New York Times Op-Ed columnist David Brooks paints a sobering picture of the state of boys and education today:
A decade or so ago, people started writing books and articles on the boy crisis. At the time, the evidence was disputable and some experts pushed back. Since then, the evidence that boys are falling behind has mounted. The case is closed. The numbers for boys get worse and worse.
By 12th grade, male reading test scores are far below female test scores. The eminent psychologist Michael Thompson mentioned at the Aspen Ideas Festival a few days ago that 11th-grade boys are now writing at the same level as 8th-grade girls. Boys used to have an advantage in math and science, but that gap is nearly gone.
Boys are much more likely to have discipline problems. An article as far back as 2004 in the magazine Educational Leadership found that boys accounted for nearly three-quarters of the D’s and F’s.
Some colleges are lowering the admissions requirements just so they can admit a decent number of men. Even so, men make up just over 40 percent of college students. Two million fewer men graduated from college over the past decade than women. The performance gap in graduate school is even higher.
Some of the decline in male performance may be genetic. The information age rewards people who mature early, who are verbally and socially sophisticated, who can control their impulses. Girls may, on average, do better at these things. After all, boys are falling behind not just in the U.S., but in all 35 member-nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
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Boys are falling behind on every measure, on every level, in every country in the world. Where are the protests? Where are the lobbyists? Where is the outrage?
Brooks gives a reason why this might be, and with it a possible solution:
Schools have to engage people as they are. That requires leaders who insist on more cultural diversity in school: not just teachers who celebrate cooperation, but other teachers who celebrate competition; not just teachers who honor environmental virtues, but teachers who honor military virtues; not just curriculums that teach how to share, but curriculums that teach how to win and how to lose; not just programs that work like friendship circles, but programs that work like boot camp.
The basic problem is that schools praise diversity but have become culturally homogeneous. The education world has become a distinct subculture, with a distinct ethos and attracting a distinct sort of employee. Students who don’t fit the ethos get left out.
Brooks’ question is a good one: Why is it that we keep trying to change boys to fit the educational system instead of the educational system to fit boys?
And the solution doesn’t even sound difficult — add teachers, curriculum and programs with enough diversity, enough consciousness and enough understanding of how boys best learn so that the boys can truly do their best.
This needs to get done, now, by people who care. How could we possibly forget about the boys?
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photo of handsome lads smiling by shutterstock
As well as the negative effect on individual boys and their families, not using educational approaches that allow boys to achive to the maximum of their ability also has negative effects on a country’s economy. Failing to educate girls is a factor in terms of the economic well-being of many countries in the developing world; failing to educate boys to the maximum of their potential may well prove to be a demographic time-bomb for many countries in the “developed” world. Lost potential is lost potential, regardless of the sex of the person concerned. Consider reading the article “Feminization of education… Read more »
Getting told to “get over it” whether a cheap shot taken or a missed call on the court serves a good life lesson for these young men. Guess what, life ain’t always fair. You may not get on the A team. You may not get admitted to that college that you think you should. Learning when to engage and when to let it go is a part of life, If sucking back the tears from that shot you just took in the nose and pressing on gives you the tools to deal with challenges later when life is a lot… Read more »
Just want to point out that it is not just schoolteachers and administrators who have eliminated competition. It’s parents. I don’t have kids but I hear this from friends and from my sister. Whenever grade schools do anything competitive, parents bitch. Little Johnny or Little Janie came home sad because he didn’t win a ribbon in the contest or she didn’t do well in the foot race, and parents are getting on the phone and screaming at the principal. At the yearly art contest at my niece’s school, every participant gets a first place or second place ribbon. I’m not… Read more »
Sad to hear that. Our school isn’t like that at all and in fact I am posting from a very competitive regional swim meet.
Competition is important.
