'Boys don't read fiction'

[Lottapianos]

I was told this by a teacher as part of a training session the other day. She was referring to older boys, about 8 years plus. She said the best way to get boys of this age into reading is to give them Top Gear magazines or computer magazines and comics. Hmm. No boys are interested in anything else apparently

Any kind of gender stereotyping gets my hackles up but she said there is research to support it. I know there are concerns about younger boys not being interested in books full stop and various theories about why this might be - reading seen as 'feminised' activity, boys not being expected to be able to sit down and read, boys being seen as 'naturally' more active than girls. All of which I would say are down to gender stereotyping by adults and not anything that innately prejudices boys against reading.

Any thoughts on why boys might not be interested in fiction, or any other aspect of reading and literacy development?

I must be a boy then. I rarely read fiction. Give me a history, poetry or art book any day

My boy reads fiction. So does his dad. My dad reads fiction too. And my BiL. It might not all be my sort definition of a good read - but it is all fictional.

Have a look at this information on the Commission on Boys Reading.

Gosh MrsCakes, that link is full of so much sensible stuff!

'The Commission found that the gender gap begins in the home, with parents supporting boys very differently from girls.'

'The Commission recognises that 'boys' are not an homogenous group; they are not all disengaged.'

Love it! I get so flaming depressed at all the gender stereotyping from education professionals - I'm an Early Years professional myself.

Do you think your boy's interest in fiction is because he has seen male members of his family reading similar stuff?

Funny, my interest in fiction came from my uncle, who reads a lot of fantasy and sci fi. I wasn't really interested in books until he started passing on stuff he liked.

Schools are so keen to put kids in neat little boxes. It doesn't seem to occur to them that children are as varied and individual as adults.

Maybe - seeing them reading, everyone getting new books for Christmas and birthdays, and reading together too - I know that the Books Trust also has a "Get Dads Reading" campaign, because it is a good way to build relationships as well improving literacy. It works for girls and boys, but I think having male role models is probably important for boys.
I also wonder about the lack of men in Early Years education, perhaps that reinforces the idea that society doesn't value men reading (because many children will get to secondary school without ever being taught by a man).

I do like the Books Trust - they are a very sensible organisation .

I get so flaming depressed at all the gender stereotyping from education professionals

I don't usually venture onto this board, but ^ this ^

Both my boys love fiction. Mind you they are both under 4. I would imagine most toddlers are the same. So at some point they are conditioned into not wanting to read fiction. Because it clearly isn't innate.

James Patterson made 94 million bucks last year. Bloody good going when half the population apparently don't read his output - including himself I guess!

Stephen King - $39 million
John Grisham - $26 million

I'm not implying that men read books by men and women by women (Janet Evanovich was the highest ranking female author on $33 million) - I've read all of them. But I don't think it's helpful or accurate to stereotype.

If boys don't read fiction, then why is it so damn difficult to find books for the over 10s that pass the Beschdel test?

So I wonder who is reading all the Alex Rider books, and Cherub series, and Charlie Higson, and BeastQuest? And all those boys I have seen with their heads deep in Harry Potter must have been an illusion. I mean, obviously, there is no way that a boy would willingly read something that is not only a book, but a book written by a woman is there?

Teacher is an idiot if she really thinks that all boys will only read non-fiction, but of course there are some boys who are reluctant readers (and girls too), and who might be tempted by easy-ways-in like magazines and comics. But you are on dangerous ground if you assume that's how all boys are - DS would have chucked her magazines in the bin (no interest in cars, football, computers etc).

Rather than gender-stereotyping, it would be more helpful to think about different ways to interest children of both genders in reading a broad range of material. Does anyone worry about girls not being encouraged to read enough non-fiction? I don't think a daily diet of Jacqueline Wilson is particularly educational, so maybe we should be doing something to get girls reading more science stuff.

Er, what's Harry Potter if not fiction? I believe quite a few boys worldwide may possibly have read that. And Percy Jackson. And um, The Lord of The Rings... I've got a nearly 9 year old who happily swaps books with his friends. Who also all read fiction and have all done the library summer reading challenge. It's like saying all girls only like books about fluffy unicorns and weedy princesses. FGS, I despair if teachers are coming out with this guff.

