Replies

I understand where you're coming from, but I'd be willing to bet money that this particular girl could kill herself studying and working hard and she would still never be capable of being a doctor, engineer, mathematician, or any other hard science profession.

You make a very good point. Miss SC came off as being as dumb as a “box of hair” and no matter how hard she studied she’d probably never win a Noble Prize for Mathematics or Astro-Physics but unless someone has a real mental defect, I have difficulty believing that there is any excuse for being that vacuous.

Counseling her that she could be just as good as the boys would be a lie.

Here, I have to disagree with you just a wee bit.

I do agree that boys and girls are different and that boys tend to be innately better at certain subjects like math than girls. Part of it is “wiring” but part of it can be taught. If you condition girls and tell them that they’ll never be good at math or science then you are setting them up for failure. If we set the bar low for girls or boys… we get more Miss or Mr. SC. (and trust me, I’ve met a lot of stupid people in my life and some of them were actually men :),). The mind, any mind, is a terrible thing to waste!

Telling girls that they can never be “as good as the boys”?

What message does that send?

I have a great niece who just turned 13. She learned to read at a very early age in large thanks to her mother, my niece, who was a stay at home mom and very intelligent in her own right. When my great niece started school she was already reading two grade levels above the rest of the kids. In the 5th grade she was assessed at reading at a SR HS level. She’s an avid reader and loves and excels at math and science.

She was staying one weekend with me when she was about 8 years old and we were out shopping when she spied a copy of American Scientific magazine on the news stand. She asked me to buy it for her and being the indulgent Aunt that I am, I bought it for her, truthfully thinking she just wanted to look at the pretty pictures.

She spent the rest of the evening reading the magazine cover to cover and only on a few words did she stumble and ask for my help. (Heck I stumbled on a few words so we looked them up in a dictionary together).

She read me aloud an article that most interested her on Plate Tectonics. After she read it to me, I asked her some questions to see if she understood what she had read and I was floored! Not only could she read but she comprehended what she read and formulated some very intelligent opinions on her own. (BTW- she also keeps up with politics and current events too and thinks Al Gore is an idiot).

I recently attended her middle school honors program where she won 8 awards in various subjects including awards in math and science and health. She also won one first place and took second place in essay contests on patriotism, one sponsored by the American Legion and the other by the VFW.

She was first presented the award in the AL contest at a Memorial Day parade ceremony and it was kept secret from her as a surprise. When her award was announced she was asked to come to the podium and make a few remarks. This very young girl showed more composure than many adults would. She was gracious, humble and eloquent and even humorous and self deprecating and it was all completely off the cuff. She had the presence of mind to thank her parents and to thank the AL commander and presenters by name along with the Iraqi war veteran who was the key note speaker.

She wants to go into the medical sciences as a medical researcher. She has expressed the interest in attending Johns Hopkins. She recently told me she likes science and medicine but doesn’t think she’s a “people” person and so doesn’t think she be a good MD. I however think and know she can and will exceed in any field she choices and that she’s much more charming and engaging than she gives herself credit for right now at 13.

But I wonder where she’d be today and where she’d be headed to go tomorrow if she was given the message by her parents and teachers that math and science is only for boys. I wonder if when she asked me to buy her that American Scientific magazine, I told her that sort of stuff was only for boys and steered her into getting Glamour or Vogue magazine instead…