@ Sarah I remember when my nephew complained that some guy hit him illegally in a taekwondo tournament. His parents were yelling at the other boy’s parent, who was trying to apologize. My nephew was yelling at the other boy who was also trying to apologize. I asked him if he was hurt. He said no so I told him that if you’re going to play a combat sport you’re going to be hit from time to time. If you can’t handle it, put on a dress and I’ll buy you a Barbie. I did catch some grief for that… Read more »
“If you can’t handle it, put on a dress and I’ll buy you a Barbie. I did catch some grief for that last part…” I get the feeling you don’t think the complaints about you making that statement were valid. That statement basically just told the kid to man up while simultaneously perpetuating the myth that women are weak AND that a man who is not traditionally masculine is something worthy of mockery. That’s a problem. When feminists talk about “toxic masculinity” (a problematic term) or hegemonic masculinity (a much better term), this is what they are referring to. As… Read more »
“Telling a kid to get over it when his/her opponent breaks the rules is basically fostering the idea that rules are made to be broken. That is not helpful.” When I was kick boxing, I had a kick timed at 7/10th of a second, a three kick combination in about 2 seconds. When I had to spar one of the two girls, I went at about half that, which is still pretty darn fast. When both people are moving that fast, it’s hard to adjust a kick or punch mid flight. When he relayed the story, it sounded accidental and… Read more »
I get that sometimes people break rules without meaning to. That’s why sometimes rules (particularly in sports) take into account whether it was purposeful or not. I was just watching the EuroCup and realized they’ve changed the rules of football so that you only get a penalty for touching the ball with your hand if they think it was intentional. However, if the rule doesn’t take intent into account…then it doesn’t take it into account. The world is not black and white…it’s very gray…but we create rules to bring some order to the chaos. I think it is important that… Read more »
I wish I could tell you, but I haven’t gotten that far yet, like when my friend was hitting his girlfriend. He wouldn’t do it in front of us so we made sure that she was with one of us while we were clubbing. I mentioned it on GMP before, but only today realized that because we handled it non-confrontationally, he may have beaten her again when they got back at his house. I’ve just started considering issues of gender equality and gender constructs about a year and a half or two years ago . The incident with my nephew… Read more »
I know I’m gonna get some crap for this but John, I wasn’t offended by what you said to your nephew. Guys say and do things in sports that perhaps to many would be offensive. I got the gist of what you were telling him. In fact, if I didn’t know better, you sound just like our recreational therapist. The reality is, yeah, there are times that rules are broken, bad calls are made but that shouldn’t change the goal. It shouldn’t be an excuse. As they say, “shit happens” … I say, “build a bridge and get over it.”… Read more »
I’m willing to bet it’s not calling him a “woman” that’s the worst thing…it’s calling him a “woman on his period,” that’s the worst thing. Because, women on their period complain a lot…because the emotional irrationality and physical weakness associated with PMS (and the assumption that all/most women experience it) is a real thing and totally not a social construct associated with the medieval perception of women as over-emotional and weak.
Ugh.
I’ve never heard anyone call a woman a dick before, but I’ve heard them say that she probably has one making her equivalent to a man. It’s early and I haven’t had my coffee so I’m having trouble thinking of any, but are their some unfeminizing insults for men? Women are sometimes referred to as ball busters or I’ve heard statements like when is she going to give him back his balls. Women get criticized for emasculating men. Is the reverse true?
But why does womanhood have to come into it as an insult? You’re assuming it was an insult of women but it was a taunt at the boy. The reason is because women and girls have entitlement in our society and therefore can whine and complain whereas men cannot. It’s like saying to someone as a taunt, “Oh look who’s got his nose in the air; a young prince we got here lads.” As a way to slap someone down who is acting as if they were upper class or above their peers. If your logic were correct this taunt… Read more »
Interesting point of view, in fact I do agree that women are given far more leeway for “whinging”. I think that is more because they’re seen as weaker, but it could be that they’re ALLOWED to whinge, that men have to shutup n keep working no matter what (It’s also implied men are worth less, women are worth more and more worth of saving in emergencies). It’s not good either way though. I suggest you all try to find a gender neutral way to relate to these boys, by that I mean don’t put down women, don’t mention tampons, etc.… Read more »
Alright let’s look at it like this…there this general concept that apparently women are more entitled to whining (they aren’t…though perhaps they are more entitled to complain, so I’ll go with that)…let’s compare that to the idea that men are generally more entitled to aggression. So men are more entitled to be aggressive. At the same time, our society largely has a negative association with aggression because, frankly, it can be a problem. So a man are more entitled to do this “bad thing,” and also more likely to be assumed to be doing this “bad thing,” even if he… Read more »
HeatherN, are you serious? Umm, Butch? caveman, “You’re acting like such a mann”, I’ve heard these insults to women before. Tomboy? Dick? Neanderthal, etc.
Because you are a woman is it likely that you either took more notice of insults to women, or have had more insults to women (aimed at you possibly)? I’ve heard more insults to men as I’ve been around men more than women and being a man they’ve been thrown at me. Both genders get shit for stepping out of line.
