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Why do boys hate reading?

That's a shame, for sure. Schools around here have a zero-tolerance policy. ANY physical fight results in the police being called to the school immediately. The bully wouldn't just have a week off school, she'd have been arrested, then and there.
 
cajunmama said:
That's a shame, for sure. Schools around here have a zero-tolerance policy. ANY physical fight results in the police being called to the school immediately. The bully wouldn't just have a week off school, she'd have been arrested, then and there.
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I wouldn't mind seeing the parents of the bully fined and/or charged with something too. Maybe a $500.00 fine?
 
Motokid said:
I wouldn't mind seeing the parents of the bully fined and/or charged with something too. Maybe a $500.00 fine?
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I understand the frustration behind this sentiment. But, as the mom of a child who has anger management problems, I wonder if forced counciling might be a better solution for a first offence. The parents would still have to pay, but perhaps something good can come of the experience.
 
Motokid said:
I wouldn't mind seeing the parents of the bully fined and/or charged with something too. Maybe a $500.00 fine?
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How about bail money, court costs, lawyers' fees, time taken off of work?
 
Sorry but the simple truth is that in schools, boys are rarely given anything to read that is remotely interesting or applicable to their interests today. If parents schools want their kids to read, I suggest turning off the TV and finding something that interests their kids. Nothing more or less is needed. Kids'll read what fun and will detest the rest.
 
You're right, it is as simple as this:
Boys don't like reading because they are made to read things they don't like.
 
I think there's a misconception that reading is for girls too. I don't know why that is since so many books are by male authors. But somewhere along, the idea that books are for girls and action toys are for boys, has taken root. It's stupid really, since we all know kids of either sex who like to do it all...
 
cajunmama said:
You're right, it is as simple as this:
Boys don't like reading because they are made to read things they don't like.
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I think this is a big part of it.

So what books *would* be suitable for boys?

The year 12 syllabus for next year in my home state of Victoria has just added two new options (teachers choose ~4 of some 30 on the list for their class and all exams and assignments are state-centralised). Firstly, under poetry, there is a compilation of song lyrics by a famous and contemporary Australian song writer, Paul Kelly. Secondly, there is the print version of the Baghdad diaries. The article is copied below, and the original is here.

There appear to be critisisms that these are not literary enough. But if there's 2 or 3 other more common literary options being studied by the students, then is satisfactory? What do you think? Are these sort of contemporary offerings the way to go? Or is it dumbing down the curriculum for the sake of some students, and penalising others?

Kelly's lyrics right on course
By Shane Green
Education Editor
November 14, 2005

The lyrics of musician Paul Kelly will be studied by VCE English students, the first time a contemporary songwriter has made the official reading list.

Kelly's Don't Start Me Talking: Lyrics 1984-2004 has been included in the poetry section of the 2006 text list alongside the selected poems of Sylvia Plath.

In a further shift towards contemporary culture, the print version of The Baghdad Blog, by Salam Pax, is also on the official list. Pax is a gay Iraqi architect whose weblog from Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq attracted a huge international following.

Melbourne-based Kelly said yesterday he was surprised when he heard he had made the list. "Then I thought, 'Am I dead yet?' Then straight away another thought — 'This could help sales'," he said.

"I hope they fall in love with the sound of words the way I did at school with Shakespeare and Gerard Manley Hopkins.

"That they feel the playfulness and danger of words, how they can thrill you and stab you, and make you laugh all at the same time. I hope if they enjoy the words, they get the chance to listen to the tunes that brought them forth."

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority said Kelly's lyrics and The Baghdad Blog — part of a list of 31 texts from which students can choose — allowed sophisticated and detailed analysis.

"Both works draw on established genres for literary study," a spokesman said. "Kelly is recognised as a songwriter and poet, who has become a cultural icon in Australia. Pax has gained international acceptance as a credible source for what happened on the ground in Iraq.

"The Baghdad Blog is also a modern example of the work of the diarist who, throughout history, has recorded personal observations about serious issues."

But the move has drawn the ire of the State Opposition, which has linked them to a decline in standards in the English curriculum and to left-wing bias.

Education spokesman Victor Perton said he did not want the texts banned. "But what concerns me is that for VCE English we are setting texts which don't have high enough standards of vocabulary or grammar that really test children," he said. "We seem to be heading downwards at a very fast rate of knots."

Mr Perton called for The Baghdad Blog to be balanced by works that described "the victims of the left", such as Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang. He criticised what he called left-wing bias in the curriculum.

"These old-fashioned lefties are still fighting the ideological wars of the '60s and '70s through curriculum," he said.
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This thread is without doubt the most ridiculous I've ever seen on this forum.

I'm actually going to take the trouble to go through it shortly and point out all the nonsensical comments.

Some absolutely incredible remarks on this thread. I was sitting here shaking my head in disbelief as I read through it.
 
RobertFKennedy said:
This thread is without doubt the most ridiculous I've ever seen on this forum.

I'm actually going to take the trouble to go through it shortly and point out all the nonsensical comments.

Some absolutely incredible remarks on this thread. I was sitting here shaking my head in disbelief as I read through it.
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I can't wait for you to explain this post...in detail I hope....as I think there are many other threads here at TBF that push the limits of rediculous well past this one...
 
technokitty said:
I'd think it's because on average it seems guys like doing something like building models etc (getting their hands dirty so to speak) and girls are more likely to sit and read, write etc

now of course there are plenty of exceptions but I'd guess that's why the majority flows that way :)
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You'll be able to back up that the majority of males prefer building models (!) to reading of course. It's just that I have never met a single male who prefers making models to reading.
 
Minniemal said:
Perhaps history has something to do with it: boys don't hear about earlier generations of boys being told not to worry their pretty little heads. Being pissed-off with the (recent) status quo is a powerful incentive to open a book of fiction, right?
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Wrong. I have never met a single girl or woman who would attribute their love of books to such a trite and overused cliche as "I'm reading to better myself for womankind. Girl Power!"
 
direstraits said:
[Laugh!]
Yeah I totally agree that boys will only read stuff they are interested in.
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Really? Boys only read about stuff they are interested in? Well I never.

I think the same goes for females. I havent seen many women on the train reading books about boxing, that's for sure.
 
Kookamoor said:
And women "just sit around"???? I think you're making some sweeping generalisations here, Moto.
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Why have you picked up on Moto's sweeping generalisations. There are plenty more on this thread before Moto's but you havent mentioned them.
 
muggle said:
I believe I agree with some of Moto's points. It takes time for things to change and in the "olden" days boys/men were expected to provide for the families and were more physical than women and did not have time for reading in general. They then were involved in sports when women were not. Nowadays things are more equal and both sexes are doing things that in the past only one generally did. For example only men were expected to participate in motorsports and now women are slowly breaking the "men only" barrier". Please take a few moments to take a look at the website in my signature. :)

There is no excuse for men NOT to read nowadays.
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Galileo managed to find time to read and that was in the "olden days". In the "olden days" men were the scientists and authors and inventors, not women.

In the "olden days" the majority of men AND women were illiterate. But more women were illiterate than men.

There may be no excuse for men and women not to read nowadays but there is no excuse required.
 
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