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Apparently, my friends, we have arrived at another cultural landmark in the gender wars and education. An AP feature story on parenting issuesfocuses on the widening gap between the reading ability of boys and girls. I quote the headline: “Boys trail girls in reading; can fart jokes help?”
The story notes a 20-year trend in which boys have lagged behind girls in reading advancement. According to the Center on Education Policy, the gender gap has now reached mammoth proportions, with boys trailing girls in every state– by as much as ten points. The Center’s director, Jack Jennings, says this ought to “set off alarm bells.”
Parents interviewed for the article say that getting boys to read is like “pulling out fingernails,” so they’re trying everything from cash rewards to video game bribes. “Trying everything” also includes authors and librarians attempting to meet boys “halfway.”
… hence a new genre of books is emerging. New York schoolteacher Ray Sabini self-published one book,”SweetFarts”,that rose to No. 3 on Amazon’s children’s humor list. It chronicles a 9-year-old’s science fair invention: tablets that change foul gas discharges into sweet smells. The book’s success has spawned a soon-to-be released sequel: “Sweet Farts: Rippin’ it Old-School.”
Fewer boys are reading in primary schools, andfewer are interested in higher education…as we take the daughters to work and feminize all aspects of American society. So the only way to motivate the younger generation of boys is with fart jokes? Good grief! Whatis happening to this country?
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