More About Underachieving Boys
This topic is no stranger to this column: where are the boys? College admissions for males have dropped to 42 % and is seen going lower. Nearly 80 percent of high school drop outs are male. And, most sad, the current suicide rate for boys is 5 times the rate for girls.
Being smart is not cool and boys have made this attitude their mantra. The new culture of “hip-hop” with its message of easy money and disdain for discipline is as prevalent among white males as any ethnic group. With males’ natural inclination to be more boisterous and physical, it is no wonder that over 80 percent of discipline problems in schools belong to boys.
Add to the above the final ingredient of sports and the coddling that comes with being a good athlete and the teacher has little chance of closing the gender gap. Men for decades have taken boyish charm and “firm handshakes” to create job opportunities in manufacturing, construction or other physically demanding jobs. The new world order demands “smarts” in a technology driven environment and that message has been broadly embraced by women but not men.
Experts are suggesting such things as:
1. Hire more male teachers especially in communities where a male presence, such as a father figure is missing;
2. Create same sex schools where the curriculum can be tailored to the learning needs of male students;
3. Start boys one year later in kindergarten to provide more maturity in later years;
4. Create more attitude building programs that reward all males not just athletes.
The idea that boys won’t or can’t learn may be a cultural myth. American-born Asians of both sexes graduate at a rate 8 to 10 percent higher than all students. Asians also dominate graduating from college and hold over 50 percent of all conferred diplomas in the US according the 2003 US Census.
The difference is the attitude of parents toward education in Asian homes versus that of white parents. As soon as white parents and their children believe that the world will continue to thrive without them, attitudes toward education will revert to the dedication seen in the years following World War II.
Thinking is the new economy.
The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory. --- Paul Fix, actor
Are Dropout Rates Causing Watered Down Curricula?
With less than 70 percent of all students graduating high school this past year, will school administrators begin to lower standards and make it easier to graduate? Who owns this problem of students not completing school? Is it really a learning issue or a cultural issue? Will lower standards undermine those who do apply themselves in school? Is it a problem of too much despair and not enough hope?
Graduation rates by ethnicity:
Asian: 77%
White: 76%
Hispanic: 56%
Black: 52%
American Indian: 47%
Many questions, many facts, many theories but few answers.
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