Why do boys hate reading?

[Motokid]

that's really pathetic. I'll come to your links. I just wish you would answer my questions.

What's pathetic is your ability to back up your own posts and thoughts with anything that has merit. You are making claims, and then when called to provide some structure to them, you chose to mis-direct towards something else.

I've provided "evidence" which backs up everything I've said in this thread about gender related traits regarding reading.

You've done nothing but make statements which you can't back up with anything even remotely solid.

My point on backing out of the discussion for now is to let some others join in and get a word in edgewise so it doesn't look like I'm beating you to death.

And kookamoor can pick on me all she wants...along with anybody else. They know I can take it, and I love it, and I ask for it.

 

[RobertFKennedy]

What's pathetic is your ability to back up your own posts and thoughts with anything that has merit. You are making claims, and then when called to provide some structure to them, you chose to mis-direct towards something else.

I've provided "evidence" which backs up everything I've said in this thread about gender related traits regarding reading.

You've done nothing but make statements which you can't back up with anything even remotely solid.

My point on backing out of the discussion for now is to let some others join in and get a word in edgewise so it doesn't look like I'm beating you to death.

And kookamoor can pick on me all she wants...along with anybody else. They know I can take it, and I love it, and I ask for it.

I simply haven't started backing things up yet, I've only expressed my own personal views and experiences.

I must start coming up with links soon though because that proves everything as we all know.

"so it doesn't look like I'm beating you to death."

Ouch. Thats awful. [cringe]

 

[SFG75]

Moto is correct, the thread is about boys not liking reading, not the adult male population. Moto did answer the question, though the question was rather stated in a poor way. If you change the word "men" and "women" to "boys" and girls"(which is the correct way to address the topic, I know, I created it) then you find that Moto did answer the question.

RFK's question:
Post #74

I'd love to see some hard evidence to support the assertion that the majority of men do not read. And some that the majority of women do wouldn't go amiss either.

Moto's answer:
Post #82
Read this and then post some more....

"Around the globe, boys and books just don’t seem to get along, and Canada is no different. Canadian literacy statistics show boys trailing girls when it comes to reading and writing. In 1998, 13-year-old Canadian girls scored higher than boys on literacy tests conducted by the Canadian Council of Ministers of Education (www.cmec.ca/saip/rw98le/pages/ResultsE.stm).

Girls also outperformed boys on writing tests, but Laura Sokal, an education researcher and professor at the University of Winnipeg, believes these numbers don’t tell the whole story. “Not all boys are failing in reading,” she insists, “but there is a problem.” Sokal and other Canadian education researchers are trying to see beyond the numbers, and, in some cases, into boys’ backpacks, to understand why boys consistently trail girls in reading and writing. These findings show that Canadian boys have a lot to teach us about literacy."

RFK's 2nd question(Just a restating of post #82)
Post #88

You can't be serious Motokid. come on. look back and look for the question marks. If you will do me the courtesy of answering these questions I will look at your information.

Moto's reply:
-Post #89

"According to a national survey conducted by the Young Adult Library Services Association in 2001, boys of an average age of 14 listed their top obstacles to reading:


boring/no fun 39.3%

no time/too busy 29.8%

like other activities better 11.1%

can’t get into the stories 7.7%

I’m not good at it 4.3%"

This says it all, I don't need to answer your questions....you have lost this debate until you can provide some articles or statistics which back up your attempts to paint the members who've posted here as rediculous.
__________________

I'm sorry RFK, but from what I can see, he has addressed your request for evidence supporting the statement that boys do not read as much as girls.


**Edited to add a post # that I was citing.

 

[Motokid]

I simply haven't started backing things up yet, I've only expressed my own personal views and experiences.

And there lies one of your main problems....you are relying on your personal views and experiences....

and we are providing information based on local, national, and worldwide studies.

 

[Motokid]

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.

1. "This thread is without doubt the most ridiculous I've ever seen on this forum." So is this humor, sarcasm...what? It's relatively tame in and of itself, but could require you to explain yourself a bit.

