From the Seattle Post Intelligencer, an analysis of issues affecting how much, or how little boys read.
There is plenty of blame to go around — disengaged parents, uninterested publishing houses, distracting video games and teaching styles — but not as many clear answers.
“I would say there is a crisis,” said Walter Dean Myers, a children’s book author. “Too many parents have walked away from this idea … that education is a family concept, is a community concept, is not simply something that schools do.”
“A lot of times, when boys get to middle school they are feeling sort of disenfranchised from the educational” experience, said Pamela LaBorde, children’s librarian at the Seattle Public Library’s Ballard branch.
The problem isn’t necessarily that boys don’t read, it’s that they are often practical readers, LaBorde said, reading magazines and even manuals.
“I think we feel like boys just aren’t good readers because they aren’t curling up with ‘Little Women,’ ” LaBorde added.
good for Laborde
The lady from SPL makes a good point. I read manuals for things to this day.
Trying to get each gender to be like the other is what can cause classroom problems. Classic example here.
Re:Good for Laborde
Although this post was long ago, the issue is one that has been discussed a number of years. There are other reasons that have been given regarding the small percentage of boys who “read”. Other reasons include the fact the in the educational field women are in the majority.
As teachers, they select books that excite them and hope that excitement is transfered to the students. Commonly, the boys feel that these books are for girls and the boys aren’t willing or able to connect with the female characters. During book talks, library media specialists focus on fiction and rarely is non fiction discussed with students.
Besides books about technology, cars and sports, I have found that the young men in my middle school have gravitated to the graphic novel section and devour the books within one day only to come back the next day ready or more.