Falling Behind: The Miseducation of America's Boys

American boys are falling behind in academics as early as eight years old. It’s a gap that only grows as those boys become men.

This special On Point series explores why America’s boys are falling behind in school, and what can be done about it.

Episode 1. Do we treat boys like malfunctioning girls? Boys are falling behind academically from the earliest ages. What’s happening in elementary schools that’s leading to that — and what would it take to fix it?

Episode 2. Troublemakers There’s a discernible difference in the behavior of boys and girls at elementary school age. Yet expectations about how they behave and perform in the classroom are the same. What are the differences, and how do they shape the years to come for boys and men?

Episode 3. The opportunity gap By every academic metric, Black boys are falling even further behind than white boys. They graduate at lower rates, have lower test scores, higher rates of special education, and are suspended and expelled more often. On Point goes into classrooms that are bucking that trend to find out what they are doing, and what other schools could learn.  

Episode 4. Where have all the men gone? Today, male teachers make up less than a quarter of the public school teaching force. And while the number of male teachers joining the profession has only been declining over the past few decades, the number of male teachers leaving it has been increasing. What’s driving men away, and what would it take to bring them back?  

Episode 5. 'We're in jail with our emotions' Teenage boys learn men are supposed to be strong, and vulnerability isn't strong. Believing that makes it hard to identify when mental health is suffering. On Point takes listeners inside a school that's created a culture around building strong, emotionally vulnerable men. Hear how those lessons can help teen boys before they enter adulthood.  

Podcast extra. How to talk with boys Dr. Kevin Simon, attending pediatric psychiatrist at Boston Children’s Hospital, shares his experience and expertise in a conversation recorded on stage at WBUR CitySpace.

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