Compelling research: Boys, Books, and Blogs

There’s a stack of research to suggest boys fall steadily behind girls in school—just have a dig around the ‘net and you’ll be bombarded (unfortunately) with information to support this finding.

Recently I came across some particularly compelling research* which succinctly sums up where our boys are at with their reading. Here’s part of that research:

According to Smith and Wilhelm (2002), a comparison of boys and girls highlighted several key factors:

- Boys take longer learning to read than girls.
- Boys read less frequently than girls.
- Boys have difficulty comprehending narrative and expository texts.
- Boys place a lower value on reading as an activity.
- When boys do read, their choices are much different than those selected by girls.
- Boys prefer to act out a scene or to make something as a response to their reading rather than talking about it.

Their action-oriented and competitive style of learning often works against boys in traditional classrooms. Teachers expect children to read quietly and librarians often ask patrons to keep noise to a minimum because others are trying to read.

In his book, Guys Write for Guys Read (2005), Jon Scieszka provides a collection of essays and short stories written by male authors especially for males. They include a plethora of “boy” topics, ranging from the joys of public flatulence to eating toenails. Scieszka attempts to explain what it is like to think and act like a male, while giving permission to his audience to explore their own maleness.

Scieszka also has tackled the issue of engaging boy readers by creating a website called Guys Read (www.guysread.com). It is an online literacy program that connects boys with the books they would like to read. The site contains a section titled Guys Read Voters, where visitors can recommend books.

Scieszka’s belief is that, with the appropriate incentive and encouragement, boys will become better readers, which will result in them becoming better students and—ultimately—better guys.

*Herbert, Whittingham, Huffman and Ward (2008) Boys, Books, and Blogs