Prager University’s Christina Hoff says we should let “boys be boys” and stop treating them like “defective girls.” In this video titled War on Boys, Hoff says boys are now falling behind academically, and winning less honor awards. The resident scholar poses four reforms that would help the boys, and I think this also applies to all genders.
The additional amendment I would pose to her list is process of failure. Kids are held to these ridiculous perfect standards, and are always fighting a win-or-lose battle. That’s the major flaw in our education curriculum. They need to know what it’s like to screw up and learn from their mistakes.
I’m not a teacher. Plus, I barely passed high school, so what do I know.
This article appears in May 15-21, 2014.
It should be “…winning fewer honors…”, not “…winning less honors…” and it’s “curriculum”, not “cicurlim”. Just sayin’… 😉
Henry, thanks for posting. This discussion needs to happen, but it will be difficult since the culture has gone beyond understanding the differences in the sexes. Equality has come to mean that we are all alike.
I think these things are true for all our students and I sort of resent the implied competition between the two genders….In fact, there is a very unfortunate undertone to the whole presentation that I can’t put my finger on but I suspect I would find it if I looked into more “American Enterprise Institute” Praeger University stuff…. I spend a lot of time in and around schools, and I do NOT find that they are “feeling centered” or “competition free”, especially in the age of high stakes standardized testing. I agree with our local author when he says that we all need to be allowed to learn from our mistakes…something that is not consistent with high stakes anything! But yeah–teach to different energy levels (differentiated learning writ large), have RECESS (they left out P.E. for god’s sake!), develop readers/writers, etc.–all stuff that all of our kids need!
You should be highly suspicious of any so-called information coming out of Prager “University”. It’s a propaganda platform founded by right-wing pundit Dennis Prager, and has no academic accreditation. That said, public education has seemingly always been a “one size fits all” situation, so it wouldn’t surprise me that what fits well with girls, doesn’t do so well with boys.
Adam Perry
As about the only Conservative who posts comments on the Tucson Weekly I have to agree with you. Prager is an interesting radio host and there is no problem with having onine classes. But a “university”? And why is this reporter quoting the University? Maybe he was just mocking the Prager University?