Is your son struggling in school?

This story was originally titled "Girls vs. Boys" in the October 2009 issue. Subscribe to Canadian Living today and never miss an issue!

Step inside a typical Canadian Grade 4 classroom. Although the boys and girls are well- matched in math and science, you'll find the girls already have a slight edge in literacy. Now look at your local high school. While 15-year-old boys are doing slightly better than girls in science and math, they're significantly lagging behind in standardized reading tests. In 2006, for example, they scored 9.4 per cent lower than girls. They are also being outperformed by girls in overall marks.

Although fewer boys are dropping out of school now than in the past, they are still leaving at almost twice the rate of girls (12.2 per cent of boys compared with 7.2 per cent of girls). And fewer young men than women are graduating from university with a bachelor's degree or what's called a "first professional degree" (for example, architecture, education, law). These statistics raise the question: What's going on with our boys?

Factors behind the issue
Educators say several possible factors account for boys lagging behind. A recent study reports that, in general, boys trail girls on a number of physical, cognitive and emotional dimensions right from birth. Then there's homework. While 40 per cent of girls spend at least four and a half hours a week on homework, less than one-third of boys devote that much time to their studies. It's not surprising that Statistics Canada's research reveals that boys' study habits are not as strong as girls'.

All this aside, some experts believe the biggest reason boys trail girls in school is the so-called "feminization of education." They make a compelling argument. Several decades ago, it was boys who were ahead of the girls. In 1971, 68 per cent of university graduates were men. In response to this, teaching methods and materials were modified to better suit the learning styles of girls. For example, instead of encouraging learning through individual contests and competitions, such as spelling bees, teachers focused more on initiating learning through teamwork and cooperative tasks, a method which was more successful with girls. Adventure stories and nonfiction books gave way to tales of friendship and interpersonal dilemmas.

The gender gap soon closed. By 1991, half of students at Canadian universities were women. And our girls haven't looked back since. "Now, as a group, boys are being left out in the cold," says Gerald Mercer, principal of Vanier Elementary School in St. John's, N.L.

Looking beyond gender
Rather than treating all boys as one group, many argue it's helpful to look at other factors, such as race, that also affect a child's success in school. Aboriginal, rural and low-income youth of both genders drop out of high school at higher rates than many other subsets of the youth population. Dr. Rebecca Coulter, professor of education at the University of Western Ontario in London, says we should be concerned for the future of all young people. "The increase in family poverty and unemployment is what we should really be worried about."

Page 1 of 3 - Read page two for tips on how to get your boy to do well in school