Solving ‘The Boy Problem’
Boys will be boys, goes the old adage, but it’s exactly this philosophy that has hurt young men in urban classrooms for more than a century, a
Michigan State University scholar argues in a new book.
Many boys have devalued academic success since schooling was made mandatory starting in the early 1900s, Julia Grant writes in “The Boy
Problem.” Today, boys make up two-thirds of the special education population and black and Latino males in particular face high rates of
suspensions, expulsions and imprisonment.
On Feb. 27, the Obama administration unveiled an initiative called “My Brother’s Keeper” to address some of the most persistent social and
economic problems faced by boys of color, including educational opportunities. Grant said the program appears to rest partly on the assumption
that what black youth need is more male role models and masculine guidance.
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