2. "I'm actually going to take the trouble to go through it shortly" Are we supposed to feel honored that you'll actually trouble yourself? This is pretty flammable.

3. and point out all the nonsensical comments.
Flammable again. ALL the nonsensical comments....there's tons of them, a few...and why nonsensical?

4. Some absolutely incredible remarks on this thread. Can this be taken as anything but an insult?

5. I was sitting here shaking my head in disbelief as I read through it. Because you are so gosh darn smart? Because your reply's make so much sense and can't figure out why ours don't?


Maybe you did not mean to come across this way, but as I said earlier....poor choice of words....can you at least see how it can be mis-interpreted now?

 

[Motokid]

Man...type "gender" into google some time....

Anyway...here's a great article on some basic gender traits that pretty much covers humans and animals (redundant comment for me, but I figured I'd seperate for others....)....

Gender Traits

 

[RobertFKennedy]

I never said he didn't.

 

[RobertFKennedy]

and we are providing information based on local, national, and worldwide studies.

or another way of looking at it, you have posted a link to a website.

The discussion you and I are having is far less about whether males read less than females. I never had a problem with such an assertion if it can be demonstrated.

The kinds of assertions I disagreed with were "the majority of boys just dont like reading" etc. I don't accept this and I'm not likely to accept it simply because someone somewhere has conducted a survey. "I am a better example of general society than you are RFK" is a classic.

Also, you have dodged questions, you HAVE deliberatley misrepresented my posts and you HAVE made a couple of things up.

You are also strutting about claiming that you are "winning" and I am "losing" etc. I've seen this on the internet a couple of times in the past and it's hard to think of anything more cringe inducing.

 

[RobertFKennedy]

Anyway...here's a great article on some basic gender traits that pretty much covers humans and animals (redundant comment for me, but I figured I'd seperate for others....)....

Gender Traits

so what motokid? another link which is supposed to "prove" something?

 

[RobertFKennedy]

1. "This thread is without doubt the most ridiculous I've ever seen on this forum." So is this humor, sarcasm...what? It's relatively tame in and of itself, but could require you to explain yourself a bit.

2. "I'm actually going to take the trouble to go through it shortly" Are we supposed to feel honored that you'll actually trouble yourself? This is pretty flammable.

3. and point out all the nonsensical comments.
Flammable again. ALL the nonsensical comments....there's tons of them, a few...and why nonsensical?

4. Some absolutely incredible remarks on this thread. Can this be taken as anything but an insult?

5. I was sitting here shaking my head in disbelief as I read through it. Because you are so gosh darn smart? Because your reply's make so much sense and can't figure out why ours don't?


Maybe you did not mean to come across this way, but as I said earlier....poor choice of words....can you at least see how it can be mis-interpreted now?

1. It's simply my opinion of the standard of content on the thread.

2. NO, you are not supposed to feel honoured. Flammable? Maybe, if you are a bit dramatic and over sensitive.?

3. Theres quite a few. And I've explained why some of them are nonsensical. Your comment about how you are a better example of general society than me was the best of the lot.

4. Yes it can.

5. None of the above.

I don't agree it's a poor choice of words but yes I can see how it could be misinterpreted. You didnt seem to misinterpret it to begin with though.

 

[Motokid]

You are starting to get boring...if all you care to do is illustrate your thought's based on your very limited view of the world, then this topic should not be something you should take part in.

You also can't even quote me worth a damn. What I said was "I think I'm a better representation of society in general than you are RFK. " You keep missing the "I think" part which makes it my opinion which means that part falls into the very same arguement you are using here. It's based on my limited view of you.

So what? This is what....there's plenty of people who've put plenty of thought and research into gender traits and characteristics. You live in a very small part of the world. We are talking about the world in general. Since that's the case we have to use studies and reports that others have done to support our position.

If you want to discuss what you personally see I suggest you start your own thread and get people to converse with you there.

This thread is about "boys" not boy. It's not confined to looking at the 4 or 5 friends you hang with, it's a broad and sweeping topic.

