"We Owe to Our Sons What We've Given Our Daughters"

[gollygee]

4. I'm telling you what I see when I volunteer at my kids' schools

The kids have to sit still at a desk starting in kindergarten. There isn't a lot of time to physically move around. It is very hard on the boys. They get into trouble a lot more than the girls. And it is the same year after year. The kids don't move around as much as they should be able to. It's really not good for any of the kids, but it is particularly hard on the boys. Some school districts are even getting rid of the second recess that most kindergarteners have, and a lot of school districts are moving to all day kindergarten, which involves a longer period of time sitting still at a desk. Kids that age desperately need time to move around. The more that kind of thing happens, the harder it will be on all the kids, but the harder it will be on the boys in particular.

I want to add something here. I think the biggest problem might be that kids sometimes get labeled when they're young. So you have a boy kindergartener who is having trouble sitting still, which is entirely developmentally appropriate for that age, but he's labeled as a problem. That label can follow him and create problems for him in future grades. By 6th grade, he can sit still, but he's still known as the kid who has to get sent to the principal's office all the time, and therefore he gets treated differently and isn't getting the same education as other kids who don't have that label.