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/the-boys-at-the-back/?hp
I've read about this before in that wonderful book When Everything Changed, a book on women's rights movement from 1960 to now written by New York Times op-ed columnist Gail Collins. Apparently sometime in the 70s was when girls began to outdo boys academically, and it has continued to this day.
This is a very interesting scenario. It's bizarre that balancing opportunities has actually tipped the scale to the other side. It appears something must be done. Personally I would appreciate the reinstitution of recess in high school, but I don't see that happening any time soon.
According to various research I've read, recess actually is good for education; it goes against our prehistoric instincts to sit still for extended periods of time. This especially applies to boys, the traditional hunters. Just two or three rowdy kids can disrupt the class of 30.
ReplyDeleteI can perform above most others in my classes, regardless of gender, but I have a lot of trouble focusing on anything monotonous or pointless. Maybe that primal question of "is this useful knowledge?" is messing with my mandated traditional education.
Agreed.There are quite a few things I'm sure I'm never going to end up using my life that I'm learning in school. But I like knowing things, so that doesn't bother me too much, except for when I don't understand it by the time of the test. And I would REALLY love the addition of recess to the curriculum.
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