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Keeping Boys From Reading

Summary: our schools are skilled at making sure boys dont read.

Not to worry. Our top educators have pretty well got this thing figured out. Its a two-punch combination, researched-based, that almost always works. Bingo, you dont find American boys wasting precious time inside the pages of a book.

First of all, you want to make sure they dont hear much about the alphabet (shhh!), letters, sounds all that right-wing nonsense. They have to learn to read with sight-words, Dolch words, whole words (all the same thing). And you want a whole lot of hoopla, thousands of brightly colored books lying around, and constant chatter about literacy and being a lifelong reader. All this stuff convinces parents that their kids, if they are halfway normal, will quickly learn to read. Ditto the boys. When they cant memorize hundreds of sight-words, they know theres something wrong with them and they give up pronto. And they keep their mouths shut. Perfect. The silence of the lambs pretty well describes it.

Second, youve got to catch those boys who figure out phonics for themselves and actually make it through the sight-word minefield. A lot of boys just barely survive; theyre on the cusp. Give them some good comic books or Sports Illustrated for Kids, and they might break through. But you never do that. Heres the secret formula. You say, this book is perfect for you! And you give them books intended for girls. Soft, sensitive, emotional books. Boys hate this stuff.Theyd rather sleep in mud than have to read books like that. So you can snuff out the last little bit of interest in reading. If some of the boys are hard-headed and keep trying to read, you up the ante. Make sure every recommended book is literarily pretentious, big time! New-Yorker-type books with soft pastel covers and delicate type. Oprah-type books with haunting relationship stories that revolve around strong women. Boys cringe in horror from this stuff. Grown men cringe in horror from this stuff; but they can defend themselves. What can twelve-year-old boys do? Other than learn to hate books and reading forever.

By this simple, two-step program, the major goals of American education are achieved, everybodys semi-illiterate and everybodys a wimp. Look at the stats. Our elite educators know what theyre doing.

(The program is working so well that millions of young men are not qualified to go to college or they dont try to enter college. Women have taken over the joints, now occupying 57% of the places. Bottom line: the women won but now theyre lonely. The males are off sulking, wondering what happened to their society and why attending college doesnt seem to be a good option anymore?)

Wait a minute, you protest. What if I really do want boys to read? How do I turn this around? Well, first of all, we have to ask, what kind of kook are you? A parent or something? Youre certainly not in education.

Okay, heres the answer. (Dont tell anyone else.) Just do the opposite of what the schools and top educators recommend. This rule is always an infallible guide, throughout the curriculum. Especially so in reading. Ignore all those books about girls and their feelings. Ignore almost everything endorsed by the NEA or the New York Times. Now were getting somewhere.

Instead, consider what real men like to read about. Adventures. Science. Machines. Sports and Athletes. War. Business. Mystery. Technology. Animals. Travel. Sci-fi. History. Famous People. Crime and Police Work. Cowboys. Soldiers. To name a few. There, wasnt that easy? Look at all the choices! And while non-fiction might be a safer bet than fiction, fiction can work as long as its about the topics on this list.

So for young males, you merely get the simpler versions of books that grown-up males enjoy. Thats what Hardy Boys novels were for millions of boys. Thats what the wonderful Landmark Books (childrens histories) were for millions of children, including me. Thats what Ripleys Believe It Or Not and The Guinness Book of Records continue to be for millions of boys.

Boys love to know how things happened and how things work. They like to know what people did. Events are interesting. Plans. Decisions. Victories. All you have to do is look at the covers of popular comic books, GI Joe, for example, or Superman. Or the covers of video games. What do you see?? Heroics. Guns. Action. Fights. Violence....The literary level equal to or just beyond such cover art, that is what boys want!

Heres what one expert says: Boys arent big fans of novels filled with sensitive, angst-filled, touchy-feely characters and flowery descriptions of scenery; they want stuff to happen, and if there are explosions, hand-to-hand combat, and bloodcurdling screams, thats even better. I love this woman for saying this; but lets ask: why did she need to?? There are people in education relentlessly hostile to masculinity. Thats why. And if they have to undercut reading to undercut masculinity, thats an acceptable deal in their eyes.

Heres a snapshot of the problem. I Googled books for boys and one site actually touted a favorite this way: Jack has trouble paying attention or controlling his moods when his prescription meds wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired. I think I just heard a hundred-thousand boys throw this book across the room. In short, you simply cant trust what a lot of people shamelessly call books for boys. The easiest road might be to skip straight to a site named booksforboys.com, which actually recommends rough-and-ready books that real boys would like.

