«I JUST READ EVERYTHING»

There have always been societies that favored boys over girls. Ours may be the first to deliberately throw the gender switch by preferring girls. Little boys are politically incorrect. It begins in elementary schools, which are increasingly female-friendly domains -- boys are there on sufferance. Just to give one example: boys, far more than girls, enjoy rough-and-tumble play. And that means running, chasing, fleeing, playful fighting, and wrestling. It's a very positive behavior, it is a critical part of boys' healthy development. And it is very different from aggression. In rough-and-tumble play, the children enjoy themselves, there is a lot of laughing, and the participants part as friends. In aggression, there is no laughter, children are often hurt, and they part as enemies.Increasingly, parents and teachers are failing to make the distinction. The failure of parents and teachers to respect and understand the distinction poses a serious threat to boys' welfare and normal development. Teachers have always rightly prohibited rowdiness in their classrooms, but they made proper allowances for it on the playground. That is changing. Today, many educators regard the normal play of little boys with disapproval and some ban it outright.

-Christina Hoff Sommers