What a shame. Reading this newspaper article will probably bring similar responses to the mouths of others as well. Though I do not want to have to accept it as is, I guess I kind of saw it coming. On March 05, 2015, an article in the Metro newspaper titled “Boys falling behind in school globally: Report” was published, and you can infer what it was all about. The signs are all there too. Boys are playing more video games, spending much more time on the internet (like those who are reading this article right now), and they are hanging out more with friends. With all the time needed to do the listed and more, there is without a doubt a plummet in the time spent for homework purposes.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) did surveys in numerous developed countries and found some interesting trends. Worldwide, boys spend 4.2 hours weekly on homework while girls spend 5.5 hours a week doing the same. Here in Canada, boys spend 4.6 hours while girls average 6.4 hours. Though the numbers in Canada are slightly better for the boys compared with internationally, the girls do us no justice, trumping us by nearly a whole two hours and only beating the international average by about an hour. The OECD also found that girls are more likely than boys to spend time reading outside of school and in general, girls enjoy school more as opposed to boys, even to the extent that girls arrive earlier at school than boys.

Confirming what was published in the Metro Newspaper, In this very blog, my good buddy Sako Chihiyo, published a piece showing that 7 out of 11 (a whopping 63.63636364%) things he likes doing best at home involves the use of electronics of some sort. And he is a boy just like me and the others included in the report. Welcome to our club, Sako!!!!

This really troubles me. I enjoy school, I really do. I am doing well in all subjects and I guess you can say they are all doable- though some are not loveable but more or less doable. I arrive at school on time habitually, and, unless extremely necessary, (surprisingly not sick days) I seldom arrive late or am absent. You can say that school is like my second home if you would like. Alas, I know that when it comes to homework, there is some room for improvement.

I don’t really spend a lot of my time on the computer, but when an assignment or such is needed to be done online, I sometimes abuse my privileges on the computer, switching between tabs whenever I hear footsteps that sounds like my mom’s behind me. Sometimes, and let’s just keep this between you and I, my friend, I find homework so bothersome that the best way I can complete it is last minute. And I am not talking the Sunday-night-before last minute type; I’m talking about Monday-morning-30-minutes-before-school-starts last minute type. But don’t worry, folks. I only do that when it comes to colouring, because this bottoms the list of my most favorite activities.

I know pretty much every boy in my grade plays video games on the weekend. We all use the internet, and most of us prefer not to read (not me, I love books). And I know at least half of these friends of mine dislike school. I hear it from them every day. Oh, “School is boring!” or “Why do we have to learn this subject?” or the most popular, “I ain’t going to use this when I grow up!” Mind you, these aren’t only said by the boys in our class. But, yes, our boys are less inclined to the idea of attending school. I mean, they know it is important and can help them in the future, but give them the option to play games 24/7, or have unlimited data and I am sure some of them won’t think twice before making a decision.

I know getting my homework done is important; I do mind you. I probably spend a solid amount of time a week on it (the weekly blog articles included) and I really do not mind. I am not going to lie and say I am doing 6 or 7 hours a week or even 4 or 5 consistently. I do not know what it is in girls that makes them capable of doing their homework unswervingly (maybe they are bored and do not know what else to do) but I bet it does contribute a lot to their future in being responsible and organized. Do not get me wrong, there are boys out there doing 10 hours of homework weekly, I guarantee it. And I do not for a second say that the fact that girls are more reliable with their homework makes them smarter. I just think we can learn a thing or two from these future women. We better start soon before our report cards come back!

Angelous Ginanena.