Why Johnny Won't Read (Hat tip to Tie 'Em Tight.)
Not my son. We can barely keep him away from his book shelf. In fact, he was just reading Animal Crackers Nursery Rhymes while holding the book upside down. He is very talented. Or he's one. Either way, he likes the books, and there will always be plenty around for him to read.
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While the gender gap in reading is certainly troubling, what may be even more troubling is that reading in general seems to be on the decline. I've only just started teaching, but it seems to me that's a big reason why students can't write very well. Reading gives an example of how to write, and makes that process easier. But right now, like I said, that's just a theory. I'm sure some of you with more teaching experience might have a different take.
By the way, Tom, something tells me the son should have no problem getting his hands on male-friendly adventure story type books once he really starts reading.
Great point, Mark. As a professor that Stephen and I both had at Cal Poly used to say, the greatest road to success is via a love of reading.
This is actually one of the reasons why I'm biased in favour of single-sex education, particularly in the middle-school years. Generally speaking, in a variety of contexts, reading included, boys and girls learn differently, with different ranges of interest, different rates of skill acquisition along different timelines, and different styles of communication and interaction that (in my experience) are more effectively addressed and utilized separately.
But, as Mark pointed out, reading in general is on the decline. Why bother investing time in reading long descriptions that are summed up in one visual image in a movie? Why bother following an extended narrative when videos offer more easily digestible "narrative lite"? Why bother with carefully constructed rhetoric and stylism when talk-show bombast provides more sensational sound-bytes?
Bah. Now I'm just depressed. Back to take momentary refuge with my AP kids, who are the book-devouring minority.
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