Ha, x-posts, exexpat!

I want to give you all a big hug! I don't have children myself and I only work with under 5s so I know nothing about older children and their reading habits. I just knew that what she was saying had to be utter tripe but I had no facts to throw at her so I just sat there seething

This same person has got right on my wick with her gender stereotyping before now - apparently we all used to think that differences between boys and girls were down to social conditioning but now there is 'lots of research to show that boys and girls really do have different learning styles' I'm going to throw that Cordelia Fine book at her next time I see her!

I have sons and no daughters, so I'm particularly poorly placed to observe any alleged differences between the reading habits of girls and boys, but my boys both read a LOT of fiction, and always have. They would be puzzled and offended by this idea that it is an activity somehow for girls more than boys.

It is true that they have at various times had an enormous relish for very "facty" stuff like the guinness book of records, loving to quote and memorise reams of facts almost before they knew what those facts meant. I haven't a clue about whether girls are more or less commonly into that kind of "anorak reading," I only know that it is pretty alien to me.

It does really annoy me that adults like to pre-impose preferences in the way the OP speaks of. The harder they try to appeal to boys by ramming Top Gear magazines at them, the more they say to those same boys "fiction is for girls" (and presumably it sends the message to girls that factual reading, esp about cars and such like, is not "theirs")

By the way, if you are anywhere near Bath, send her along to the Bath Festival of Children's Literature at the end of this month, and she will see hundreds of boys over the age of eight getting excited about books and queuing up to meet their favourite authors. When I took DS to hear Michael Morpurgo and Anthony Horowitz, there were nearly 1,000 people in the hall both times, more than half of them boys. The only event I've been to that was even more popular was Jacqueline Wilson (99% girls).

Teacher of Y6 here, yes boys do read fiction with enthusiasm and rapidity.
They also delight in having input into the class library, and recommending books to each other.
She's wrong.

I stopped reading fiction about two years ago - and now frequent text books. I am a woman. However, I have to say that my son (age 14) hates fiction...

Interesting, I thought that boys were massive readers of Sci-Fi & fantasy type literature let alone more "real world" stuff? As some others have mentioned above, I'm sure half of the record selling authors would be a lot poorer nowadays if half the population didn't read their stories...

Good to know that comics are factual though. I knew my years mis spent buying X-Men comics etc were well spent, when do the mutants come and save the world?

Another one who's DS1 avidly reads fiction and has done since he learned to read and DS2 (who has ASD) devours encyclopedia and fact based books about whatever his present 'thing' is and always has done.

Way to go selling both boys and teachers short, or have we zoomed back in time and landed in a Jane Austen narrative, were ladies read novels (which are supposedly crap, but all their little minds can cope with) while gentlemen read factual books (because they aren't frivolous and flighty).

I am a school librarian with over thirty years experience. I can categorically say that this teacher was wrong. Loads and loads of boys read fiction - Charlie Higson, Darren Shan, Jeff Kinney, Michael Lawrence, Anthony Horowitz, Jeremy Strong, and on and on.

Perhaps she needs to talk to a few of us?

I have several people in my family who are education professionals who goes around saying "boys don't read" in the hearing of my sons.

I told them (DC I mean) all about gender stereotyping and self-fulfilling prophecies.

Luckily DC are still reading. Fiction and nonfiction, but mostly fiction.

I have to say, this is not someone I would want teaching my son. For one thing I'd quite like his teachers to treat him (and the rest of the class) as individuals, with different learning styles, needs and interests.

There is so much terrific stuff to choose from for young readers today. Time and again in the past I have felt like hugging contemporary writers (like Anthony Howowitz in particular) for giving my sons such a reliably good, entertaining experience of reading.

In general terms what you were told is true Lottapianos, though of course there will always be exceptions to everything. Fiction specifically directed to boys slumped over decades as PC gaming and the internet evolved. Sci-fi, the main staple for boys, all but died and they did not flock en-masse to fantasy. Had I a son I would have certainly navigated his computer gaming use in a much more careful and focused way than my daughter, toward story driven RPG and deep/complex content games rather than first person shooters.