Still Having Boy Problems ?

Leave the boys alone; let them play!


Parents and teachers alike rapidly disregard boys’ obsession with computers as a gratuitous diversion from their traditional book-based literacy. They rarely appreciate its potential to empower users to gain access to and control of information. Millard (1997, p. 46) asserts “It is imperative that educators and parents be aware of the impact of the multimedia world, and understand the positive ways in which these new languages and cultures can be harnessed as adjuncts to book-based literacy”.

So, are we aware?
Boys know their way in the technology jungle all too well. We need to capitalize on their attraction to computers to motivate and stimulate their literacy development. It is we therefore, the so called “educators”, that now need to be educated. We have to become proactive to be able to trek though their technological jungle. The most important piece of advice I have is to go bravely, be open and fear nothing.

Be Prepared

We simply have to be prepared. I recently completed a computer literacy class with a few teachers (both primary and secondary), and it was not surprising that many of them were basically tabula raza. The onus is therefore on us to take the initiative to become computer technology literate. There is no magic to it but lots of logic, since many of the technologies retain similar features. We just need to explore, practice, use the help function or when all else fails call a more competent colleague.



Keep reading the Millennium Reading Specialist for a list of strategies for success with boys.


Millard, Elaine. (1997). Differently literate: Boys and girls and the schooling of literacy.London: Routledge and Farmer.