There was a time decades ago when girls trailed boys in math and science and we as a nation deemed that to be unacceptable. Starting in the 1970’s, initiatives and organizations sprung up all over the place to help girls catch up. And they did. But as girls began improving in math and science, boys were on a decline that people either ignored or, worse, scoffed at as “just deserts” for those who had unfairly benefited from The Patriarchy.
Girls currently outperform boys academically in virtually every way, starting in elementary school with reading scores that are consistently higher by double digits and the trend persists all the way through high school and college. More girls graduate in the top 10th and second 10th of their classes. They are far more likely to have GPAs equivalent of an A while far more boys than girls have GPAs that equate to a C or below. There are more girls than boys in AP and honors classes. And women currently outpace men in obtaining associates degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and PhDs.
But none of these remarkable and hard earned gains by women do anything to mitigate what we have allowed to happen to our boys.
- Boys are more than twice as likely to get suspended from school and almost three times as likely to be expelled.
- Boys represent two thirds of the special education population. Almost 80 percent of these boys are Black and Hispanic.
- 60 percent of high school drop-outs are male. 93 percent of prison inmates are male and 68 percent of them do not have a high school diploma.
- 85 percent of juvenile offenders are functionally illiterate. 70 percent of inmates in America’s prisons cannot read above a fourth grade level.
These gender disparities in educational outcomes are significant for middle income and white boys but they are jaw-dropping among Black, Latino, and lower income boys. Black boys are in the direst of straits—nationally, only 10 percent of 8th grade Black boys read at grade level. Black boys are more likely to be suspended and drop out than all other demographic groups. A Black boy is six times more likely to end up incarcerated as a White boy and five times more likely than a Black girl.
So where is the outrage from the equity crowd over what is happening with our nation’s boys? If it made sense in the 1970’s to begin investing in girls so they could catch up in math and science, it certainly makes sense to do the same for boys in reading and writing, especially considering the indisputable correlation between illiteracy and incarceration.
The pervasive narrative that victim status is reserved for girls may explain the lack of outcry and action to help our boys. Christina Hoff Sommers, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of “The War Against Boys,”wisely warned in 2013 that the “proper corrective to chauvinism is not to reverse it and practice it against males, but rather basic fairness.” She goes on to say that “fairness today requires us to address the serious educational deficits of boys and young men. The rise of women, however long overdue, does not require the fall of men.”
Meanwhile, if we don’t take urgent action, those who proudly proclaim that “the future is female” may just get their wish as they passively sit by and watch the futures of our most marginalized boys destroyed before they’ve even made it out of elementary school.
Thank you Erika for speaking to this tragedy unfolding before our eyes. I wish more people would bring this to the forum of public conversation. In my teaching experience the most difficult challenge has been to reach male students who demonstrate a trajectory of failure. As a male high school teacher I tried hard to establish a positive relationship with male students, not only for academics, but also to encourage building their self confidence and self worth. I am aware of the statistics that clearly show a profound correlation of fatherless male students with chronic failure.
Some people insist on the narrative “school to prison pipeline”. There is really little or no truth in that rhetoric.
The truth is…if a male is born into this world (especially black boys) and his father abandons his moral, civic and God given responsibility to support his kid (mind body and spirit), that kid will likely enter into the prison pipeline at “that” early time in his life. And that pipeline is loaded with street culture that is absolutely toxic to kids’ essential academic, social and psychological development….thus, we have the crisis of student misbehavior in class rooms across this nation.
The prison pipeline is also painted with malicious innuendo designed to discourage/harm males, such as the modern myth of we live in an oppressive male patriarchy. Female students are doing well, and that’s great. But to achieve a healthy balance all a teacher can do is continue to try and reach males, even if just one of 100. On a larger scale we cannot legislate morality. Perhaps the more principled variety of law makers will write legislation that will discourage (deter) adults from just walking away from their responsibility to raise kids they bring into this world.
Public education is skewed in favor of girls. From the advent of the co-ed public system, girls lagged behind boys academically. When enough feminist pressure was put on politicians, changes were made to benefit girls.
Things such as:
– Greater focus on demeanor, attendance, or participation rather than competition and achievement .
– Greater focus on group based tasks rather than individual accomplishment.
– Greater focus on assignment completion (homework) rather than knowledge testing.
– Greater focus on how students present their arguments, rather than the merits of those arguments.
– The over-diagnosis of autism and ADD as a means of putting boys on drugs as a means of controlling naturally energetic boys.
– The pedo-hysteria surrounding male teachers driving men out of the education system, depriving many boys of any male role models. (An ironic situation considering the epidemic of female teachers predating on teen boys.)
This is by no means an exhaustive list of the changes made to bias the system in favor of girls, it’s just a few of the more egregious examples.
Something to note, girls’ academic achievement under these changes also suffered, but not a much as the boys, allowing them to pull ahead and give the feminists their “girls out performing boys in education” headlines.
#ToxicFemininity #Gynocentrism #Feminism #FeministProjection #FemalePrivilege #Diversity
When was this advent of coed schools? Because at least 150 years. And don’t girls and boys achieve equally in maths and sciences until a certain grade level when girls are often told we don’t need those. 50 years ago, in my school, girls were required to take 2 years of Home Economics classes to learn how to cook and sew and take care of the house properly. Boys did not. Boys took woodshop and automotives. No girls allowed. Boys had sports. Girls had volleyball and cheerleading. Sorry if you think girls coming out of the kitchen and learning advanced mathematics or woodworking somehow keeps boys from achieving.
I don’t know why we insist on classes moving through as a group, anyway. With today’s technology, a student could be 8th grade level English, college level math, 10th grade level science. Let them soar in their strengths and when they meet the minimum requirements in their weak areas, they graduate. And more Career Centers teaching employable skills, firefighting, building trades, child care, CNAs.
As for pedo-hysteria against men causing a dearth of male teachers, maybe you should check the pay scale. In 1975, an assistant manager in a burger joint made more than a teacher. My mother with a Master’s degree plus 20 years experience made less than an entry level factory job. Locally, that is still true today. Even with the necessary summer job, teachers don’t make enough money to support a family and pay back student loans. Plus many have to buy additional supplies that the schools can’t afford to provide.
I do think you’re right that there is too much labeling ADHD/autism when I think much of it is expecting children to behave in way so restrained most adults couldn’t do it. Half their learning is done on iPads that they must take home in case school is canceled and they are required to attend school electronically. Local full day kindergarten kids aren’t allowed to talk to each other except at recess. Lunch is eaten in a dimly lit room. When they finish, they must put their heads down and be silent. 5 year olds! If you planned to create a population with no social skills or emotional connections, this is the way to do it.
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