With almost 30 plus years in education at the upper elementary to College levels, boys are being left way behind but for reasons that we are missing. There is increasing research and literature on the presence of adolescent depression which is going unnoticed, especially by the medical and educational fields. 1 in 5 youths have a diagnosable mental health problem according to a 1999 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It hits boys the hardest because they tend not to be as verbal as girls during the pre-adolescent and adolescent years so it can go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for a longer period. Remember, depression wasn't even recognized by the medical profession until 1980 when DSM-III first recognized that it could occur in children instead of being only an adult disease. Dr. William Glasser notes that all behavior is purposeful and that it is a language, but we have to understand the meaning behind a young person's behavior such as dropping out of school, binge drinking, car accidents, smoking, etc. beyond the archaic "boys will be boys" mentality. The other cruel piece is that depression is increasingly impacting our brighter children who have the capacity to "mask" their depression until they bottom out, sometimes in high school, more likely in college, or even later in the workplace. Tragically, mental health is still an unspoken word in our culture instead of being recognized as a legitimate disease like diabetes or cancer. Before we can do a better job of educating males in our country, we have to help them to become healthier first!

Having taught in middle school, high school and junior college for 32 years, I can tell you that boys are behind girls the majority of the time. Of course there are exceptions to that rule. I believe we must do a better job of educating the male population if we are going to maintain our place in the World.

It is not only boys who are falling behind, but men. Men are not competitive in the education market place and I have heard similar reviews from CEO's in the business world.

I have occassion to critique and interview dozens of teacher applicants each year. I also teach at the graduate level. Women have it all over men in academic achievement, external experiences, confidence and presence. Of course there are exceptions, but that should not be a comfort.

There may not be easy answers to this complex problem. Educators should be studying the issue and beginning to take thoughtful steps to turn the tide. We need our young men and young women to excel if our nation and way of life is to be maintained.

Having worked with graduate and undergraduates for the past 40 years, I can say without reservation that boys (admittedly with many exceptions) are not competitive with girls at the academic level. I hypothesize that some of their shortcomings may be the product of the way we try to teach young men at the junior and senior high school levels. Given their predilection for "active learning," we fail to harness the energy surge experienced by adolescent males, many of whom excel at sports but lag behind in their academic pursuits. Perhaps we need to reexamine the "one-size-fits-all" mentality that governs much of the thinking behind how students should be involved in learning experiences, particularly between the ages of 11-18.

I am a science teacher for 7th and 8th grades. My subjects include biology, chemistry, and physcs (not physical science). In all categories of academic and social performance and achievement, girls consistently outperform the boys. These areas pf performance include: academic subjects, lesson structure and organization of materials, social interaction, debating skills, lesson preparation, teamwork, personal responsibility, grooming, and in the communication arts. Only about 10%-15% of boys in my classes perform equally well or superior to their female peers.
However, in all endeavors of competitive aggressiveness the boys easily lead the pack! Only in "mechanical" topic areas/subject matter do the boys outshine the girls. They also lack a basic ability to write with any degree of neatness or legibility. Their ability to "catch up" is slowly eroding because of the failure to build a solid interpretative framework or the 3R's before 9th grade.

In the last 18 years of my teaching science at The Prep for Prep program (Prep 9-designed to get middle school students into boarding schools) I have seen the number of male students who have succesfully completed the program steadily drop. It seems no matter the effort and 'special' projects to help stop this decline, it continues. Is the educated male an endangered species? And what of the minority male?

As a retired business person who went back to school to become a teacher, I now teach k through 12 technology classes in a public school. I am shocked and dismayed at the attitudes expressed toward young men in all the schools I have worked in. Universally, young men are told that their aggresiveness is bad, that their boisterous behavior is inappropriate, that as a gender they are guilty of great wrongs in the workplace.

The comments I hear in the staff rooms would be catagorized as discriminatory in any workplace I have supervised. Yet teachers, without any repercussions, will engage in this behavior daily. It can only carry over to their interactions with their students.

Would you want to achieve in a hostile learning environment?

I agree with many of the assessments regarding boys and our current school environment. How can parents address this issue in their school systems? What would those of you who are educators suggest?

i am just a normal citizen who has noticed the evil state sponsored attack against men and boys and we are seeing the results!

I was searching for ways to reach my male students in the classroom, and stumbled in here. I teach 7th grade science (Life Science) in the suburbs of Atlanta. There is a huge difference in classroom performance between boys and girls at my school.

I did notice last year, the boys that were involved in school sports performed much better in the classroom. During the season of whatever sport the kids played, the boys performed better in the classroom. During the off-seasons, their performance declined and their behavior turned from wonderful to unacceptable.

There are so many variables, but I have two guesses.... either they have an outlet for the testosterone surge they experience at this age when they play sports, or they have more responsibility and accountability due to their position as a representative of the school and not wanting to upset their coach.

Another guess would relate to amount of responsibilities at home. Many boys at this age have little responsibilities, and mothers are even doing their homework in some cases. Girls at this age typically have more responsibilities at home. Could this be part of the difference?

I'm just speculating. The truth is, I am extremely frustrated as a teacher because I don't how to reach the boys to help them succeed academically. I am looking everywhere for answers.