Raising Cain on PBS. A Show About Boys

Raising Cain was on PBS last Thursday on my local station. I thought this programt might be kinda goofy, the tag line went, "To understand boys, we must understand their psychology." However, the show was quite good. There were parts that were very depressing and it was especially hard to watch as inner-city teens teach 9 year-old boys to be cruel. There were also some scenes from a nice suburban high school that makes me glad I homeschool.

One good point that Michael Thompson makes is that schools used to have two recesses, now they have one, and some schools are going to no recess. That is not the best way for boys to learn. They need that time to run around and expend excess energy. If that energy is used, then they can concentrate better during class. This applies to homeschooling as well, but we are much more flexible than the traditional school. When the boys get wound up, they run laps, or they get a recess, either way, the energy is burned.

Another thought that came to me was "How can anyone live in the inner-city?" Surely there must be a way out. Rent is cheap in smaller towns, there is less violence and less overt trouble. Yes there is drugs, and trouble, but not in the concentrated form it is in the inner-city. There was an 11 year-old boy that rides two buses and two subway cars to and from school each day. Almost an hour each way. Just so he can get away from the bullies and anti-academic nonsense. There has to be a better way.

The next night I watched the John Stossel 20/20 show on Education. Read about that here.