“Both genders get shit for stepping out of line.” If you read what I’m saying…I didn’t say they didn’t both catch shit. I am very, VERY well aware that women catch shit for not performing their gender correctly. I’ve caught so much shit for it I should have gone pro (lol). But seriously, something like “butch” is meant to be insulting to a woman because she’s acting masculine…but it is not saying the woman “may as well be a man.” Same goes for tomboy. It is telling her she is not performing her gender correctly…it’s similar to calling a man… Read more »
Might I also add this means that women do have more flexibility when it comes to performing their gender. That is the other side to this.
According to wiki (take as you will:P) “Sissy is, approximately, the male converse of tomboy (a girl with “unfeminine” traits or interests), but has none of the latter’s positive connotations. Even amongst gay men, behavior thought of as sissy or camp produces mixed reactions. Some men reclaim the term for themselves.”. So to me I’d say tomboy is the closest, difference being tomboy has positive connotations (many of which are women who fought against it being a bad thing). I guess women are allowed more leeway with differing from gender roles, a large part of that I’d owe to feminism.… Read more »
@ Julie “But why does womanhood have to come into it as an insult?” I think it’s like spanking kids. It’s almost a form of lazy parenting. It’s a short hand way to correct undesirable behavior that might have unintended consequences. When Heather asked me how I would have liked to handle it, I said that I didn’t know. It might be that I can’t come up with as concise a way to do it, but to some extent, I don’t know if the message would have gotten through to me when I was 15 if it hadn’t been phrased… Read more »
It is important to recognize that this should not just be a debate about catering for all children within our education system: it should also be a debate about whether we have an education system that can cater for, nurture, and produce some of the intellectual traits that have proved to be some of the most valuable over the course of human history. The feminized education system that many countries have been moving towards values a particular set of traits: cooperation, collaboration, quietness, sedentariness, empathy, equality, non-competitiveness, conformity, communal-focus, inclusivity, affirmation, inoffensiveness, sensitivity, non-confrontation, a downplaying of physicality, and an… Read more »
@Alastair …. amazing!
Pages and pages of articles about this topic (I typed in “boys and education”) and much in the mainstream. Not sure how this translates into “forgetting about boys.” But certainly it is an issue that is valid and warrants dialogue and attention. If anyone feels there is not enough being done–then he/she should become involved (like Crystal has). Blaming and finger-pointing will not help to make change.
https://www.google.com/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=boys+and+education&oq=boys+and+education&gs_l=hp.3..0l4.153.2341.0.2548.18.9.0.8.8.2.233.1517.0j7j2.9.0…0.0.4JM8pYlwj-0&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=a2e370afc0354df8&biw=1024&bih=653
Has anything reached the government level for the US? I haven’t heard of anything at the gov level for Australia, maybe that is what they mean by forgetting. It’s a problem that largely goes unnoticed, but recently awareness seems to be rising. I see one link for an Australian Gov report however it isn’t working, I’m glad it is being discussed though. Haven’t heard any programs being introduced to address the issue yet though, do you know of any (for anywhere, not just Australia)? Is it possible that most of the work being done on behalf of boys is done… Read more »
If you want to go further you can contact your government representatives, your school boards, etc. and ask them what is being done. You can start a website that not only blogs about this subject but offers some solutions. What kinds of solutions do you see that would help? Write articles and submit them to local papers/magazines. Start an online initiative, write curriculum, write a book. Create a non-profit that can coordinate with teachers/schools/educational outlets to develop programs that are more boy-centered. I don’t know–these are just off the top of my head. I think sharing links and raising awareness… Read more »
Thank-you, I’ll keep this in mind once my health gets better.
“Brooks’ question is a good one: Why is it that we keep trying to change boys to fit the educational system instead of the educational system to fit boys? And the solution doesn’t even sound difficult — add teachers, curriculum and programs with enough diversity, enough consciousness and enough understanding of how boys best learn so that the boys can truly do their best. This needs to get done, now, by people who care. How could we possibly forget about the boys?” The only fingers I see being pointed are those that suggest that the educators are failing boys, which… Read more »
It translates into forgetting about boys when it spends tens of millions of dollars on girls in education, it spends zero dero dollars on boys in education.
It translates into forgetting about boys when the President of the United States celebrates both the advancement of women and the decline of men, and is applauded.
Blaming and finger pointing often is necessary for change.
