Why Schools are Failing Boys

Who is to blame for boys struggling at school?

Education journalist Peg Tyre’s new book tackles falling grades, ADHD

They get expelled from preschools five times more than girls and are diagnosed with learning disorders four times as often. In her new book, "The Trouble With Boys," journalist Peg Tyre explains why schools are failing our sons and in this excerpt, she takes a hard look at the rising rates of ADHD among boys.

Full Story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26625249/

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Cause of conduct problems among girls appears to be different than in boys

The first study to include a significant number of aggressive girls with conduct problems indicates that psychological conditions including conduct disorder may have separate causes in the two sexes.

The research reaffirmed that boys 8 to 12 years of age diagnosed with conduct and oppositional defiance disorders have lower heart rates and sweated less while at rest and playing a video game for money compared to boys without these conditions. However, girls of the same age exhibited the same physiological responses whether they did or did not have conduct problems.

"Previous studies have focused on boys because boys with conduct disorder outnumber girls by a 10-to-1 ratio," said Theodore Beauchaine, a University of Washington associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study. "We went out of our way to find girls with conduct problems because we thought something different must be going on since there is such a big difference in the number of boys and girls with conduct disorder.

"Our findings suggest we had better start studying girls differently than boys. We can’t assume the same processes are at work in boys and girls. When there are different mechanisms it suggests there should be different treatments."

Joel Schwarz [email protected]

Full Story: http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=43558