The research program implemented at St. Thomas University, The Boys’ and Girls’ Literacy Project, allows students to converse with and look up to men, although they may not have male figure in the home. (Willard’s Male Mentor Program, 1996, Getting guys to read, 2002, Norman, 2002, Scieszka, 2002, Sokal, 2002 Richmond and Miles, 2002) From my research I have found that having male figures in the school has been a popular topic of conversation.

    Because reading has been regarded as feminine task (Sokal, 2002), programs such as the Willard Male Mentor Program was created in United States classroom. The male figures in the school, from teacher to janitor, do not only help the children in the class but also have lunch with them, attend community events and mentors have even held formal dinners for the boys where they can talk freely about what they are feeling and how they are doing in school and at home.

    The lack of male role-models is a reoccurring theme. Men are not usually seen reading and writing in our society (Norman, 2002). In Norman’s study, one child replied that his father writes cheques. Norman’s article also addresses another possible reason why boys do not like to read, which can be seen as socialization. He noted that men are not seen showing their emotions and talking or writing about them. Why then would boys want to read a poem about another person’s emotions and write how they feel about it? This “clashes with their attempts to suppress emotions.”

    Some educators feel that the male mentor programs should not only be offered in the school system, rather that it should be both parents who are involved in the learning process (Scieszka, 2002, Murphy, 2001, Cline and Reichelderfer 2001).  It has been noted that reading has to be made fun.  A father-son book club is one possible way (Scieszka, 2002). Fathers and sons from the community “meet at a gym to talk about books, and then run around too,” and also allow them to read what they wish (Scieszka, 2002). This can be effective because boys like short activities while being active at the same time (Beers, 1996, Getting Guys to Read, 2002, Norman, 2002, Murphy, 2001).

    Murphy (2001), Cline and Reichelderfer (2001) felt that both parents should be involved in encouraging reading. The parent son book group Murphy noted only meets once a month. It is not held after school when children are too tired, and the club may seem like a continuation of school. Instead, it is held on a Saturday afternoon. To make the program interesting to boys, the program includes short responses and activities to the reading selections. Murphy referred to action talk, which she felt was best applied to boys. She felt that instructors can ask girls what they felt about a selection, but Norman discovered that boys respond best when they are participating in an activity while talking at the same time (Murphy, 2001).
 The fact is that something, or some program, has to be put in place to aid the reluctant readers. Being a male mentor myself, I had the chance to see how boys reacted to various texts which my partner and I had brought in. Upon our first visit we started by asking who liked to read. Most of the girls responded with enthusiasm, but one boy replied “I don’t like reading and nothing you say will change that.” During reading he was very interested and seemed to like the book selections. He could very well have been an unmotivated reader. A popular characteristic of this type of reader is that they enjoy read-aloud sessions (Beers, 1996).
 

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