Active or Aggressive Boys? . Raising Boys . PBS Parents | PBS
I have a wonderful little nephew. He's cute as a button, and very entertaining. But he's also very aggressive. His behavior is in sharp contrast to my niece, who is just as cute, but she never has done the things my nephew does. From the time my nephew could move around on his own, he has been looking for things to destroy. He would crawl over to the baby gate. and try to knock it over. When he started walking, he would stumble over to the Rock Band® drum kit, grab a drumstick, and try to put it through the TV. He kicks, bites, and when playing with his toys I'm pretty sure he drops bombs on them and blows them up (I can't really tell though because everything that comes out of his mouth sounds like sounds effects from a WWII movie).
When observing classes, I noticed that boys had a harder time, overall, paying attention in class. The younger kids I observed were fidgety, would shout out in class, and during play time chose more "aggressive" activities. In older boys I found that they spoke out more in class, and exhibited more "class clown" behavior. As future educators, it is our role to discourage aggressive behavior, and to look for possible learning disabilities. My question is how do you distinguish between boys being boys and legitimate impulse control issues. For a long time there was a push toward treating boys and girls equally, and recognizing that gender is a social construct. But is there scientific evidence that there are differences between how boys and girls behave? I see the differences between my niece and nephew. My niece is completely content sitting down and asking questions, getting answers, playing with her dolls, and gets so excited when she gets to hold the baby. The first thing my nephew did when he realized I had a baby was come up and grab his hair and pull it. He can't sit still, and sometimes just runs around the house screaming for no reason.
This PBS article raises an important question, how do we distinguish between active and violent?
Desirae I think this a really interesting topic to look into! I see what you are saying about noticing differences between boys and girls when you were doing your classroom observations because I feel like I observed those differences as well. I was observing one 7th grade math class and it was so interesting to see how all the girls in the class were sitting quietly at their desks completing their assignments, whereas the boys were constantly talking, getting up out of their seats, and joking around with each other much more. I think you make a good point about how as educators we need to treat boys and girls equally, but at the same time there seems to be a clear difference in their behaviors.
ReplyDeleteLisa,
ReplyDeleteGreat site. I like the straight forward layout and the way the background stays static while the content is dynamic. Also, I like the topics you have chosen to post. I also have seen an incredible difference in the genders when it comes to observing and teaching them. It will be interesting to see how many of our opinions change or stay the same about the subject as we get closer to finishing our credential.
In mathematics education, there is a shift in the "crisis" in gender-related issue in learning. In the past, we worried about girls. They tended to perform poorer than boys and had less motivation. But recently, it is boys who are falling behind. As Desirae alluded that boys can have a hard time focusing on classroom activities. Maybe school culture and practice do not match boys' needs? R-J
ReplyDeleteDesirae,
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point that there seems to be a conflict between our urge to be gender neutral and our empirical observations that boys and girls exhibit different patterns of behaviors. I have less experience with student at the young ages you are describing, but I know with older students, maturity levels are definitely linked to developmental and hormonal patterns that are differentiated between boys and girls. I think this question needs to be resolved in a similar way to way we have moved on from pretense of "colorblindness" in race relations. Instead of pretending that there isn't a difference, we need to become more receptive and appreciative of difference, and recognize that a person's capacities and potential are not defined by the characteristics associated with their gender.