Literary Luminator

Alison Getsloff
Blog #3
Pages- 43-87
"Literary Luminator"

There were a number of great passages in this weeks reading, I chose to write about the ones that I think are the most powerful.

In chapter two, on page 63 it states:
"The U.S. Department of Justice found that as early as first grade it can predict who the future male offenders will be. The need for future prison beds in various geographic locations is projected by third grade reading levels. Most of  these boys are doing poorly in school. which makes school performance a key factor in a male's self-conception of shame and inadequacy, which ultimately can lead to compensatory aggression against others."

I don't understand how the U.S. Department of Justice can determine this. I am completely baffled that they say they can predict who the "future male offenders will be" as early as the first grade. Children are just starting to grow and learn in the first grade-if they don't know who they are yet, how can someone else decipher how many prison beds will be needed?!

My next passage consists of two statements in chapter two on pages 55 and 57 when talking about advantages and challenges of boys and girls. It was said that:
"For every boy that attempts suicide, four girls do." (page 55)
And-
"For every girl who actually commits suicide, four boys do". (page 57)

This to me also doesn't make sense. They are saying that more girls attempt suicide and don't succeed but the smaller percentage of boys who attempt it, actually go through with it. Are girls just trying to get attention? Why are there so much more girls than boys attempting, and less boys actually going through with it?

The last passage I chose to discuss is in chapter two on pages 48-49, it states:
"Pecking orders are flagrantly important to boys, who are often fragile learners when they are low in the pecking order. By pecking order we mean where the kid fits in the group's social strata......"

It goes on discussing about pecking orders and how each sex is affected by them. Pecking orders begin earlier than we think- starting as early as childhood on the playground.
--"It is established by physical size, verbal skills, personality, personal abilities, and many other social and personal factors".
--"Some children seem to gravitate toward the top of large-scale pecking orders, as in the phenomena of most popular girl in school or prom king. Others gravitate toward the top of small-group pecking orders- the chess club president, or the most popular kid among the computer nerds. All kids flow in and out of many pecking orders".

I think it is important to learn about pecking orders- as a future teacher, I want to recognize how these work and make sure that everyone, no matter what pecking order they may be in, feels included in my classroom.