Girls get extra school help while boys get Ritalin

[Seeker]

My teaching experience is that boys need fun. They aren't going to just settle down and write. You have to grab them, throw them around, chop some heads off.

[Tingkai]

The linked article says: "In 12th grade, 44% of girls rate as proficient readers on federal tests, compared with 28% of boys."

Seems to me the question isn't should more be done for boys, but rather that the US needs to do more for all students.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
Actually... some anthropologists think that male dominance didn't arise until the domestication of animals. Older archeological evidence suggests that among primitive humans, females tended to be the power holders, since they bore the kids. There wasn't a widespread concept that men had anything to do with children being there. That changed when men began herding sheep and cattle. They quickly put two and two together and realized the male was needed for breeding.

An interesting theory but there have been lots of hunter-gather societies where everyone seemed to understand the link between sex and procreation.

[GePap]

I think a huge issue is the lack of male teachers. I would be interested to see what percentage of teachers giving boys ritalin are male teachers. I doubt women teachers are as confortable with boys as they are with girls, and I see this as normal: after all, it is harder for a Female adult to bond with a male child than with a female child (which is why more mothers want girls and more fathers want boys in a general sense). So when female teachers are confronted with boys not behaving like girls, they are not as willing or able to sympathize or understand the situation of the boys. We need more male teachers (also why we need more single sex academic classes).

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by reds4ever


and the evidence for this is in:

a) chimps
b) gorillas
c) orangs

or, and I suggest you pick this one

d) none of the above, the anthropologists were just after column inches and/or funding

It actually holds true for C. Adult male orangs are roaming loners who take part in little prolonged social action in groups.

What's more, in chimps and bonobos, a male's status is heavily influenced by his standing with the senior females, particularly in his developing years.

[Sarxis]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
From my experience with my daughter and her friends from first through tenth grades, now going into eleventh, the gap is largely one of work ethic and attitude,

I always noticed that in my school experiences too. Girls do the work, just that simple. (My class Vlassicdictrolium was also girl.)

In some cases, because boys that are 'too academic' are labeled nerds, they try to be successful in school by other means (sports, shop, etc.).

I too think the lack of male teachers influences male students in how much effort they put in.

[The Andy-Man]

its in western societies treatment of boys and girls.

Boys should be rough and playing in the mud, reading? thats for girls!

Its all in the upbrining.

[johncmcleod]

The biggest reason for the gap IMO is what they are encouraged to do. Girls are encouraged to do well in school, and many of the girls that are high on the social ladder also happen to be smart. But with boys, they are encouraged to be big and strong and to tackle people hard. Ask any guy which he would rather be: a nerd or a jock. They'd all say jock even though it is the nerds who will end up doing better.

Another thing is boys are put in school too early. They mature slower than girls but are still put in school at the same age. But I have read a lot of research that shows that boys should wait an extra year to go into kindergarten. I went in late, I went into kindergarten when I was 6 along with several of my friends who were also 6 and I think it worked out very well, we all do well in school. Especially me.

I agree with GePap though. We need more of a gender balance in teachers. The thing is, the gender gap in teacher's is most apparent in the younger grades, and that is when the child's development is crucial.

From preschool on up I did not have a male teacher until 6th grade. And at the schools I went to, one didn't have any male teachers until about 6th grade, the next one (it was very small though) didn't have any male teachers, and the one after that, and elementary school K-5 grades with two classes per grade had two male teachers in the entire school. But now that I am in high school the gender balance in teachers seems OK, but for some kids it is too late.

And don't forget that while girls are encouraged to do whatever they want, boys are forced to do whatever is masculine. If they don't they are either a)forced to change their behavior at an early age, which definitely will cause problems for them, b)they are given ritalin and that causes problems for them, or c) they act their feministic self but are labeled gay and ostracized by society.

[:) Smiley]

If that is so, why do girls still work harder in college, where there are more male professors?

[Kuciwalker]

Well, I know at my school (which is a science and tech magnet) its something like 40% girls and 60% boys.

[johncmcleod]

Good question, smiley but don't think for a second you have proved me wrong...yet. It is because once the girls are in college, they have already defined who they are and their work habits, personality, etc. is already there. They have developed.

But, a lot of this development is in the early years, and in the early years what molds a child is very crucial. There aren't many male teachers, and the boys suffer for it early on and the damage is done. They aren't as proficient later on in life.

[johncmcleod]

But most importanly, by the time people are in college, teachers don't influence their development very much.

[johncmcleod]

GePap, the problem with same-sex schools is that first, maybe it is a bad idea for guys to only have male teachers. I believe it is better for them to have male teachers then female teachers, but it is good to have both. Also, they will have very poor social skills with the opposite sex.

[Kuciwalker]

I never went to a same-sex school, and I still have poor social skills with the opposite sex

[Pekka]

I'm a white male from middle class, being provided since little kid, did what I wanted as hobbies. Never got into trouble because of the skin of my colour, or my gender.
I've done nothing to hurt other ethnicities, or women or animals. And I don't feel like paying for, what some people did god knows when and where. I don't support quotas of any kind. That's racist or what ever you like to call it. I've heard it many times 'you say/do that because I'm a woman' 'it's because I'm a woman'.. etc etc. I got a message for you amazonian feminist lesbian butch women supremacist delusional racist creeps: Go cry somewhere else!

Here, they cry (I don't talk about women in general, but these damn cave women) that it's so wrong that men hold more high positions than women, it should be 50/50 or more women than men. Well look at the paper, we have woman president, and we had woman PM as well, until she got kicked out after being lying cheater. So nothing is enough for these hooligans. They'd start beating us in the streets if they could. People who use these as an accuse, because they can't accomplish something is weak. It's usually because they are not good enough in todays world, at least in this country.
I'm against men treating women badly, but say that mantra to me and I'll leave you hanging there alone.

I'm a man and proud of it. I want a family, and I want to provide to it. Woman can be independent, but she better leave that crap to someone else, because I'm not listening. She can do what she wants, she doesn't have to make babies, food and sex only. But I'm still the man in that house, and that's the way it is. If she wants something else, she can marry a fellow lesbian or someone who likes to be bossed around.

What a long rant, huh? Where can I buy those No Ma'am shirts? I feel like I need one! Let's go guys, let's GO!

And next time a woman asks you if she looks fat, just say:

- No, and quit asking about it.
- Yes, lose some weight.
- Yes, but I still love you, so don't worry about it.