(CNSNews.com) – In an op-ed published Saturday in Newsweek, President Barack Obama marked the 40th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX–which bars gender discrimination in education—and noted that more women in the United States are now graduating from college than men, which he characterized as “a great accomplishment” for the nation.” “In fact, more women as a whole now graduate from college than men,” Obama wrote. “This is a great accomplishment—not just for one sport or one college or even just for women but for America. And this is what Title IX is all about.” Who mentioned “No Child… Read more »
When I was in grade school, we had competitions like spelling bees. There were similar team competitions like in math and science. The girls tended to win the spelling bees. The boys tended to win the math and science competitions when segmented by gender. One thing I found interesting was that if you looked at class rank, who the teachers saw as being the best students etc., the girls were consistently ranked higher than the boys. The math team was composed of five girls. When we took the Iowa exams, the top two or three scores were boys. I beat… Read more »
I am one feminist who is concerned about boys and our society’s expectations of them. I even wrote a book about it. There are lots of issues in the education system that need fixing for the sake of both boys and girls, but there are also wider issues in society that affect boys. Why does our culture teach boys that doing well in school is for “geeks” or “nerds”? Why is reading considered a “feminine” activity? Why do people like the author cited above think that boot camp and military virtues are needed for boys? I know plenty of boys… Read more »
I don’t think reading is considered a feminine activity, but it is a skill which girls seem to develop at an earlier age.
My grade school had a library. Each week we’d go in as a class and each student would borrow a book to read for the week. We didn’t have that parents make sure and verify that your kid read it thing. If you weren’t done in the week, you borrowed the same book again. That has contributed to my love for reading. I read “masculine” books and my reading ability would rival and surpass that of most girls. My class rank in high school was 130ish/140ish out of 305. My SAT scores put me in the top 2% in reading… Read more »
Thanks for writing about it, it’s good to know some feminists are taking action (along with others). How was the book received by the community?
I have developed a lot of friendships with people working on issues affecting girls. They have really welcomed the book and blog and have offered me a lot of support and help promoting it.
Glad to hear it.
@Crystal … I commend you for your efforts and would be interested in reading your book. That being said, it bothers me that I seldom see responses about “boys” or “men” where there isn’t an addition with “girls” or “women.” As you said, issues for boys and girls yet this is all about boys. I know there was nothing intended on your part when you stated what you did but I just see this as a common occurrence. This is not intended toward you specifically Crystal but the idea that guys do well in boot camp settings is not a… Read more »
@ Tom B I think you’re right some boys will thrive in a boot camp style environment, but not all. I almost went into shock when one of my teachers told me that I was being held up as the ideal student in my master’s class. I’m probably one of the least serious students there (although I’ve got straight As). I get surprised when I’m invited to multiple groups when it comes to group projects. I never practice my presentations. My classmates tell me that’s because I do really good work and my presentations are really good. I’m also easy… Read more »
“Boot Camp” style is a rather extreme vision but not too far off. Boot camp as in structure, discipline and high expectations, yes. Each of the guys setting the bar. When kids come onto my unit, I explain that I set my bar high for each of them. When I say set it high, what I mean is that I’m not cutting them any slack because of who they are, what they’ve done or where they came from. Most of the bar that I set has to do with behavioral expectations. In fact, we avoid the term “rules” and use… Read more »
@ Tom B I appreciate it. The kids I volunteered to help thankfully are not thugs yet. The program won’t accept kids with a criminal record. They’re more truants and runaways. I could really respect what you did. I’m sorry to hear about the heart. Hope you’re doing better. I don’t think I could have done what you did. My role would be just to check in with the kids. Make sure they’re on the right track and give them someone they could talk to if needed. The program has guys like you who do the heavy lifting, but I’m… Read more »
My dad had a knack for getting the rowdy bunch to respond, the secret was to talk about fishing for the first few minutes in class. These are the trouble maker kids, kids most teachers dislike, but dad was very well respected by them and I’ve had them tell me many years later after he died of how much they respected him, one was very upset he died. I think some teachers are just awesome at getting through to the rowdy bunch, many other teachers I saw gave up or treated them like shit and they were teh teachers most… Read more »
@Julie … seriously, thank you for the very respectful response. I know you used your coping skills when writing it and managed to control your emotions. Seriously, thank you. @Heather … wow, you picked up on what I was saying. It was not as much an insult about women and more the emotions that go with having a period. How these guys were reacting. As I said, people have to understand the guys that I’m working with. Julie, I’m all for “drop and give me 10” pushups that is. But a few years ago, there was a management decision that… Read more »
@TomB Thanks for your comment. I didn’t mean to imply that boot camp type settings wouldn’t work for some boys, but I think it is a stereotype to assume that just because a child is male he needs rigid discipline to succeed. Some will thrive and may need such an environment, but others would fail miserably. You noted that the boys you help lack structure, so boys who have that structure in their homes would not need the type of discipline you are talking about and would probably find it too harsh. As John Anderson said, there is no one-size… Read more »
So, if boys were just more like girls (less masculine), all would be well. Boys and their masculinity, they say, is the problem.
