I feel like it's been too long since my last rant, so here comes one that has bothered me for quite some time - our current culture in the U.S. does not let boys be boys.Back in the early seventies it became a popular misconception that boys and girls are exactly the same. Boys liked toy guns and beating the crap out of each other simply because we as a society made them this way. Popular media (ex. Free To Be You and Me) made it abundantly clear that, aside from anatomy, John is really no different than Joan... so quit treating them different dammit!
Look at toy ads from the 1950s and 60s - the boy toys were basically various forms of weaponry and girl toys were dainty things like dolls. Admittedly, the gender distinction was a bit too pronounced back then, and thus the pendulum swung to the opposite extreme in a reaction in the 1970s.
So here we are in 2009, and in some states almost 20% boys are on Ritalin. No doubt, many of these kids need it -but when you remove recess and Phys Ed in these schools and expect these boys to sit like statues in their desks for eight hours straight, it's no wonder they need to be sedated!
Sitting idle all day at school and coming home to sit some more in front of a TV/computer/video game just isn't the way they're wired, nor is it healthy. These sedentary activities peppered with a few pitiful structured playtimes just isn't going to cut it with most boys. Could it be that some of the changes that have taken place in our schools and home are in fact driving our boys crazy?
I think we just don't understand them anymore. Something has gone terribly wrong when you consider this from Newsweek (source):
To put it another way: One out of five boys has to get his head checked because his parents think he's either retarded or mentally insane.
Look at toy ads from the 1950s and 60s - the boy toys were basically various forms of weaponry and girl toys were dainty things like dolls. Admittedly, the gender distinction was a bit too pronounced back then, and thus the pendulum swung to the opposite extreme in a reaction in the 1970s.
So here we are in 2009, and in some states almost 20% boys are on Ritalin. No doubt, many of these kids need it -but when you remove recess and Phys Ed in these schools and expect these boys to sit like statues in their desks for eight hours straight, it's no wonder they need to be sedated!
Sitting idle all day at school and coming home to sit some more in front of a TV/computer/video game just isn't the way they're wired, nor is it healthy. These sedentary activities peppered with a few pitiful structured playtimes just isn't going to cut it with most boys. Could it be that some of the changes that have taken place in our schools and home are in fact driving our boys crazy?
I think we just don't understand them anymore. Something has gone terribly wrong when you consider this from Newsweek (source):
... the National Center for Health Statistics contained a jaw-dropper: the parents of nearly one of every five boys in the United States were concerned enough about what they saw as their sons' emotional or behavioral problems that they consulted a(See the study here.)
doctor or a health-care professional.
To put it another way: One out of five boys has to get his head checked because his parents think he's either retarded or mentally insane.
So who cares that girls are leaving boys in the dust in terms of literacy and overall success in school? Maybe it's high time the girls lead the way. That may be true, but you can't deny we have a problem here. One problem is that schools have gotten more demanding; not in terms of difficulty or depth of understanding, but rather in terms of their relentless standards and requirements. Again from the Newsweek article:
By age 4, an ever-increasing number of children are enrolled in preschool. There, instead of learning to get along with other kids, hold a crayon and play Duck, Duck, Goose, children barely out of diapers are asked to fill out work sheets, learn computation or study Mandarin. The drumbeat for early academics gets even louder when they enter "real" school. Veteran teachers will tell you that first graders are now routinely expected to master a curriculum that, only 15 years ago, would have been considered appropriate for second, even third graders.
The way we teach children has changed, too. In many communities, elementary schools have become test-prep factories—where standardized testing begins in kindergarten and "teaching to the test" is considered a virtue. At the same time, recess is being pushed aside in order to provide extra time for reading and math drills. So is history and opportunities for hands-on activities—like science labs and art. Active play is increasingly frowned on—some schools have even banned recess and tag.
I don't know about you, but I don't think I ever did homework till I was in college. I was an Air Force brat, so I've been to a million schools and know the standards were basically the same from school to school. I had recess and P.E., did zero homework, played outside, and watched crap like Chico and the Man all night long.
How did I turn out academically? I got a masters degree in molecular biology without too much struggle. I say this not to pat myself on the back, but to point out that all this extra schoolwork starting in preschool is ridiculous; I did just fine on a steady diet of neglecting academics, endangering myself outdoors, and vegetating to the boob tube.
Here's my solutions:
1) Parents, lighten the hell up. Let your kid play outside - correction, make your kid play outside. Play outside until either (A) it is complete darkness or (B) he is seriously injured.
2) Educators, lighten the hell up. Take George W.'s "No Child Left Behind" curriculum (which is two miles long and one inch deep), wipe your ass with it and give your kids a nice long recess. This will give you, the teacher, a much needed break to watch the boys beat each other to a pulp.
Done.
By age 4, an ever-increasing number of children are enrolled in preschool. There, instead of learning to get along with other kids, hold a crayon and play Duck, Duck, Goose, children barely out of diapers are asked to fill out work sheets, learn computation or study Mandarin. The drumbeat for early academics gets even louder when they enter "real" school. Veteran teachers will tell you that first graders are now routinely expected to master a curriculum that, only 15 years ago, would have been considered appropriate for second, even third graders.
The way we teach children has changed, too. In many communities, elementary schools have become test-prep factories—where standardized testing begins in kindergarten and "teaching to the test" is considered a virtue. At the same time, recess is being pushed aside in order to provide extra time for reading and math drills. So is history and opportunities for hands-on activities—like science labs and art. Active play is increasingly frowned on—some schools have even banned recess and tag.
I don't know about you, but I don't think I ever did homework till I was in college. I was an Air Force brat, so I've been to a million schools and know the standards were basically the same from school to school. I had recess and P.E., did zero homework, played outside, and watched crap like Chico and the Man all night long.
How did I turn out academically? I got a masters degree in molecular biology without too much struggle. I say this not to pat myself on the back, but to point out that all this extra schoolwork starting in preschool is ridiculous; I did just fine on a steady diet of neglecting academics, endangering myself outdoors, and vegetating to the boob tube.
Here's my solutions:
1) Parents, lighten the hell up. Let your kid play outside - correction, make your kid play outside. Play outside until either (A) it is complete darkness or (B) he is seriously injured.
2) Educators, lighten the hell up. Take George W.'s "No Child Left Behind" curriculum (which is two miles long and one inch deep), wipe your ass with it and give your kids a nice long recess. This will give you, the teacher, a much needed break to watch the boys beat each other to a pulp.
Done.
