The War Against Boys...
And What it Means for Libraries and Education
Session Overview
What we Learned:
Boys tend to use one side of their brain exclusively thus helping them focus on a single task for long periods of time
Developmentally, boys are slower in mastering the fine motor skills needed for reading and writing
Boys prefer rough and tumble play which serves as a crucial part of their socialization!
Boys tend to learn better with physical movement
Boys tend to be more loud, stubborn, and make messes
These things are not INFERIOR when compared to the nature of girls. Boys are just different and librarians have the wonderful opportunity of meeting boy needs
Boy References:
Wanna brush up on your boy knowledge? The book titles below were referenced as a part of Friend's presentation:
Sommers, Christina H. The War against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men. New York [etc.: Simon & Schuster, 2001. Print.
Gurian, Michael, and Kathy Stevens. The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005. Print.
Gurian, Michael, Patricia Henley, and Terry Trueman. Boys and Girls Learn Differently: A Guide for Teachers and Parents. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001. Print.
How Librarians can Help Boys:
As librarians, we are in a position to really turn boys on to reading! Consider the following for your library to help break current boy trends in education:
Stock up on GRAPHIC NOVELS! (males are visual creatures and LOVE these books!!!)
Use the following websites to help you start developing book lists for boys: boysread.org, guysread.com, coolboysread.org, and readingtribe.blogspot.com to name a few!
Boys dig NONFICTION! Comic books, newspapers, and magazines are great for boys! Reading about sports, hobbies, facts, and gross stuff are what boys like best!
Session Handouts:
For a list of boy reads you can add to your collection, email me at abrown5@aisd.net