Many boys grow up to become Civil War buffs and World War II buffs. How many girls do that? Theres a message there. And no matter where you are on the political spectrum, if you have any practicality or patriotism left in your soul, you know we need the military spirit.

Meanwhile, when we see The Dairy of Anne Frank forced on eighth graders, you know were seeing political correctness allied with literary pretentiousness ensconced on a throne and cracking the whip. This is a very serious, adult book. I dont think the reasons for prescribing it to 14-year-old boys have anything to do with encouraging them to read.

If you worry your boy is slipping from the land of reading, find lots of magazines and websites dealing with his hobbies or interests. Discuss them....Or you might try this desperate gambit. Whisper to the boy confidentially that you personally feel most books recommended by his school seem to be garbage...stuff for girls....stuff youd never read yourself. Then suggest: Lets go to a big book and magazine store, and see what looks good. Take him to a Barnes & Noble, wander around as long as possible, look at lots of covers, wait for him to be interested in something, and buy it. At the very least, you can take home Mechanix Illustrated or sports magazines.

But keep in mind where this article started. A lot of boys are NOT taught to read properly. So when you see them not reading, you can't always assume they are AVOIDING books. No, its quite possible they dont know really how to UTILIZE books. Nor do they know how to articulate what the problem actually is!

Heres a very quick diagnostic you can use. Ask the boy to read any 200-words from a newspaper; say you want to hear his pronunciation of certain words; follow over his shoulder or (better) on a second copy. If he reads exactly what is on the page, even if slowly, you know he can actually read and just needs to be encouraged. But if he leaves out words, adds word, substitutes words, guesses wildly, or reads words backwards, then you know the boy cant read. (See more details in 33: How To Help A Non-Reader to Read, or suggestions for phonics programs in 42: Reading Resources, both on Improve-Education.org.)

About the Author

Bruce Deitrick Price is the founder of Improve-Education.org, a high-level education and intellectual site. One focus is reading; see "42: Reading Resources." Another focus is education reform; see 38: Saving Public Schools. Price is an author, artist and poet. His fifth book is "THE EDUCATION ENIGMA--What Happened to American Education."

Top five AFC contenders for the Superbowl?

Colts(well, they have Payton manning)
Ravens(Improved offense with Anquan Boldin and Donte’ Stallworth and, of course, great defense)
Patriots(Well, they are the patriots)
Steelers(Great defense and a decent offense)
And the Jets

I do definitely agree with the Ravens. I think the Patriots are playoff bound, but they're still slightly rebuilding, especially on defense, and now they have ?s of their receiving core. Then again, the AFC has turned into a week conference in comparison to the NFC.. There just isnt as much competition for better options. The AFC North and AFC East seem to be the only divisions I can honestly say have Superbowl threat teams. The AFC South, though a great conference, doesn't really have any I'd feel safe saying is a Superbowl contender, not even the Colts.. Not this year.
Steelers, how are they going to make it with half of their starters either suspended, or in jail for their off-the-field crap they get into?
Colts. Overrated.They'll go back to the standard Colts, choking in the playoffs after having a great season.

My picks:
1. Ravens - They are equipped for a fantastic run now with Boldin as an addition and Ray Rice's contributions.
2. Jets - if 1) Sanchez can return and just forget about his performance last season and instead remember he has a fantastic team to work with, and wise up from the experience. 2) LT can step in behind the great o-line and make some numbers out of it.
3. Patriots - assuming Bellicheck can address some secondary issues and pick up some receiving help in the draft, which in previous years has been a strong-suit for Bill.
4. Steelers - they don't really have any glaring holes they need to address, shy of maybe halfback.. And keeping Big Ben out of nightclubs and other players [such as Holmes] out of court problems or potential jail time.
5. Chargers - as much as I hate to say it.. I would never agree they are THE best Superbowl contender in the AFC, but I do believe they are a threat above the Colts this season. Considering the question is what 5 teams.. I had to use someone to fill the space, and I believe San Diego is that team. Though, for Chargers fans, it's just wishful thinking. The Chargers have an attitude that repeatedly bites them in the butt in the playoffs and even at times in the regular season. If they got over that, then they could make a Superbowl appearance.

Patriots@Dolphins 2007 TD Donte Stallworth

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