Responding to both articles on "boy crisis"

[Cheerful Eagle]

I appreciate that both articles are posted for us to review. Both writers have some powerful points to make.

 

As a sub-urbanite ( and looks like I'll be "stuck" here for quite awhile), both challenge me as a scouter to invest more in the scout-reach concept. I think we all agree that scouting is not the remedy that Rivers and Barnette dismiss --

 

"Many, perhaps most, boys would be bored to tears in the kind of classroom that is now being described as "boy-friendly" -- a classroom that would de-emphasize reading and verbal skills and would rely on rote learning and discipline -- because it is really a remedial program in disguise. That's great for boys who need it, but most boys, especially those in affluent suburban schools, don't."

 

Even a small pack or troop has the educational advantages of small class size and positive adult interaction. Both of these advantages trump adult educational background in studies regarding homeschooling. Factor in the support network we have as scout leaders (of course there's room for improvement, but it is a shared value) and we have a potentially powerful impact.

 

Sax maintains that:

 

"During visits to predominantly African-American public schools around the nation, I've learned that many black boys would rather read "For Whom the Bell Tolls" -- a book without any major black characters -- than anything by Morrison.

In reading, as in almost every other aspect of education, gender runs much deeper than race. Boys have more in common with one another than they do with girls of the same racial or ethnic background in terms of what they like to read, how they like to spend their spare time and how they learn."

 

And even Rivers and Bernette conceed that:

 

"But those "problems" are hardly widespread. The alarming statistics are rarely broken out by race or class. When they are, it becomes clear that if there is a crisis, it's among inner-city and rural boys."

 

IMHO, that's a fairly large population. At any rate, it makes me wonder: how can we sub-urbanites help scout-reach to work better; and how can we avoid what's happened to other scouting organizations that seem to have lost their identity as scouts in an effort to appeal to the widest audience?

 

Thanks, Aquila, for bringing in both articles.

 

Cheerful Eagle

a Californian sub-urbanite