You keep changing what you are saying and talking about. In that instance, and based on that, you have lost the debate because your position sucks as you've presented it. There's really not much else to say until you stop doing what you are doing up to this point and start making sense, stating a position, and back up what you've stated. Up until now you're going in circles and down the drain.

edit: and I did not mis-interpret what you originally stated. I think you meant to flame people and I was looking forward to watching you backpeddle out of it...and I was not disappointed....you stepped right in it....

 

[The waveguide]

Welcome to TBF!. Glad to have you aboard here and that you've been posting a bit.

Thanx. I see that you are still arguing here. In Europe it is a day-time, so I could not join you ... Working

Anyways I do not see that you got somewhere meanwhile. I still do not agree that boys do not read. Kids that I know (boys) spending their time surfing the internet, and do not tell me it is not called reading. Moreover, those kids who play quizes here, learn English remarkably fast trying to read their new tasks. (too bad for native english speakers that most of information is anyway in English, they do not gain much with that...)

I think that this is called "interactive reading". You are inside the story, you read, you do something, you read again. (the problem that today they started to talk rather than to write)
But clearly, surfing on the net means reading. Kids read a lot (I would even claim that boys are the majority of such reading)

 

[RobertFKennedy]

You are starting to get boring...if all you care to do is illustrate your thought's based on your very limited view of the world, then this topic should not be something you should take part in.

You also can't even quote me worth a damn. What I said was "I think I'm a better representation of society in general than you are RFK. " You keep missing the "I think" part which makes it my opinion which means that part falls into the very same arguement you are using here. It's based on my limited view of you.

So what? This is what....there's plenty of people who've put plenty of thought and research into gender traits and characteristics. You live in a very small part of the world. We are talking about the world in general. Since that's the case we have to use studies and reports that others have done to support our position.

If you want to discuss what you personally see I suggest you start your own thread and get people to converse with you there.

This thread is about "boys" not boy. It's not confined to looking at the 4 or 5 friends you hang with, it's a broad and sweeping topic.

You keep changing what you are saying and talking about. In that instance, and based on that, you have lost the debate because your position sucks as you've presented it. There's really not much else to say until you stop doing what you are doing up to this point and start making sense, stating a position, and back up what you've stated. Up until now you're going in circles and down the drain.

edit: and I did not mis-interpret what you originally stated. I think you meant to flame people and I was looking forward to watching you backpeddle out of it...and I was not disappointed....you stepped right in it....

"So what? This is what....there's plenty of people who've put plenty of thought and research into gender traits and characteristics. You live in a very small part of the world. We are talking about the world in general. Since that's the case we have to use studies and reports that others have done to support our position. "

and you reduce these people's research and findings to:

Woman = caring, warm etc
Man = cold, aggresive etc.
You live in a small part of the world too. If you think that the internet has all the answers that's a shame.

"If you want to discuss what you personally see I suggest you start your own thread and get people to converse with you there. " T

Thanks for the suggestion. Just let me get this straight, it's ok for you to put across your limited view on this thread but not me? Yes?

"you have lost the debate "

embarrassing.

"It's not confined to looking at the 4 or 5 friends you hang with, it's a broad and sweeping topic."

I'm aware of that. It may be a sweeping topic but that doesnt mean you have to use sweeping statements to make a point.

"Up until now you're going in circles and down the drain.":

Eeeeek! Oh no! Am i?

"I think you meant to flame people"

Given that I have never been close to flaming anyone on here what made you think this? And why didn't you say so?

 

[Motokid]

Waveguide, while I'll agree that "reading" is required to participate on the internet to some extent, I think the original intention of the thread, and the articles that have been posted through links and such, are talking about reading in terms of books. There's a huge difference between multi-tasking through blogs, chat rooms, porn sites, instant messaging, forums, and web pages, and sitting down to read "To Kill A Mockingbird" from start to finish.

Sure boys read in bits and pieces...they probably read the sports pages and comics too, but the original idea, and what we have been trying to discuss, is why boys don't read..... books....something volumns and volumns of data seems to support.

and again, I have a tendancy to read "boys" as younger than 14....and usually I think of the term as younger than 10 for this debate....

