“Boys Adrift”
Notes
Wissenschaft:
knowledge learned from books
"Nature-deficit disorder"
"Cultural Autism:” The end result
of a childhood with more time spent in front of a computer screen than outdoors
Kenntnis: to know by experience.
American education is characterized by a serious lack of understanding of &
respect for Kenntnis
Children must have a rich, interactive
sensory environment--touching, smelling, seeing, and hearing the real world--in
order for the child's brain & mind to develop properly. Without real world
experiences, the child's development will be impaired.
Why might it be the case that young
girls are more likely to affiliate with adults than boys?
--Most girls seem to grow up with a
desire to get along with the grown-ups
--Girls are more likely to live close
to their parents after they've completely grown up into adults
--Boys' first allegiance is to other
boys. Girls are more likely to see things from the parents' perspective.
Are gender differences primarily
hardwired, or are they learned primarily from social cues?
Girls & boys differ in terms of
their desires to please the teacher
--Girls try harder
--Boys are more likely to do the
homework only if it interests them
--Boys who DO try to please the
teacher lose their sense of status in the eyes of other boys
Gender-blind changes in education
When there is a profound imbalance in
a child's early experiences-- when nature has been replaced by computer screens
& fancy indoor toys--the result is increased risk for attention deficit
disorder (ADD)
Researchers have found that putting
children in an outdoor environment, where they can actually put their hands in
the dirt & feel & smell real stuff, is helpful in treating ADHD.
Cognitive Psychology: focuses on how
we process information
What motivates kids to learn?
Kids need to be reading in their spare
time/for fun
Kids form opinions about school early
For many boys, not caring about
anything has become the mark of true guy-dom
Various regions of the brain develop
in a different sequence & tempo in girls compared with boys.
Region of the brain most involved with
integrating information from different sensory modalities--girls & boys
develop along similar trajectories, but the pace of the girls' development is
roughly 2 years ahead of the boys'
Curriculum that is developmentally
appropriate
If kids start school 2 years later
& are taught material when they are developmentally prepared to learn, kids
are less likely to hate school
Timing is everything--you have to
teach well to kids who are ready to learn, kids who are developmentally
"ripe" for learning
Is competition good or bad? Some kids
thrive in it, others don’t
Traditional physical education: some
school districts have eliminated sports like dodgeball; believe that it rewards
violence. Competition has been eliminated from many districts PE because
believe it alienates some kids from sports
Zero tolerance for violence; kids
referred for psychiatric evaluation
Every kid who wants to play on
team should have the opportunity—school sports should provide training for wide
range of athletes, not just focus on talented few
Team competition
Why doesn’t competition approach work
well for many girls? Most girls value friendship over team affiliation
Competition builds boys’ friendships
Boy who thinks he’s smart may test
worse than peers because they think they don’t need to study
Most girls need encouragement, but
boys tend to overestimate skills/abilities
For boys, failure=inspiration to work
harder
Why do some tasks engage motivation in
boys, but others don’t?
Why do boys find video games to be
more fun than school?
Learned mastery
Boys want to be in charge of their own
environment
What distinguishes these boys from
other boys and from most girls=will to power takes precedence over other
drives/perspectives
Boys=believe rules of “normal” people
don’t apply to them; “destiny” matters more than friendship/academic
achievement. Often don’t expect other people to understand them; may not even
want them to
What distinguishes the boy who is
addicted to video games from the boy who plays sometimes but doesn’t get hooked?
A good video game “absolutely reaches
across the generation gap”
Real world of homework and textbooks
can’t compete—not for boy who is motivated by will to power
Journalist Steven Johnson argued
today’s pop culture including video games=making us smarter. But reading books
is overrated; dulls senses
Technology=best way to inspire kids to
learn
Kids are more effectively motivated by
interacting w/ real world/team competition
Do video games actually make kids
smarter?
Our society understands very little
about concepts of Kenntnis and Wissenschaft
Prepping teens for demands of real world
takes skills different from ones required to master video games
Do video games disengage boys from
real world? Does playing video games make boys more violent?
Video games tend to teach wrong
lessons about masculinity
Does the game involve some characters
trying to harm others? Does this happen frequently, more than once/twice in 30
min? Is harm rewarded in any way? Is harm portrayed as humorous? Are nonviolent
solutions absent/less “fun” than violent ones? Are realistic consequences of
violence absent from game?
Help find constructive outlet for
boys’ need to conquer
What kind of free-time
activities/hobbies would be best choice for boys? How can he best satisfy need
to be tested and triumph?
Why are boys today so much more likely
to take medication compared to 20 years ago?
Many professionals find it easier to
prescribe medication to a child than to suggest different parenting tactics
Inappropriate acceleration of early elementary
curriculum
Medication for ADHD improved
performance of kids not diagnosed just as much as it improved kids diagnosed
with ADHD
Video games=compromise motivation;
engorges one area of brain w/ blood, diverts blood away from balancing area of
brain. Gives boys rewards associated w/ achieving great objective, w/o
connection to real world. Video games may affect the brains of children in same
ways that ADHD medication does
Slowing/warping of boys’ sexual
development
Testosterone also fuels desire to
achieve, be the best; to compete. Being compromised by endocrine disruptors
Lower testosterone levels=compromising
bone density of boys today
Results=girls who are masculine and
feminine, and boys who are neither
Traditional male provider roles have
been eliminated or completely changed/lost appeal
Emerging 21st century where women are bread-winners
has required men to change roles
Sex has been separated from marriage
and from women altogether—pornography; been main-streamed into our society
The stick of duty
Girls will follow societal norms
unless they have good reason not to, but boys who disrespect society’s
standards may raise his approval in eyes of other boys
Much of mainstream culture puts
emphasis on boys being good in sports
Boys look to the men in their lives
and the media for behavioral cues
Boy does not naturally become a
gentleman; teenage boys w/o strong leadership can easily become barbarians
One of several factors driving rise in
crime may be societal neglect of transition to manhood/adulthood
Manhood=an achievement; something a
boy accomplishes/can easily go awry
Stature of father figure in American
society has taken nosedive over past 40-50 years
TV shows reflect society more than
they shape it
What does it mean in American society
today to be a mature adult man?
Equate masculinity w/ stupidity
Result of ignoring transition to
manhood=young men w/ no motivation to work/serve, feel no shame in living at
home; at taking much and giving little in return
Find out how students are tested
Waldkindergarten=forest kindergarten.
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just unsuitable clothing.” Boys who
start school here are less likely to be diagnosed w/ ADHD and typically more
attentive by 4th grade
Recognize importance of gender;
embrace and celebrate gendered nature of human experience. Use new
understanding of gender to broaden horizons for both boys and girls
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