Boys and Reading 1

Boys and Reading:

What is being done to target and motivate young

adolescent males in reading/literature?

Randy Seldomridge

Advanced Children’s Literature

RE 5140

Dr. Constance Ulmer

June 24, 2003

Boys and Reading: What do we think?

Just as girls need to see math and science subjects in schools as exciting and attractive, boys need to be targeted when dealing with extra reading initiatives. Most boys sacrifice any love of reading they might have had when they start to look ahead in their futures. To many boys, reading is portrayed as being “dorky”, “nerdy”, and “girly” as they get older. In this never ending technological age, reading is an essential survival skill that cannot be taken lightly.

As a society, more emphasis is placed on playing sports, hunting, fishing, tinkering with cars, or woodworking than is placed on not only being capable of reading, but enjoying reading as an activity. Boys are under the impression that men don’t read. Boys Will Be author Bruce Brooks (1993) states:

Nobody ever came upon a girl reading a book and said, “What the hell are you doing?” Nobody ever said to a girl, “Why don’t you put that thing down and go outside and play some ball?” . . . But these are exactly what most boys hear from fathers and brothers and other guys, most every time they let somebody catch them reading a book (p. 64).

As a child, I was very fortunate to have parents who were readers and this seemed like a natural phenomenon as I progressed into an avid reader. I did not need any motivation to read, it was always present. Working with struggling readers and dealing with families who would rank reading as unnecessary, I feel responsible for using the time I am given with a child to make as much of a difference as possible.

As a male who not only teaches young males, but also enjoys reading I am intrigued by what our society, school systems, and families are doing to encourage and motivate boys to read. This review of literature is an attempt to unearth the mysteries that surround boys and reading and to acquire information to help them be successful readers.

Boys and Reading: What do we know?

Many facts exist when dealing with boys and reading. Although the statistics and numbers vary, the facts remain the same. Evidence shows the time to turn attention to literature for boys has arrived. Consider the following facts found on page twelve in the book To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader by William G. Brozo:

  • Boys are three to five times more likely than girls to have learning and/or reading disabilities placement in schools (NationalCenter for Education Statistics, 2000).
  • Boys in elementary school through high school score significantly lower than girls on standardized measures of reading achievement (Pottorff, Phelps-Zientarsky, & Skovera, 1996).
  • Boys are 50% more likely to be retained a grade than girls (Kleinfeld, 1999).
  • Fewer boys that girls study advanced algebra and geometry, and more girls than boys study chemistry (National Center for Education Statistics, 1999).
  • Boys are less likely than girls to take advanced placement examinations and go to college (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998).
  • The number of males earning academic degrees in traditional male professions, such as medicine and law, is decreasing, although the number of these degrees earned by females is rapidly increasing. In 1970, women earned only 8% of medical degrees and 5% of law degrees; today, those percentages are up to 39% and 43%, respectively (Sommers, 2000).
  • Of the estimated 500,000 to 1 million students who annually drop out of U.S. high schools, over 55% are boys (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998).
  • Five out of six children and adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are boys (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).

Boys seem not be reading because of a notion that reading interferes with their perception of being manly. Boys struggle with peer pressure and try not to stand out in the crowd by being a brainiac. Boys assume they need to do what adults think all boys should do – play sports, work outdoors, and get into mischief. According to Browne and Fletcher (1995), boys think it is “cool to be a fool” (p.74).

Boys and Reading: What can we do?

In today’s society, young adolescent boys still have a fighting chance to overcome the non-reader stigmatism. It is not too late for them to be swept away to a magical place or to travel around the world solving problems while never leaving the comforts of their bedrooms.

Educators will not be able to snap their fingers and turn boys onto books or blink their eyes and give struggling students needed skills to be successful, but they do have a chance of connecting boys with books if they acknowledge there is a problem. In the book To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader(2002) junior high student, Robert Chaseling, offers the following poetic advice:

If you want your son to read

Get him the sort of book

Some parents don’t seem to see.

It’s all about image and being cool

And a lot depends on what you read at school.

Bugulugs Bum Thief

Goosebumps

Point Crime

Paul Jennings

The list goes on.

At least they are not glued

To Nintendo playing Donkey Kong.

So take my advice

And you’ll feel quite proud

Please don’t make them read aloud.

If you do

They’ll quit reading like a flash

And your reading scheme

Will fall down with a crash.

So if you take my tips

And do everything right

Your son could be reading

By tonight! (p. 16)

Boys of today are failing to gain essential reading skills needed to be successful in such a competitive world. If books and boys can be equally matched, learning to read and loving to read can be enhanced. If no other reading is performed, reading basic textbooks generally creates a dislike of reading in boys (and girls).

According to Kendrick (1999), “research indicates that successful readers have several characteristics in common: student choice of reading materials; availability of reading materials; time for reading; and time to talk about what they read” (p. 5).

Abilities and skills in reading have been affected by allowing students to choose their own reading materials. Students who choose their own material to read seem to gain reading skills quicker than just doing assigned readings. Allowing students to choose their own reading materials is ranked highest among suggestions for teachers to implement in their classrooms. Allowing students to pick any type of reading material (comics, cartoons, magazines, newspapers, etc.) promotes good lifelong reading skills.