 

[abecedarian]

To move beyond the arguements about whether there's a problem or not..I think we can all see that regardless of the examples we can each give, both positive and negative, there is plenty of work to be done to encourage children of both sexes to enjoy books for the pure pleasure they bring. Surely we can all agree about the importance of doing everything possible to help the children within our realm of influence grow up to be avid readers.

 

[The waveguide]

and again, I have a tendancy to read "boys" as younger than 14....and usually I think of the term as younger than 10 for this debate....

Well, it sounds quite not meaningful to me. What does matter, is the final product. a grown-up who reads or who does not. I do not know many grown-ups who "suddenly" started to read. Either one reads as a kid and continues, or not.

And what bad about comics? It is reading! My parents never bought me any comics as a child, and I feel that I missed so much! Now I am reading Asterix and trying to make up for all that time that this amazing peace of literature was hidden from me as a kid!

Well as whole I do not see why is this gender-issue is so important, as long as within the grown-up product it keeps to be almost the same (I am not sure but that, it is just my feeling based on my male friends). By the way, male also write more. I wonder what Sigmund Freud would say on their bookless childhood

 

[The waveguide]

To move beyond the arguements about whether there's a problem or not..I think we can all see that regardless of the examples we can each give, both positive and negative, there is plenty of work to be done to encourage children of both sexes to enjoy books for the pure pleasure they bring. Surely we can all agree about the importance of doing everything possible to help the children within our realm of influence grow up to be avid readers.

I agree. Good said.

 

[SFG75]

or another way of looking at it, you have posted a link to a website.

The discussion you and I are having is far less about whether males read less than females. I never had a problem with such an assertion if it can be demonstrated.

The kinds of assertions I disagreed with were "the majority of boys just dont like reading" etc. I don't accept this and I'm not likely to accept it simply because someone somewhere has conducted a survey.

A survey is one thing, but Moto and I have provided research that has passed peer-review critiques that is worthy to be published. You take issue with the wording of "majority" when in research, for a finding to be significant, it does have to be a majority and you must have a spread greater than a handful of points. They've been provided.

"I am a better example of general society than you are RFK" is a classic.

Now this is more debatable

 

[Motokid]

Well, it sounds quite not meaningful to me. What does matter, is the final product. a grown-up who reads or who does not. I do not know many grown-ups who "suddenly" started to read. Either one reads as a kid and continues, or not.

Well as whole I do not see why is this gender-issue is so important, as long as within the grown-up product it keeps to be almost the same....

1. "I do not know many grown-ups who "suddenly" started to read. Either one reads as a kid and continues, or not." Precisely why this is an issue worth discussing. Get them interested young, keep them for life.

2. So if girls are, on the whole, already reading then why focus energy on them, focus on the boys who are not reading.

3. The gender issue is important because it's almost half the world's population, and that's what this thread is about. The thread is not about getting kids to read, it's about getting boys to read, and others outside of this forum, including some very influential people think it's an issue worth investigating.

 

[abecedarian]

1. "I do not know many grown-ups who "suddenly" started to read. Either one reads as a kid and continues, or not." Precisely why this is an issue worth discussing. Get them interested young, keep them for life.

2. So if girls are, on the whole, already reading then why focus energy on them, focus on the boys who are not reading.

3. The gender issue is important because it's almost half the world's population, and that's what this thread is about. The thread is not about getting kids to read, it's about getting boys to read, and others outside of this forum, including some very influential people think it's an issue worth investigating.

The only point I quibble with you on, is #2. I don't doubt the fact that girls read more, and at an earlier age. What I worry about are those that slack off once they reach adolescence, when they get the idea that airheads get all the cute guys..I agree that we should work harder to get the boys up and reading, but the then focus should be on KEEPING both boys and girls reading. Role modeling surely has to be a big tool in the arsenal. Getting adults to encourage any child within their realm of influence must be another.