But in a general way bragging is quite normal behavior in groups of boys. It is simply the subject of his bragging that is the issue.
As the parent of both a son and daughters, I have to disagree with this. Bragging doesn't occur any more often or for different reasons among boys than it does girls, and I wouldn't be so quick to assume that this is a case of a teacher/students being less tolerant of a boy bragging about school work/ability than the same teacher/students would be of a boy (OR girl) bragging about how they are the best player on the soccer team or how they won an award in an art contest of whatever. Yes, children do brag (both boys and girls), and when they are young, they don't always understand what is and isn't socially acceptable - but as parents (and teachers/etc) we can help our children by showing them that the way to have successful relationships with other children (and later on adults) is to be genuinely interested in the *other* person - who they are, what they like to do, what they are proud of in themselves. Asking questions, caring about others, wins many more friends than making sure that everyone knows how smart we each are. It's not downplaying the wonderfulness of being a highly intelligent kid to not have to point it out to everyone - the other kids will notice without being told. It's just simply more successful in the long run to focus on showing our children that other children are also equally interesting and worthy of respect, for whatever reason, and the way to fit in and make friends is to be a friend, not to show off by bragging.
polarbear