As if boys and men just started becoming masculine. As if there aren’t more feminine behaving men than ever before in history. As if there aren’t more “out” feminine gay men, cross dressers, transgenders, metrosexuals, and otherwise effeminate boys and men. If masculinity were the problem. things would be better not worse.
Uh, no. That is not my argument at all. It may not have been clear from my brief comment to this post, but my point is that traditional views of masculinity are very limiting to boys. It is not about feminizing boys, but letting them be who they want to be without judging them for being “unmanly” if they don’t fall in line with what is considered “typical” masculine behaviour.
“Uh, no. That is not my argument at all. . . my point is that traditional views of masculinity are very limiting to boys.” I’ve heard that opinion from women’s studies theorists many times before. All I’ll say is that if your theory was accurate, boys’ educational performance would have shown steady improvement over the last 25-years, rather than a steady decline over that same time period – because more than ever before in history, elementary and middle school age boys are cross-dressing, coming out as gay and bi, and acting in effeminate ways – with more parental and societal… Read more »
@ Crystal
For myself, when I was in grade school, I was the nerdy kid always picked last for sports because I was no good at it. For a long time, I didn’t think I was athletic. In high school, I discovered weight lifting and taekwondo and realized that it was only traditional team sports that I stunk at like baseball, basketball, and football. Sometimes we just need another way of thinking to help one kid. Not that I would recommend weight lifting for any kid who didn’t reach puberty, but I think you get the idea.
@John Gottman Anderson. Agreed. Children excel, enjoy, and feel comfortable with different types of activities and will find their way with the right support and guidance.
This book? The Achilles Effect: What Pop Culture is Teaching Young Boys about Masculinity
Yes, that is the one.
Crystal: “I am one feminist who is concerned about boys and our society’s expectations of them. I even wrote a book about it. There are lots of issues in the education system that need fixing for the sake of both boys and girls, but there are also wider issues in society that affect boys. Why does our culture teach boys that doing well in school is for “geeks” or “nerds”? Why is reading considered a “feminine” activity? ” Just one question: Did you look at it solely through the lens of “Feminine” being less accepted in society and applied it… Read more »
Sorry for the slow reply. I was out of town all weekend. I have read a number of articles and studies that talk about boys viewing reading as “girly.” Page 5 of this report (http://www.ccl-cca.ca/pdfs/LessonsInLearning/02_18_09-E.pdf) says “One recent Canadian study concluded that 24% of Grade 2 boys view reading as feminine.” Lisa Bloom writes about it in her book Swagger (which I still haven’t read, for the record) and talks about it in this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloom/how-to-talk-to-little-boy_b_1473167.html. There are others, but those are just a couple that come to mind. Certainly not all boys feel this way, but a significant number… Read more »
It’s not just the feminist that have had a hand in stacking the deck against boys in education. The conservative side signed No Child left Behind (teach to the test). The 80s saw the restructuring of the classroom to be more “girl oriented”. The medical community and teachers unions gave us the wonder drug ritalin, so now teachers no longer had to deal with all those unruly boys. I personally know of classrooms where over half the boys were on that drug in the 80s, The lobbying arm of the feminist movement and the teachers unions control the dollars and… Read more »
I, too, think that boys are lagging behind. But I don’t think the curriculum can be blamed exclusively for this problem. As far as I can tell, curricula vary widely from school to school, and from school district to school district.
I suspect the problem also has something to do with absent or uninvolved fathers.
