Reply #186: My guess is that there are two reasons [View All]

And by and large they may also be true of girls, too.

One was addressed upthread: the anti-intellectualism of our society. Social pressure seems to me to affect boys more. They have a lot more status to lose if they pick up negative labels than girls do. Just about every society on this earth prefers boys and values them more. It's wrong and needs to change. So labeling a boy as a nerd for being interested in reading and in science among other intellectual pursuits is a lot more negatively perceived in a boy.

My friends now that I'm an adult were all picked on in school and every one of them, men and women both, could if they wanted to, qualify for Mensa. We were all bored stiff as kids, academically speaking, due to the class moving slower than we were and due to the lack of gifted student programs.

The other reason is that maybe the underachieving boys are bored stiff. They might be geniuses but aren't being challenged enough in class and therefore, like Einstein, might fail in their best subjects. If your sons are telling you they're bored, it's probably time to find a hobby that will challenge him.

Another reason he might be bored is that the material isn't presented in a way that helps him learn it. Underfunded schools are part of the problem, teachers are stretched way too thin and the money stays at the administrative level instead of getting into the classroom where it's needed most.

Each student has a different way of picking up information. Some are find with hearing, others need to see it, some need interactivity, others need to know the relevance to their own lives, some need reasons why. And others I can't imagine. Rote memorization is fine for the periodic table, but understanding how molecules fit together can be taught a number of ways. Small class sizes help.

My mother had words of wisdom: Education is the one thing no one can take from you.

As a feminist, I'm happy to know that girls are succeeding. It should never be at the expense of boys.