While doing research, on this nagging issue for many librarians, I found this old (2 years)article. For some time now, I have been disturbed by the drop of frequency and reading skills in boys. Achievement data bears out my worry. We are gradually graduating fewer boys and rewarding fewer boys with scholarships. Fewer males are graduating from college. Reading skills are the number 1 varibale for ex-cons chance to rehabilitate. This is serious. 35 years ago, when I graduated from high school, the cry was just the reverse. Why are women not enrolling in college? Why are women second class citizens? Well, now it is reverse- can't we get it right. Make it equitable?
- Al Smith
This article is still well worth the read. If you have insights or opinions about improving the reading practice of males, please post a comment or contact Mr. Smith at: literateowl@gmail.com
Boys' lack of interest in reading tackled by groups
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Last updated 12:00 p.m. PT
By PAUL NYHAN
Reading may be
fundamental, but too many boys in middle school lack that critical educational
building block.For the last
decade, educators fretted over the academic gender gap -- girls outperforming
boys on standardized tests -- yet the divide remains obvious in reading.
There is plenty
of blame to go around -- disengaged parents, uninterested publishing houses,
distracting video games and teaching styles -- but not as many clear answers.
"I would
say there is a crisis," said Walter Dean Myers, a children's book author.
"Too many parents have walked away from this idea ... that education is a
family concept, is a community concept, is not simply something that schools
do."
There is also
hope. Myers will
speak Wednesday at the University of Washington's Information School on
"Books & Boys -- Making It Work!"
The debate over
whether boys are falling behind and in crisis has raged for years among
academics, educators and writers. Reading remains one of their top concerns. In
Seattle's public schools, sixth-grade boys trailed their female classmates by
more than 10 percentage points in the standardized reading test in 2006. Reading often
loses its hold on these children as they near and hit middle school, a time
when reading and their social worlds become more complex.
"A lot of
times, when boys get to middle school they are feeling sort of disenfranchised
from the educational" experience, said Pamela LaBorde, children's
librarian at the Seattle Public Library's Ballard branch.
The problem
isn't necessarily that boys don't read, it's that they are often practical
readers, LaBorde said, reading magazines and even manuals.
"I think
we feel like boys just aren't good readers because they aren't curling up with
'Little Women,' " LaBorde added.
The reasons
behind the reading gender gap are complex -- everything from cultural changes
to behavioral differences -- but researchers know the brains of boys and girls
develop at different rates.
Myers offered
other reasons, such as boys being typically more comfortable telling teachers
to buzz off. They also may
feel ignored. That's because the publishing industry tends to focus on girls,
Myers said.
"The
publishing industry doesn't think there is a market, so they just don't market
them," said Hayden Bass, teen services librarian at Seattle Public's Library's
downtown branch.
To engage male
readers, books need to tackle their issues: what it means to be a man, walk
away from a fight, play sports and even go to war, Myers said.
"I've
never had a male editor," the New Jersey-based author said. "When you
see the books that win the awards, you see books that are much more suitable
for girls."
When Myers
wrote "Fallen Angels," a teen novel about Vietnam, it was a big hit
with male readers.
"The
basketball books I write make beaucoup bucks," added Myers, who has a new
book on the Iraq war, "Sunrise over Fallujah," scheduled for release
this summer.
Experts say
there are titles for reluctant male readers -- "The Outsiders" comes
to mind -- just not enough.
"The real
requirement is that there is a male protagonist. Boys will not read books that
have a girl protagonist," said John Martin, a Ballard novelist who writes
for young adults, and started BoysRead.org this
year to address the reading gap. The problem is
not lost on local educators. Seattle Public Schools spent nearly $3 million
over the past three years to create 600-book libraries for classrooms and
outreach, and plans to spend more.
In Seattle
schools and elsewhere, a broader scope of reading materials is welcomed. Comic
books are embraced, graphic novels are praised and audio books are seen as
helpful.
But like many
student challenges, the first steps begin at home.
"Getting
kids reading ready by talking to them, by having conversations with these boys
and telling these young readers that they have to join our society, we don't
have to join theirs," Myers said. "You have to interact with your
children."
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Here are five
books that Hayden Bass, teen services librarian at the Seattle Public Library's
downtown branch, recently recommended for middle school boys who think they
don't like to read.
· "The Absolutely True Diary
of a Part-Time Indian"; Sherman Alexie, illustrations by Ellen Forney.
FICTION
Budding
cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation
to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the
school mascot.
· "Grooves: A Kind of
Mystery"; Kevin Brockmeier. FICTION
After
seventh-grader Dwayne Ruggles discovers that the grooves in his blue jeans are
encoded with a cry for help, he must find out who is sending the distress
signal and why.
· "Jeremy Fink and the
Meaning of Life"; Wendy Mass. FICTION
What if you had
the meaning of life inside a locked box, but you didn't have the key?
· "Runaways, Volume 1: Pride
and Joy"; Brian K. Vaughn. GRAPHIC NOVEL
What if you
found out that your parents had superpowers ... but they weren't heroes? First
in a series.
· "The Action Hero's
Handbook: How to Catch a Great White Shark, Perform the Vulcan Nerve Pinch,
Track a Fugitive, and Dozens of Other TV and Movie Skills"; David
Borgenicht and Joe Borgenicht. NON-FICTION
The next time a
friend of yours is dangling from a cliff by his fingernails, he'll thank you
for reading this book and knowing how to save him.
Check out the
Seattle P-I's parenting blog, Working Dad at blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/family.
P-I reporter Paul Nyhan can be reached at 206-448-8145 or
paulnyhan@seattlepi.com.
© 1998-2007
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
