A recent report outlined in the 20 November edition of the Daily Telegraph gives troubling official figures suggesting that boys are 'dramatically lagging behind girls' by five years. Recently I have received a number of related queries about boys, and, coincidentally, a book called Why Gender Matters by Dr Leonard Sax.
Dr Sax has argued for some time that the education system is failing boys. His work tends to be focused on America but much of what he says is relevant for England too, as we seem to share the same obsession with introducing formal education at an early age.
His book is an interesting read, although his chapter on teenage sex is positively eye-watering, as he pulls no punches! While the book also expresses his personal, and sometimes contentious, views on strategies to manage the different ways boys and girls learn, this does not deflect from the serious points he makes. In particular, through his perusal of a range of research studies, he highlights what appear to be genuine differences in male and female development.
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