Boys learn differently - that’s why all-boys schools are best
Lunes, Noviembre 16th, 2009[The Gazette, November 3, 2009]
Boys need to be taught how to access their feelings and emotions
By HAL HANNAFORD
As Phyllis Diller once said, we spend the first 12 months of our son’s lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next 12 years telling them to sit down and shut up.
So, let’s understand the reality: Boys and girls behave differently and learn differently. The data are irrefutable. Of children on Ritalin, 80 per cent are boys. Of college students, 60 per cent are female and the numbers are rising. The majority of children diagnosed with learning disabilities are boys and 80 per cent of high-school dropouts are also boys. In 35 industrialized nations, including Canada, the girls are getting better grades than the boys.
The statistics can be alarming for parents. A recent Newsweek article, The Trouble with Boys, claims that the widening achievement gap has profound implications for the economy, society, families and democracy. The Gates Foundation is making boys a big priority.
