My son is 14 and I didn’t experience this at all. But my son is pretty calm and well behaved, always has been. I suppose he selected friends similar to him. I think kids probably gravitate to like minded kids. If your son is wild, his friends probably are too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if they had more than 15 minutes a day for recess, they wouldn’t be so wild.

-a teacher who doesn’t control how much time is allowed for recess

Yes they need more physical activity outside! When I got feedback during conferences that my boy was too squirrelly, I drove to a park on the way to school in the mornings and had him run laps around the trails while I walked. A dog trainer once told me that a tired dog is a good dog, and I think the same can be said of young boys.

Teacher again. My son has ADHD but he had much better days at school on days where I could take him to the playground at school before school. I also had to allow some time for his to calm down after that exercise. We’d be at the park at 7am in order to get this exercise time in. That was fine since he woke up at 6am everyday.

He’s in college now and the hyperactivity is gone. He took an EF course in 9th grade at school which was amazing for him.

Yes, at that age, the boys will attract same types of personalities in friends.
By MS and HS they are more calm and pick different friends.
Love our boys, they are so much fun!
A little crazy and wild!

They need more outdoor time, watch out for teachers who give them timeout during recess in ES! Just say no!

I'm pp and the same was true through HS. The second one gave us gray hair.

Anonymous wrote:It’s not the kids it’s the parenting

Nope. We have two 20-something boys and when the first had a laser-tag truck party the host said, "this was the best group I've ever had!" I thought he was lying.

Then, our youngest had the same party and I understood that he was 100% serious because it was like night and day -- they were feral. My MIL was carrying out the cake and they were so crazy that she started walking backwards with it like a deer in headlights. Another kid bounced up and and into our window well, we thought he was seriously injured or dead. But, when we ran over he popped up and started laughing. DH and I were counting down the minutes until the parents arrived. I had to go to the bathroom, but he said it would be a liability for me to leave.

It's family lore now.

Anonymous wrote:Your son included, OP?

Sure. I'm not excluding my son from this.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah they are feral. You dont mention an age but im guessing 9 to 11? So loud. And so competitive and obnoxious.

But I haven't experienced the inability to read. My son and his friends are quite smart. They are nerdy. They love books and science.

My 11 year old has just started showing interest in playing with girls because i think even he is annoyed by groups of boys. He had a play date with a girl recently and was so happy with the games they played and fun they had. Ive basically stopped inviting boys over because they just fight or annoy each other.

OP here. You're exactly right on the ages. They ranged from an old 8 yr old to a young 10 year old. Mostly 9 year olds.

As a teacher I often wonder if some of these boys have ever been made to do anything. Ever.

Anonymous wrote:Your son included, OP?

Well yeah. If I’m the one hosting the party I will correct the behavior of all the kids if things are getting wild. It’s a little more challenging with other people’s kids because what works to get my own kids to listen doesn’t always work for them.

Most parties for my oldest are drop off at this age, so I am not always there to see what goes on. Mine is not an angel but I know he’s not the one starting a food fight or wrestling match. We have always gotten good feedback from teachers and coaches on his behavior. The kids who are the most wild at the bday parties my son has been to are the ones getting lots of notes and phone calls from school. The kids seem to have legitimate difficulty regulating themselves across settings.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if they had more than 15 minutes a day for recess, they wouldn’t be so wild.

-a teacher who doesn’t control how much time is allowed for recess

Yes they need more physical activity outside! When I got feedback during conferences that my boy was too squirrelly, I drove to a park on the way to school in the mornings and had him run laps around the trails while I walked. A dog trainer once told me that a tired dog is a good dog, and I think the same can be said of young boys.

I am the PP and I agree with this. My kid has recess super late in the day and that must be so tough for the boys! I really feel 2 recesses are justified. There are so many filler activities that can be removed to make this happen.

I notice this too and I also notice that people discipline their boys and girls completely different. Disobedient behavior or just wildness is shut down immediately in girls but parents just kind of roll their eyes when it’s boys. I even notice it within the same family. I watched a friends son deliberately fart near her face and then scream with laughter, and he was met with a “no thank you” but if it had been her daughter, she would have probably been pulled aside and spoken with her until she apologized / calm down.

I think parents here get very defensive about this, but I think that’s just part of a broader trend of people not wanting to take responsibility for their actions and finding excuses. Boys are generally higher energy and definitely require more work from parents in this respect but that doesn’t excuse it.

My son has one boy in his friend group who is a terror and if that kid isn’t around the boys are little angels. Of course that boy is also the tallest and most athletic so they all think he’s the coolest and want to emulate him.

and they are never in school, at least in FCPS.

Yes they are.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if they had more than 15 minutes a day for recess, they wouldn’t be so wild.

-a teacher who doesn’t control how much time is allowed for recess

Yes they need more physical activity outside! When I got feedback during conferences that my boy was too squirrelly, I drove to a park on the way to school in the mornings and had him run laps around the trails while I walked. A dog trainer once told me that a tired dog is a good dog, and I think the same can be said of young boys.