For the past few years, the media, educators and even First Lady Laura Bush, have issued an SOS for the boys of America. With a large amount of attention falling on the advancement of girls in the education system, America has forgotten to help the boys stay afloat.

According to numerous media reports and articles, males have fallen behind in academic achievement, and steps need to be taken to fix this problem.

Recently, experts have stated this “boy crisis” should not just be focused on boys in the education system.

Randi Wolfe, NIU associate professor of early childhood education, sees the crisis to be much broader than previously thought.

“In fact, there is an educational crisis. The more we focus on standardized test scores instead of meeting the intellectual, physical, social and emotional needs of children, the more we’re going see children in crisis academically,” she sad.

Wolfe stated, because both males and females vary in terms of learning style, educators’ styles of teaching need to vary as well.

Lindsey Hall, principal of DeKalb High School, said her goal as an educator is to help every student learn to the best of their abilities.

“We try to help all students who are struggling with various strategies and interventions,” she said.

Currently, the style of teaching involves sitting for long periods of time in small spaces without hands-on work. This style is not at all conducive to the interactive learning style students need, especially boys, according to Wolfe.

Beth Cieminis, a director of “Healthy U,” a program that teaches health and wellness to inner-city students, sponsored by the YMCA of Grand Rapids, Mich. recognizes the negative effects of these teaching styles.

“With the trend of activity being cut in schools, i.e. recess and physical education classes, there is a lot of sedentary time. Any active breaks now would benefit students in the classroom. This is true for all students, but especially for males because they have so much success with activity being part of their day,” she said.

Because of the learning needs specific to many students, especially boys, teachers need to be able to recognize and prepare for the differences.

“Teachers need to understand the developmental and educational needs and talents of boys. We cannot pretend that all children learn in the same way, nor that any one method of instruction will be effective with all students,” Wolfe said.

Despite recognizing that not just boys are in crisis but the entire educational system, the fact remains males’ scores, grades and graduation rates are behind those of females.

“Data supports the fact that males are not achieving academically at the same level of females starting in about seventh grade and continuing on through college. For every 133,000 females who earn a four year college degree, only 100,000 males earn one,” Hall said.