The Myth About Boys

I just read a fantastic article in TIME by David Von Drehle and I had to share some snippets of it with you. The title of the article is "The Myth About Boys" and of course, having three of my own it peaked my interest. Ten years ago, when I became a mother for the first time, I of course became subject to all the worries and apprehensions that accompany motherhood. These seemed to be fed a healthy dose of anxiety by the growing belief that boys in this day and time were falling behind. A belief fed by researchers and psychologist, doctors, educators and of course, the media. Apparently I was not the only one who felt bombarded by these "new findings". In his article, Mr Drehle frequently mentions a book called "The Dangerous Book for Boys". (I haven't read it yet but have added it to my list) He describes it this way; "bound in an Edwardian red cover with marbled endpapers (it) has many of the timeless qualities of an ideal young man: curiosity, bravery and respectfulness; just enough rogue to leaven the stoic;....It celebrates trial and error, vindicates the noble failure." He talks at length about how we as a society have moved away from allowing boys to learn in the manner they do best, by trial and error, experimentation and hands on experience. Boys as a gender group do best under these circumstances. He points to the fact that because of the lack of these techniques and the diminishing numbers of classes in the subjects in which boys excel, it is no wonder that boys test scores have declined in an era of education geared for girls. He quotes several experts who believe boys are doing fine. "Sara Mead, a senior policy analyst at Education Sector: 'with few exceptions, American boys are scoring higher and achieving more than they ever have before.'" Another, Michael Gurian says: "I think it would be an error not to be optimistic." Ultimately, the final thought in this article is the one I love most: "Worrying about our boys-reading and writing books about them, wringing our hands over dire trends and especially taking more time to parent them-is paying off. The next step is to let them really blossom, and for that we have to trust them, give them room. The time for fearing our sons, or fearing for their futures, is behind us. The challenge now is to believe in them."

The article is well worth the read for anyone who is interested in the balance of the future of our society.

Kudos Mr. Drehle!