Dr. Leonard Sax: "Changes in American schools have hurt boys"

Fascinating interview with Dr. Leonard Sax, author of “Boys Adrift,” discussing how changes in American schools have hurt boys, the way boys' declining in elementary school is setting them up to be worse as men, and more. Interview excerpt here.

Per Dr Sax:

American kindergarten has become first grade. Schools across this country, public and private, now expect five-year-olds to sit still and learn about dipthongs. And that acceleration of the kindergarten curriculum took place before we had the research showing that the language area of a 5-year-old boy looks like the language area of a three and a half-year-old girl. It is not developmentally appropriate to ask a 5-year-old boy to sit still, be quiet, and learn about dipthongs for an hour. And the result is 5-year-old boys who decide they hate school, who decide they're stupid

Sax argues that this early negative experience forms a stable and lasting attitude toward education that is difficult to reverse, ultimately contributing to the broader phenomenon of underachieving young men.

Interview excerpt here.