Millions of kids, boys and girls, would perform better with better home situations, but people still try to improve schools and get better outcomes. Why is it that when it comes to boys, so many jump to blaming fatherlessness (i.e., blaming MEN) for the problem instead of looking at ways the system can be improved? This just goes to the standard societal narrative that whatever problems boys/men have, it is a sign of their personal failings, not a sign of society’s or government’s or culture’s failings. The lack of fathers in some of these boys’ lives may be a factor,… Read more »
@Reese … I’ll address the fatherlessness in another response but for now I would like to stress that there is another part of this. Fatherless is one thing but the other is a question as to how well the moms are or aren’t doing. My wife and her brother didn’t have a dad(male) in their lives. Being Mexican and former migrant workers, mom spoke poor English and the aunt that stayed home and took care of them while mom worked spoke no English. My wife and her brother didn’t speak English until they started first grade in school. If you… Read more »
If being raised in a home with a mostly or completely absent father were to blame for this crisis, wouldn’t girls be failing as well? I find it highly unlikely that only boys would be affected by the absence of their fathers, whilst girls simply shrugged things off and got back to studying…
Do you argue that boys need a male parent to succeed? If so why are boys from lesbian households not similarly affected?
If you’re arguing that single parenthood is the cause then why are girls not equally held back?
@Daniel Vela and Peter …WOW, two comments that have minimized male roles in male children’s lives. As I mentioned in an earlier response, I know that single moms can and do make a difference as it was proven by my wife and brother-in-law. That’s not to say though, that in the big picture that men are irrelevant to how well boys do. So I guess what you may be saying is that these single moms are falling short with their sons? Or are you just wanting to blame the schools? The teachers? And in so far as the comment “If… Read more »
Is it the lack of a male role model, or the single parent household that is causing the issue? Maybe the child’s security is upset having to swap between homes with shared custody? (No idea, just making wild guesses). Are there stats that show performance in school, overall happiness, etc according to financial situation of the household and the status of parents? (single mother, single father, joint custody, couple living together, etc)
Actually fathers have to be quite irrelevant. Nature proves that.
Because you always hear that male sexuality means “spreading around your genes whenever you can”.
If this is true, than the father is actually unimportant because you can not be father to 10 children from 10 different women.
Either men are less important for the raise of children or the theory that men f…k everything they can is not true but an pseudo-biological founded excuse some men use to explain irresponsible behaviour.
Well, I would think we leave out the evolution of community in these statements. I would imagine in native or tribal communities its was not hard for any child for run 10 feet and slap a male on the leg even if that male was not related.
No you could have a situation where the women use a non-biological father to help raise their kids that they have by cuckolding the non-biological father. In fact medical researchers are well aware that a huge proportion of kids are not related to their supposed “father” and are taught to check there is a real biological relationship there and not assume it or else their results might go wrong. I’ve heard varying rates for the proportion between 10 and about 25%.
I’ve seen reports of it being fairly high too but it’s also JUST for the men who suspected foul-play and then got a DNA test, so they’d probably have a higher proportion of cuckolded men.
Look at what just changed in Michigan. Any child born in a marriage was legally fathered by the husband. The biological father couldn’t establish paternity because it was an unrebuttable assumption. Now a biological father can establish paternity.
It’s near universal the silence feminism has on the boy crisis. I hate to generalize but I can’t recall seeing a single feminist blog post about it, single campaign led by feminists to highlight it, a few feminist commentators is about the best I’ve seen. After hearing how feminist is about equality for BOTH men and women I find it hard to reconcile the fact there is so much silence or just plain ignorance on the state of boys and men in education today. Prove me wrong, I dare you. I want to be wrong, it’s a big issue for… Read more »
No offense meant, but I’m kind of curious. Why are people waiting for feminists to speak out on this issue? Don’t non-feminists also have a stake in society? It strikes me that there are many things wrong with society, many issues that need to be addressed. It doesn’t make sense to expect one group to take up the battle on every single front. Feminism, like any other ideology, has its limits. If this is something that you are passionate about, then you and like-minded folks are gonna have to take it up and blog about it, and educate your communities… Read more »
Can you provide any proof of the lawsuits etc? I am curious to see what exactly happens.
Because many feminists claim that feminism fights for all oppressed groups rather than just women.
