How the Schools Shortchange Boys - In the newly feminized classroom, boys tune out.

City Journal ^ | Summer 2006 | Gerry Garibaldi

[Not just another dumb blonde]

I don't think demasculization is an issue.

I happen to think that emasculation is rampant in the public schools. At least at the grade school my son attended.
In first grade his teacher emplored me to have him tested for add.....I declined. There were a couple other issues we had to deal with.
Second grade he had a male teacher and I NEVER had to attend a special conference. He had no problems with my son. But the clincher was in the third grade. Almost EVERYDAY he had to sit out recess......his teacher told me he fidgets in his desk. I could go on about this teacher, but why? The damage has been done. The problems just kept coming. I kept telling myself things are gonna get better....but instead, they got worse.
Finally, last year when he started the ninth grade, things started spiralling downward at a fast rate. I said that's enough. Pulled him out of public school and got him enrolled online at a christian private school. I can't tell you what a difference it has made in my son. He's pleasant (most of the time) he's not perfect. But don't discount this article because I saw it coming many years ago. If I had it to do all over again, he would NEVER have attended public school at all.

[Tired of Taxes]

My sincere apologies...

Sorry, I did it again. I pinged before reading the entire article.

My sincere apologies if anyone on this list was offended.

[Redleg Duke]

This article is spot on. Our son has mild hemophilia and the middle school here in Northern Virginia insisted on putting him on an Individual Education Program (IEP) which means, "Special Education". It was a totally demeaning experience and he pretty much stopped trying. My wife was fianlly, after going to the superintendent's office, get him back on a 504 Plan like we had in New Hampshire. The change in him was incredible.

Oh, by the way. Do you know that for each kid in special education, teachers get a bonus? They don't for a 504 Plan!

[I_like_good_things_too]

I remember that video-- I saw it too, and it did make an impact. funny.

[Warren_Piece]

I'm not sure I buy this whole "boys constantly question authority and if they don't know the purpose of the assignment they won't do it" argument.

How do you explain the US military?

Not that I don't think schools have become feminized, I just think this is the wrong argument. Physical energy, application, logic. These are not emphasised, and THAT is the problem, IMHO.

[Redleg Duke]

Think again. Go to the school and observe.

Modern public education has no place for boys.

[redgolum]

The most clear proof is this: 45% of students entering college are male (and dropping steadily).

That is because, outside the hard sciences, most college is a four year party with a heck of a tab. Most men would be must better severed at a trade school, and indeed that is the trend.

[longtermmemmory]

Which just shows how the bureacracy is dedicated to the proposition of one size fits all.

Imagine if we taught children to walk the same way as public schools. If the child did not learn to walk by and arbitrary X months, they would be labeled a cripple and forced to use a wheelchair for the rest of their lives.

[Froufrou]

"I just think that more accountability (and less political correctness) in public schools would do wonders for boosting the value of education received there."

I agree. But if they're going to deal with homosexuality now instead of just sexuality maybe private schools would be good [for keeping their minds off their bods.]

[Gritty]

I think boys and girls should have seperate classrooms and casual uniforms should be required

I also think this would solve a lot of problems. Especially as public education is slanted heavily toward feminism and all it's nastiness.

[Chaguito]

A teacher of Harold MacMillan's, former prime minister of Great Britain, told him, "Practically nothing you learn here at Oxford will be of any use to you as you leave the university. However, the purpose of your education is that you be able to recognize when someone is speaking rot."

The whole thrust of FR is recognizing the "rot" that comes out of many people's mouths. You can't do that by simply learning air-conditioning. In that case you are driven to and fro by one demagogue after another.

[Froufrou]

That was a thoughtful post, and you're right: I didn't word my thought accurately, in that I should have said what I think the problem is: that teachers don't want to deal with these things.

I don't have a son, but I think males just have a different kind of energy that should be nurtured through activity geared toward enhancing each personality.

[linda_22003]

Imagine what could have been achieved if Brandon and the class had gotten past the book title and actually had the great pleasure of reading Joseph Conrad.

Well, we'll never know.

[bboop]

I found that too, homeschooling. "Just why does it matter if you learn cursive, anyway?" I challenged ALL my assumptions as a teacher.

[redgolum]

Saw the film also! That led me and my friends to try it on a friend's grandpa's pool table. Worked great.

[Froufrou]

What would they do if I went to observe, I wonder? It's a great idea. I figure I pay taxes the same as someone with a child in school, so I should be just as entitled.

[mcvey]

And to think that I am sitting here, trying to write an article, and my mind wandered off and I stopped here at FR and . . . hmmm, where did I put that Ritalin?

McVey

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Our public schools are in terrible shape. My stepdaughter was the Valedictorian of her senior class and will be a 16 year old freshman studying medical engineering. My wife, a Chinese-born naturalized citizen, informed me that our girl would only be considered an above-average student in China! Luckily, her mom has been able to give her an advantage over the other students by supplementing her education at home. What does that say about American public schools?

[longtermmemmory]

Actually I think it is more a referendum on the fact they have eliminated classic "well rounded" material from the curriculum and replaced it with feminst and left wing maxist dogma that serves no purpose outside of the left wing loony circles.

Feminist studies does not make you well rounded, it may put you as an HR manager job up to a point, but it does not make you a better smarter person. (actually I bet it makes you a dumber slower person)

Why pay for that?

[MattinNJ]

My 4ear old is going to Catholic school even though I pay 10K a year in property taxes for a modest home. No way am i subjecting him to this crap.