We Aren't Big On Reading

[lewisnotmiller]

Boys are hunters, girls, gatherers. It's our Pleistocene brains asserting themselves.
The qualities that made a successful hunter are labeled ADHD today.

Not convinced by that last sentence. My experience of bow hunting is that both boredom and patience are key considerations in a successful hunt.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Re: the OP, I might be the wrong person to ask. I've always been both book and sports obsessed.

 

[Revoltingest]

cough
We're running the planet now, you realize.

Nerds are important, but not in charge.
I'd like it if we took over though.

 

[Penumbra]

In the news.....
https://www.theguardian.com/educati...-boys-and-books-they-read-less-and-skip-pages
This is no surprise to us.
Girls tend to like readin more.
Why.....ideas?

Probably a big component is cultural.

Another variable might have to do with visual/spatial and verbal differences which may or may not have a biological component. Many studies indicate that one of the few measurable mental differences between boys and girls is that boys tend to be more visual/spatial and girls tend to be more verbal. Most or all of this might be due to cultural differences though, like what sorts of activities those people spent their time doing prior to being studied, evidenced by studies like this article describes.

Dungeons and Dragon's is a reading game 95% male. In fact all your Pokemon type card games are reading games and mostly played by Boys the reason they also have physical activity. Boys are not inclined to sit and concentrate for long periods of time. Boys like to keep active. Look at our sports mostly male but require short attention spans and constantly a changing environment. Have the book try to get away or slap them when there not paying attention and they won't put the books down.

A lot of boys are inclined to sit and concentrate for long periods of time. Especially many of the ones that will go on to be engineers, scientists, doctors, business leaders, etc. I think it does a disservice to boys to generalize them as short-attention span hyperactive kids.

And although boys do play more sports than girls, it's not like girls' sports is a small thing. A significant percentage of girls do play sports.

And for Dungeons and Dragons, maybe back in the 80's it was 95% male. The female percentage has grown since then into a more meaningful minority. And the Dungeons and Dragons books themselves have grown to reflect that- with more female characters appearing in the stories in meaningful roles, artwork that shows more realistic armor depictions on women and less sexualized, etc. (I'm currently playing a half-elf paladin. -_-')

Related to the above point about visual/spatial differences, Dungeons and Dragons often uses a grid system or figurines to keep track of the spatial combat environment, in addition to including detailed artwork in their books. Trading card games like Pokemon have pictures on the cards along with the text. So both of those games have a visual/spatial component compared to straight-up novels.

 

[bobhikes]

Probably a big component is cultural.

A lot of boys are inclined to sit and concentrate for long periods of time. Especially many of the ones that will go on to be engineers, scientists, doctors, business leaders, etc. I think it does a disservice to boys to generalize them as short-attention span hyperactive kids.

Related to the above point about visual/spatial differences, Dungeons and Dragons often uses a grid system or figurines to keep track of the spatial combat environment, in addition to including detailed artwork in their books. Trading card games like Pokemon have pictures on the cards along with the text. So both of those games have a visual/spatial component compared to straight-up novels.

I work with engineers I know what they are capable but the paper is specifically about boys and girls not graduated from high school. K - 12.

If I am correct and just including as you put it a visual/spatial component works for more than 50% of the boys. Wouldn't it be beneficial to put it into their reading exercises. Are we at the point where suggesting an idea that could help is a generalization that hurts all boys.

Nothing will help all boys but lets say it can help 25% of them with reading is it not worth trying or is it just to insulting.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Related to the above point about visual/spatial differences, Dungeons and Dragons often uses a grid system or figurines to keep track of the spatial combat environment, in addition to including detailed artwork in their books. Trading card games like Pokemon have pictures on the cards along with the text. So both of those games have a visual/spatial component compared to straight-up novels.

It makes me wonder how much those games would suffer in popularity if they didn't have the art work. Or, at least to me anyways, I've always considered the art on MTG to be a big part of it just because it's too fantastic and brilliant at times to just ignore for a "simple game."

 

[Smart_Guy]

Reading? Dude, get a life instead!

Wait, I do read... so much on RF.

 

[Parchment]

"Read, read... read, read, read, read, read- let me tell to something son, Learnin things never taught me nuthin and books are the worst, the last time I read a book I was raped- so let that be a lesson to you"
-Mrs. Yellowbeard
Seriously though, read but not too much but certainly read to your kids in their younger years or better yet make something up off the top of your head for their bedtime stories. Years later they seem to cherish those memories much more than just reading someone else's words to them- at least in my experience.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

I think this is a cultural thing. It's interesting to compare the US and UK. In terms of books published, the US produces 1 book per million people per year, while the UK produces 3. I've just read that the last bookshop in the Bronx is closing: a Borough with 1.5 million people. The London Borough of Newham, rather poor and with a fifth of the population, has 5.