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Raising Literate Boys in the Video Game Age

October 1st, 2010 No comments
"Gross-out" books like "SweetFarts" and "Zombie Butts from Uranus" that pander to base humor, do not effectively encourage literacy.

"Gross-out" books like "SweetFarts" and "Zombie Butts from Uranus" that pander to base humor, do not effectively encourage literacy.

In an article for the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Spence addresses the worrying literacy gender gap between American boys and girls and suggests some measures parents can take to help instill the value of reading in their young sons. Spence cites statistics from a recent Center on Education Policy report that shows “substantially more boys than girls score below the proficiency level on the annual National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test.” This discrepancy, which emerged in 1992, spans all ethnic and economic strata. Currently some states have recorded scores that show the reading proficiency of boys trails that of girls by more than ten percentage points. What are we to do about this problem? Well, the answer is not, according to Spence, sinking to the level of young boys and enticing them with “gross-out” stories and humor about bodily functions. Read more…

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