Boys Adrift

Book Club #13.
Lesson: Homeschool. Let's do it.

About the Book:

Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax

 Summary: 

Leonard Sax is a psychologist who sees a number of factors contributing to a trend of underachieving boys and men in our current society. Factors range from changes in our current education system, role models, coed education, video games, plastics, etc. Controversial and a great source of debate, readers will be all over the place on this subject.

Characters:

• Leonard Sax
• various children and parents

Questions:

1. Do you notice a trend in unmotivated boys/men? Do you think it's true?

2. Which factor(s) do you most agree with?

3. Did anything surprise you?

4. If you had a son is there anything in particular you would do after reading this book?

5. Do you agree that schools are becoming more feminized? 

6. Do you believe that kids need to be in a co-ed educational environment?

7. Has this changed the way that you think the world socializes little people?

Conversation Summary:

Discussion topics:

• Is there a trend in boys/children that is different than previous generations
• Agree/disagree with book factors and observations
• Education system and homeschooling
• Experience with young children
• Difference between boys and girls - personality, learning, development
• Training animals and children

3/3 bears finished book

References:

1. Diane Rehm Interview: Dr. Leonard Sax: “Boys Adrift”

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2007-08-14/dr-leonard-sax-boys-adrift-basic-books

2. America’s ‘quiet catastrophe’: Millions of idle men
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/americas-quiet-catastrophe-millions-of-idle-men/2016/10/05/cd01b750-8a57-11e6-bff0-d53f592f176e_story.html?utm_term=.fa220cfd710d

3. TED talks: How masculinity is evolving

https://www.ted.com/playlists/how_masculinity_is_evolving

10.2016 Boys Adrift

Introduction:

Last month we briefly touched upon child development as Jack spent the first 5 years of his life living in Room. This month we delve further into the area of boyhood development and disturbing trends seen in this demographic.

Overview:

"Something scary is happening to boys today. From kindergarten to college, they’re less resilient and less ambitious than they were a mere twenty years ago. In fact, a third of men ages 22–34 are still living at home with their parents—about a 100 percent increase in the past twenty years. Parents, teachers, and mental health professionals are worried about boys. But until now, no one has come up with good reasons for their decline—nor, more important, with workable solutions to reverse this troubling trend. 

In Boys Adrift, family physician and research psychologist Leonard Sax tackles the problem head on, drawing on the very latest research and his vast experience with boys and their families. He argues that a combination of social and biological factors is creating an environment that is literally toxic to boys. Misguided overemphasis on reading and math as early as kindergarten, too much time spent playing video games, over-reliance on medication for attention deficit disorders (much more common in boys than in girls), and overlooked endocrine disturbances are actually causing damage to boys’ brains. 

Dr. Sax offers a wide range of reassuring remedies— including innovative ways parents can wean their sons away from video games, practical steps they can take to improve their sons’ schooling, and surprisingly simple life changes they can make to protect boys from the environmental estrogens that undermine boys’ motivation. 

Filled with moving success stories that will inspire parents and teachers everywhere, Boys Adrift points the way to a new future for today’s boys and young men."

Book Details:

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; Reprint edition (January 6, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0465072100
ISBN-13: 978-0465072101

Get Book: 

Amazon
Overdrive