Rose: “No offense meant, but I’m kind of curious. Why are people waiting for feminists to speak out on this issue? Don’t non-feminists also have a stake in society? ” Interesting you should ask that question. Because back in the past, when reports came out that girls were struggilng in school, feminist groups spoke out loudly on the issue and declared it a crisis. Thus, programs of support were put into place to help based on the fact that because girls were falling behind, they deserved the support. Now we have boys struggling and girls exceling far ahead, since feminism… Read more »
Not sure if my reply was gobbled up by moderation or not, but if I didn’t post it for some reason… “But I honestly don’t think you have to be anti-feminism to make your point.” I am not anti-feminist, I am anti-somefeminism and anti-someMRA. I am constantly hearing feminism is about male and female issues, but what I’m seeing is 95% or more of the focus is on women’s issues. And then when I talk about how feminism says it’s there for men and women’s issues I end up with replies that it is not up to feminism to handle… Read more »
@ Rose “No offense meant, but I’m kind of curious. Why are people waiting for feminists to speak out on this issue? Don’t non-feminists also have a stake in society?” I think that there are two reasons for this. There is a feeling that feminisms push to make education more conducive to girl’s learning has made to hostile to boys. It’s the you break it you own it reflex. The other thing is that there is a feeling that feminists protect the status quo because they created it. People then view removing feminists’ support of the current system as integral… Read more »
@Archy … sorry to hear about what you experienced but I have to tell ya, you sure do write well. someone reading what you write would have no clue. GREAT job overcomming that which could have distroyed you.
Thanks. I actually hated English, bored me to tears. I use to do poetry (typical angsty shit) during school and then I had nearly a decade of not writing much until recently when I started commenting here on the GMP. It coincided with therapy where I was learning how to identify my feelings better and through those 2 I guess I learned how to express myself better. I find myself expanding my vocabulary I’ll hear it used, lookup it’s definition and think zomg that’s exactly the word I am looking for! I’ve added quite a few words in the last… Read more »
@Archy, I admire you and I too hated English and I sucked at spelling in the early years. I still believe that “word check” was made for me personally. My handwriting sucked because I didn’t want the nuns to be able to read that I’d not spelled a word correctly. Peer handwriting but great artist. We learn to adapt. I journal and it helps me through the rough times. My brother gained an amazing vocabulary by doing cross words. The only problem is most people have no clue as to what he’s saying at times.
Thank-you, it’s nice to know my words help others. I hope others find their ability to get down on paper/documentoncomputer their troubles, it makes it much easier to deal with when you list out what troubles you.
It’s near universal the silence feminism has on the boy crisis I disagree; they used to talk about it all the time back in the 90s. This is referenced in the article when the author says, some experts pushed back There were a lot of people who pushed back saying that the real problem was girls were not far enough ahead, that there was nothing to worry about with boys and that if there was then it was entirely boys own fault, and it was just “natural” for boys to be behind anyway or as a last resort they said… Read more »
Maybe I should have said silence these days, unless I am just far out of the loop. The majority I see feminists talk about is female representation in STEM fields, gov, etc. Does that backlash still happen today?
my experience as a boy ran counter to this trend. i excelled at english literature, history, and the humanities and did mediocrely at math and science. i would’ve hated to be put into some boot-camp like competition that some seem to be advocating for boys. every child is different and deserves a right to learn accordingly. the gender gap is worth noting, but few things are black and white. some boys like reading novels and some girls prefer sports.
Politicians can’t care about boys. It’s political suicide and heresy to even suggest more than zero dollars should be spent on males, except for incarceration, of course. They would be instantly labeled misogynists, leading the war on women. We ALL know that the gender warriors would swarm all over and eat him alive like piranhas would do to raw meat dropped into the Amazon. If he made it to the end of that term, it would definitely be his last.
Very interesting article. As a high school teacher I often think that the education system is currently stacked heavily in the girls favour. The statistics certainly seem to be backing this view up more and more each year.
Thanks for the interesting read.
Great to see this comment from a teacher. I would like to hear more and more from teachers about what they observe in terms of how boys and girls are treated in school. And if you could give some specific examples of “how the education system is currently stacked heavily in girls favour,” that would be great. I suspect you are quite right about what you are seeing, but concrete examples are always helpful.
The more people who speak out on this issue, the better.
David Brooks is basically well motivated, but he has a way of couching his points in conservative buzzwords. Boys need help in school? Let’s bring winning, losing, and boot camp into the classroom! It’s a great distraction from what needs doing most in schools, which is getting rid of teaching-to-the-test and zero-tolerance-of-anything policies rubber stamped by ass-covering administrators. Once those 2 elephants are out of the room, there’ll be room for some different learning modes. As far as what is traditionally boy-friendly, how about putting some new blood into Vo-Ed to help kids try for potentially well paying and in-demand… Read more »