The Black and Blue Statistics:
• 70 percent of all kids in special education are boys
• 70 percent of all drop outs are boys.
• 70 percent of top 10 ten students in each graduating class are girls
• 70 percent of all members of National Honor Society are girls
• 70 percent of all kids who are suspended are boys
• 70 percent of all kids who are retained are boys
• Boys are 4-1/2 times more likely to be expelled from preschool
• 70 percent kids taking drugs to control behavior are boys
• For every 100 boys who graduate from college, 167 girls graduate

It's actually worse than this, folks. I didn't get into the percent of teen suicides that are male, nor did I get into the drugs and alcohol percentage that are so heavily male skewed. If you are a parent of a boy about to enter school, or have a boy in elementary school, these statistics should make you shudder. School is a hazard to your boy's health.

I am confident that those in education are already bristling by reading this. There is this inevitable lurch towards denial, anger and those 'wait a damn minute' vignette, citing many, many success stories where the boy is the star. Yes, I know this, but I also know all too well that these numbers above don't lie and there are probably very good reasons or theories for the fact that boys are at risk the minute they enter Kindergarten.

There is a growing body of knowledge that suggests that the biology of males is not well accommodated in school. It is of note, I think, that 90 percent of all elementary teachers are women. School becomes a place boys come to and watch women work. There are few male role models. Many women teachers are wired to comply and want order. The energy of young boys, the restlessness, yearning to tear things apart to see who they work, the desire to move, the resistance to sitting in chairs can easily be thwarted in school and too often, pathologized.

And, it starts early. Attend an awards assembly in most elementary schools and you will likely watch a parade of competent, well behaved little girls marching up to get the star awards for behavior and academics. Boys quickly see that this is a place doomed to cause frustration and failure.

If you talk to professionals, you will hear all kinds of theories. Some will say that girls are hardwired to be book learners, that girls mature faster than boys, that there is this anti-school culture underpinned in messages given to boys through the media, dads that had similar experience and recent research. Another theory rests with the fact that too many boys now live in dadless homes and have no motivation to achieve.

Regardless of what theory anyone wants to use on any particular day to explain or justify why boys are failing, the reality is it is an epidemic. Yes, this is a strong indictment, but, if 70 percent of all kids with cancer were of one gender, the Center for Disease Control would swoop in and launch a major study. To date, the United States Department of Education has woefully failed to acknowledge that it is a problem, let alone allocate a dollar for the cure. There are a lot of articles and research papers on the topic if one wants to Google, but many don't actually come from classroom teachers. Their should be a huge outcry of concern by teachers. But, there isn't. You walk into an average kindergarten class today and you will typically see a classroom driven to control.

Here are just five things I recommend to deal with the fact that boys are an endangered species in schools:

1. Create learning environments that are activity based, where kids learn through discovery, learn outdoors, learn while moving and learn by using their hands.

2. Encourage more males to enter elementary education. (Here is an interesting factoid: male teachers are 4 times less likely to refer a child to special education for behavior.)

3. Get involved with your son's education at an early age, stay involved, and listen and watch intensely for those subtle anti-boy messages. Parents may need to work together and build a support team to insure that schools are providing very different learning venues for boys.

4. Get boys involved in out of school activities that build self esteem and a bank of positive experiences to ward off emotional collapse should school failure lurk.

5. Dads, you are the key. Be a great role model. Read to your son, talk about the future, let him know he is capable and can succeed.

You may have your list, and I hope you send them forward so we can post them. I hope you let me know if this editorial aggravates you or motivates you or triggers other ideas to help our boys succeed. I do know this: the success of boys in school won't happen by hoping it will happen. It will require a lot of effort and a lot of advocacy.

William Shuttleworth, currently superintendent of schools for Monhegan Island, has served as a teacher, school psychologist, college professor and consultant for over 40 years and welcomes your comments at wshuttleworth@hotmail.com

Previous columns:

William Shuttleworth: Children not meant to be sedentary, tranquilized sheep
• Drugging kids for their own good