This Government has constantly ignored warnings about how it is failing to teach our kids basic literary skills. It’s a well known fact that boys and books do not go together, so why the shock that they lag behind girls in literacy? Why hasn’t the Government grasped this and done something about it?
I believe there is an easy solution – to make it compulsory for boys to read books at secondary schools, put it on the curriculum. At the moment
it is dropped at the age of 11, that has been my experience.
Scientists have said that boys are born with smaller language centres in their brains – and larger spatial centers – than girls and that boys develop language abilities at a slower rate, though eventually they catch up.
That’s why it makes sense to encourage them to read more at secondary schools, to make it compulsory at least to the age of 14.
I have a 16-year-old son who enjoys reading books and a 13-year-old who doesn’t. When they have a quiet reading period at school, the younger one takes along his football mags. His friends do the same, this seems to be acceptable, so let’s toughen up on this and get them to bring in books.
I’ve got no confidence in Blair’s Government resolving this. It is another major failing from them. Even our teaching professionals have had enough of their spin over exam results.
Who should sit in the dunce’s corner? There is no shortage to choose from, perhaps we should line them all up, former Education Secretaries Ruth Kelly, Estelle Morris, Charles Clarke and David Blunkett are a few names that spring to mind. As well as their “head” Tony Blair.
Oh, dear, this will get me on my hobby horse now! As a former secondary teacher I think those to blame are all the ministers from the Thatcher government onwards who have done nothing but bring in change after change after change, demoralise teachers, hound us and have us worrying so much about targets and statistics that we hardly had time to teach. Compulsory reading – of books – should be brought back in a big way. When I later taught in an FE college, I noticed with horror that students hated having to find information in books – hated anything that they couldn’t find on the internet in a matter of seconds – and they would look at me as if I was from another planet when I used to remind them that they had to list their sources of information, even if from the net. How are they ever going to learn to analyse a situation in depth? It does not bode well for the future. They are also being deprived of the sheer joy of reading which is very sad for them.
Welshcakes Limoncello, the joy of reading for me was so great that I used to be accused of shirking helping around the house because my head was always stuck in a book. I was one of those that even read with a torch under the bed covers. Sadly, that’s no longer the case for many.
I’m glad you agree about making books compulsory for older boys, why hasn’t anyone had the sense to see this?
Brilliant post, Ellee, and I agree with you and with Welshcakes Limoncello. WL, your experiences as a teacher are really shocking to read. We hear this all the time, and yet the Government denies it, telling us about ‘world class education standards’ and all that rot. The Telegraph front page yesterday, I think, had a story that despite all the money poured into education, standards have not improved. Mainly due, in my opinion, to Government interference. Why not just let teachers get on with it?
Bel, surely it all comes down to common sense at the end of the day. If boys aren’t reading books, and it’s not part of their school curriculum, then our Government should make sure it is.
It’s very sad to think that kids have such an aversion to using reference books, their answers always have to be found on a computer, that is the price we pay for living in the digital era.
I’m not quite sure how my husband does it, but makes most of his fifth grade boys into readers by the end of the year. I unfortunately, can’t comment on the public school system – he’s a private school teacher – but from my point of view, it’s not too encouraging.
It’s time the head was changed! You’re right, Ellee, that people should be allowed to bring reading substitutes. It should be books; pure and simple.
Check out my blog, Ellee – it turns out men are cleverer after all!