It is imperative to have a variety of reading materials that meet the needs of all reading patrons. Libraries must start collections of “radical change” reading materials. These include comic books, cartoons, magazines (of all types), newspapers, etc. If boys cannot readily find something interesting to read, they are not going to read at all.

Good readers also have time to read. Time should be set aside during the school day to allow students uninterrupted reading time for enjoyment. Expecting students to read at home is an obsolete notion as family values have changed dramatically over the years.

Along with having time to read, boys need to be read to by an adult. Proficient readers use their bodies and voices to capture their audience. This not only sucks students into the story, it provides a model of good reading habits.

Adults talk about books they are reading and often meet in libraries, coffee shops, and bookstores to discuss what they are reading. Boys need this same opportunity to discuss books with other boys. They can find new books to read and have a sense of community on their road into the reading world.

Boys and Reading: What can be concluded?

In a survey by Kendrick (1999), several conclusions are indicated about boys and reading. She used this survey to gain insight into how middle school boys and their teachers felt about boys and reading. Here is what she concluded:

  1. Excluding textbook assignments, the majority of seventh-grade boys surveyed do not read and do not enjoy reading.
  2. Teachers and parents encourage students to read, but fewer than half of teachers and parents in general, are not actively engaged in reading to boys.
  3. Teachers do not provide a time for personal sustained silent reading during the school day.
  4. Middle grade boys are not reading unless required by their teachers.
  5. Assigned reading materials are not reading materials preferred by middle grade boys (p. 16).

Boys and Reading: Changing for the times?

Some things have changed over the years in children’s literature while some have remained the same. The beginning of the 20th century marked some dramatic changes in literature for children. First, childhood was idealized and a greater emphasis was placed on being a child. Second, first rate authors and illustrators turned their attention to writing books for children. Third, book writing created a movement of reading for enjoyment.

The beginning of the 21st century has also seen changes in the development of writing for children, some of these changes are advancements in the achievements made in the 20th century. Books from this era have a greater diversity in subject matter, have a greater appreciation for quality, and are spread across a wide range of genres.

Boys and Reading: What literature is available?

Due to more attention and research being directed toward the fate of boys and reading, authors of children’s books have started to write books with characters, settings, adventures, and coming of age type scenarios which target the young adolescent male. Some authors are seen as writers for boys while others tend to write for a broader audience.

Several books were mentioned throughout various studies as being appropriate and appealing to young adolescent males. Some common books mentioned were: A Taste of Blackberries by Doris Buchanan Smith, Go Fish by Mary Stolz, Starry Messenger by Peter Sis, Big Rigs by Hope Irvin Marston, The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman, My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell, The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary, Hatchet (and the rest of this saga) by Gary Paulsen, Frindle by Andrew Clements, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson along with many others.

The book, Great Books for Boys by Kathleen Odean, is a great resource for educators to have on their shelf. Odean has also written a book with a similar title for girls, Great Books for Girls. These books contain lists of over six hundred books geared toward young adolescent readers encompassing a variety of genres.

Boys and Reading: What did I learn?

I found this to be a very informative dig into what books exists for boys and what strategies to use to get boys back to reading. The references I found had so much information that is was hard to narrow it down to a five page paper.

The research I discovered reveals that boys are lagging behind in their reading skills, abilities, and desire. As an educator of boys, I found this quite troubling and hope that I can work to change this for at least the boys that I come in contact with during my teaching career.

Two of the resources I used, Great Books for Boys by Kathleen Odean and To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader by William G. Brozo have already been ordered. I plan get a more in depth read of them and hope that the information provided will guide me in the right direction to target the boys I teach and to benefit all the students I work with on a daily basis.

Found within these books were lists of books for boys. I plan to write a miniature grant to our local Education Foundation to purchase these books and have a special shelf in my room for this collection. If boys know that this special area exist just for them, hopefully they will be aware that someone cares about them and reading.

References

Brooks, B. (1993). Boys Will Be. New York: Hyperion.

Browne, R., & Fletcher, R. (1995). Boys in schools: Addressing the real issues – behaviour, values, and relationships. Sydney: Finch Publishing.

Brozo, W. (2002). To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader. Delaware: International Reading Association.

Carbo, M., & Cole, R. (1995). Nurture love of reading and test scores. The Education Digest, 61(4), 62-64.

Clark, B., & Higonnet, M. (1999). Girls Boys Books Toys. Baltimore: The JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press.

Hinchman, K., Payne-Bouray, L., Thomas, H., & Chandler-Olcott, K. (2002, March 1). Representing adolescents’ literacies: Case studies of three white males. Reading Research and Instruction, 41(3), 229-246.

Kendrick, J. (1999, May 17). Middle grade boys: Reading habits and preferences for a new millennium. EDRS.

Marshall, J. (1987, April 1). Oh, thank heaven for comic strip bubbles. English Journal, 76, 59-60.

Odean, K. (1998). Great Books for Boys. New York: Ballantine Books.

Stephens, J. (2002). Ways of Being Male. New York: Routledge.

Worthy, J., Moorman, M., & Turner, M. (1999). What Johnny likes to read it hard to find in school. Reading Research Quarterly, 34(1), 12-27.