Denny: Make reading fun for boys

A veteran educator is calling on teachers and parents to meet boys where they are and use their interests to encourage them to read.

Deputy chairperson of the Board of Management of the Barbados Community College Dr Idamay Denny, a reading specialist, said one of the major challenges was getting boys interested and engaged in reading.

She pointed to comic books, which are often viewed as a distraction, as one tool that could be used to encourage boys to read.

Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Management of the Barbados Community College and reading specialist, Dr Idamay Denny. (Photo Credit: Lourianne Graham / Barbados TODAY)

She said: “We tell them you’re not supposed to be reading any comics in here and we see comics as the worst thing that a child can have, and that is not true. The reading process is the development of comprehension skills….It is about drawing meaning that is not necessarily stated and comics do that very well. They leave us to draw conclusions about what the person is saying. 

“So when you see a boy with a comic reading a comic, he is reading at a very high level of comprehension. He is at the top stage of what we call the taxonomy of reading.”

Dr Denny was speaking at the closing ceremony of the Babb’s Reading Clinic on Friday.

To parents she said: “If you know you have a son that is wildly passionate about something, why don’t you go find some reading material about that thing and leave it with him?”

She urged schools to provide reading material that interests boys rather than dismissing comics and other popular material.

“When you see a boy reading a comic and he says something like that, he is drawing meaning from what the comic says to predict what is actually going to happen next. Therefore, we need to find reading material that interest boys rather than bringing in all reading materials that are the interests of girls.”

Dr Denny maintained that the focus should be on mastery rather than school placement, with teachers identifying students’ interests and providing reading material around those interests

She also explained why there should be a strong focus on teaching boys to read.

According to Dr Denny, international assessments have consistently shown that boys are falling behind girls in reading, while also losing confidence and enjoyment in reading.

“Now, if you are behind in an area and you fall behind consistently every day, at the end of the year where does that leave you? You are way behind, and there comes a point where regardless of what we do for you, we may not be able to get you to catch up. So, it is important that we do activities like this to prevent boys from continually and consistently lagging behind in reading development.”

The reading specialist said poor reading ability could have a cascading negative effect on boys’ overall academic performance.

“If you can’t read, you can’t do the exams, you can’t pass the exams, so you’re going to do what we say in Barbados, stop down and when you stop down, what happens? Your confidence continually gets eroded, and as a boy, our society teaches you that a male personality is supposed to have specific traits, but when you are continually failing and your friends are laughing at you, especially girls, you lose confidence.”

She said this could also have a negative psychological effect on boys.

“When you have to stop down and especially when you are a big, tall growing boy, and you have to stop going and keep wearing short pants, that does something to your psyche. You are no longer interested in school. The next thing that happens is that we miss you from school and we hear that you decided you didn’t want to go to school anymore.”

Dr Denny stressed the potential economic and social impact of boys dropping out of school.

“That cannot be allowed to continue, and obviously if a significant percentage of our youth population is dropping out, that is going to lead to long-term economic and social disadvantage. If you drop out of school and you don’t have any certification and you don’t have the background to go and get a job, that is going to bring you sustainable employment, how can you feed a family? What is your standing in this society?”

“First thing when people want to insult you, they’re going to say to you, he aint went to school too long. He ain’t got no certificate; that does something to the psyche of our males, and that is what eventually leads to many of our young men sitting on street corners and engaging in crime and violence.”

She said there needed to be a change in the approach, with parents playing a more active role in reading with and around their children.

“Very often parents will tell me, but I tell him you so and so, and he won’t do it but you know something, he’s never seen you doing it. So why should he do it? Because you’re getting by and you don’t do it.

“You have to set the example that’s fair and not only set the example by letting them see you do it, but by also encouraging them to engage in it.”

The educator encouraged teachers to conduct interest inventories to determine what students want to read “and keep that information about their interest, and whenever you can find that material, provide it, and you will see how your children, especially your boys, how they will develop”. 

She also encouraged parents and educators to provide boys with diverse reading material, including action-oriented and practical content.

Dr Denny added that boys need to see male readers, as some may have primarily female teachers and therefore may not see men reading.

“When they see the person in front of them who is reading, they’re seeing all females. It does not occur to them that males read too. Therefore, you also have to show them male readers.”

Dr Denny sought to discourage the use of reading as a form of punishment, saying educators and parents should instead make reading fun and exciting for boys.

“You have to do things that make reading fun and if you can give the children all of the activities, all of the games, all things that let them see this is not a chore. This is really fun and it is helping me to develop myself, then half of the work is done.”

(LG)