I came across an interesting article about boys. Time Magazine did an extensive research on a so-call boys crisis across the nation. My three boys are part of that statistic so I was very concerned on how this affects their development into adulthood.

There was, for example, Harvard psychologist William Pollack’s Real Boys (1998), which asserted that contemporary boys are “scared and disconnected,” “severely lagging” behind girls in both achievement and self-confidence….Statistics collected over two decades show an alarming decline in the performance of America’s boys–in some respects, a virtual free fall. Boys were doing poorly in school, abusing drugs, committing violent crimes and engaging in promiscuous sex. Young males lost ground by many behavioral indicators at some point in the 1980s and ’90s: sharp plunges on some scales, long erosions on others.

Studies are conducted based on data compiled over past years. No wonder people were calling for some real action in the 1990’s.

In recent years, much attention has been given to girls so they can explore their full potential. They now outnumber boys in colleges and they are now competing every profession that used to be entered only by males. Newsweek published an article on how the eduction system has been favoring girls, in which they said: “Boys are biologically, developmentally and psychologically different from girls—and teachers need to learn how to bring out the best in every one.” No system can design with just one gender on mind, they must satisfy the needs of a diverse set of personalities.

A child, whether is a boy or a girl, needs to feel connected to what she/he wants to achieve. This is the why is so important to give them extracurricular activities. A boy may not be “in love” with going to school, but getting there and playing in the basketball court can be a great motive to attend classes. What I like the most about the Time article is it finds that although there is no question that girls are doing better that boys, we are all turning our attention to boys. Boys are given more opportunities to make decisions and to get in touch with life’s difficult moments. They are improving in reading and math and are doing better on aptitude tests. Teachers are getting more involved with boys at early stages of education. It still a long road but we are getting there one step at a time. We need to let boys know that asking for help does not make them weak.

I love to spend time with my boys and to let them know I’m behind them a 100%. Last night my son lost a swimming competition by just a couple of milliseconds. He was frustrated and cried a lot. Today he woke up and he told me that we really wanted that third place (he got 4th) but that he will work hard for it next year. He said: ” I did my best and I think I did OK. I’m still a little sad but I’m heading back next week to keep on training. I hope you are proud of me and I will not let this get me down.”

My boys are part of the statistics, but I’m working very hard so that they can be part of that turning point in the numbers. Let’s all work on helping our boys.

Posted by momcrazyforkids.