Twice-Exceptional Boys

Download or read book Twice-Exceptional Boys written by Deborah Gennarelli and published by SCB Distributors. This book was released on 2022-10-01 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens in schools to children who are 2e? Too often schools place focus on the disability and ignore the giftedness. Because true abilities are not addressed, and such children are placed with other educationally disabled children, the gifted child loses the joy of learning. The light goes out of his eyes. While gifted girls are more likely to "dumb down" to fit in or withdraw into depression, particularly if they are 2e, (and some boys may do the same), more often the 2e boys develop behavior problems where they act out, dramatically underachieve, and engage in risky behaviors because they are frustrated and angry that their learning is stymied. Some of these very bright young men may even end up in the juvenile justice system, definitely the wrong environment for them.As schools in the United States have swung toward an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, the educational literature has taken a swing toward gender fairness as it relates to these fields. Recent discussions include the fact that girls and women are underrepresented in STEM advanced coursework, college degree programs and careers. Because the discussions often focus on the reasons girls are excluded-or why they sometimes exclude themselves from these endeavors-boys are rarely mentioned. The focus on girls has taken attention away from the fact that boys are experiencing equally troubling issues in school, sometimes more so than girls.According to the 2019 Digest of Education Statistics by the National Center for Education, boys:? Were more likely to receive an out-of-school suspension.? Were expelled 2 1⁄2 times more than girls.? Were more likely to use illicit drugs.? Were twice as likely to be in a fight at school.These inequalities also cross racial boundaries, and appear to be more dramatic for minority boys.? Black boys were threatened or injured with a weapon at school more often than White boys.? Twice as many Black boys were expelled from school as compared to White boys.Boys from minority and low-income backgrounds are underrepresented in gifted education and over-represented in special education.