Boys: The New Underclass in American Schools

Mens News Daily ^ | 4/15/02 | Glenn J. Sacks

[The Giant Apricots]

Boys: The New Underclass in American Schools

April 15, 2002

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by Glenn J. Sacks

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I wait for my son as he stands in line after school to get his daily behavior report. The first grade students are fidgety in the line, which is probably why they are the "bad kids" who need the behavior reports to begin with. All 10 of these children have one thing in common--they're all boys.

Soon the little boys will wear the same sad faces that are on their behavior reports, next to the teacher's angry exclamation points. Like my son, they will trudge home and await punishment, knowing, of course, that punishment is what they deserve. Maybe it will be an angry scolding, or a "now your friend can't come over this afternoon." Maybe it will be yard work, or loss of their new toy. There will be tears and wails, but after a while the tears and wails will stop as the boys resign themselves to their fate.

It's good that these little boys learn this lesson about themselves and school early, because, for many of them, school will never be any different. Boys at all levels are far more likely than girls to be disciplined, suspended, held back, or expelled. By high school the typical boy is a year and a half behind the typical girl in reading and writing, and is less likely to graduate high school, go to college, or graduate college than a typical girl. Boys are three times as likely to receive a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as girls, four times as likely to commit suicide, and far more likely to fall victim to teen drug or alcohol abuse.

By every index, our schools are failing our boys. Yet little is being done about it, in part because of the societal misconception that schools favor boys, a misconception created by the American Association of University Women's (AAUW) 1992 report "How Schools Shortchange Girls." The report's claim of a "girl crisis" was widely publicized, the Ms. Foundation declared "Take Our Daughters to Work Day," and Congress passed the $360 million Gender Equity in Education Act.

According to Diane Ravitch, author and former US Department of Education official, "The AAUW report was completely wrong. What was so bizarre is that it came out right at the time that girls had just overtaken boys in almost every area ... it was like calling a wedding a funeral.... There were all these special programs put in place for girls, and no one paid any attention to boys."

Christina Hoff Sommers, author of The War Against Boys, notes that "The research commonly cited to support claims of male privilege [in schools]...is riddled with errors. Almost none of it has been published in peer-reviewed professional journals, and some of the data has mysteriously disappeared."

There are many dissidents within the educational establishment who saw through the illusory "girl crisis" and who have called attention to the plight of boys. Educational Consultant Joe Manthey, who filed a highly publicized gender discrimination lawsuit over "Take Our Daughters to Work Day" earlier this year, says:

"If there's anybody who needed special programs and special funding from Congress, it's boys, not girls. We need more programs for students with learning disabilities, and for retarded, emotionally disturbed, and schizophrenic students--most of whom are boys."

Michelle Ventimiglia, director of a Los Angeles day care center, says "our schools simply aren't made for boys. I see this every September when my students go into elementary school. Our schools are made for children who can sit still with their hands folded, who aren't distracted by a bug on the wall, who keep quiet and do what you tell them to do even if it is boring. Most girls do fine in this environment, but many boys don't.

"Children need physically connected activities, particularly boys. They learn best by doing. An early elementary school student can learn a ton of math and geometry skills, as well as problem solving and social skills, from LEGOs, building blocks, and wood working projects. Cooking projects are also very useful.

"Boys love these types of hands-on lessons and activities, but too often teachers find it easier to simply give them worksheets instead. And now, with so much time being devoted to testing and preparing for testing, teachers' repertoires are even more limited, which is bad for children, particularly boys."

Of course, as parents we suffer along with our children, and as our boys are punished we are punished, too. Every day as I pick my son up from school I hope for a good behavior report that can be celebrated with ice cream or a trip to the park. More often I face what I call the "boy parent dilemma"--when my son is "bad" do I punish him because he can't fit into a structure that clearly isn't suited to little boys? Or do I withhold punishment or censure and in so doing undercut the teacher's authority?

I've agonized over this question again and again, but I always decide that it is my duty to support the teacher. But I'll never forget the sadness of my little son who sobs quietly in the back seat after school because I punished him for his bad behavior report. Why did I punish him? Because I simply couldn't think of anything else to do.


Glenn J. Sacks

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Glenn J. Sacks is the only regularly published male columnist in the US who writes about gender issues from a perspective unapologetically sympathetic to men. His columns have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Salt Lake City Tribune, the Los Angeles Daily News, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He invites readers to visit his website at www.GlennJSacks.com

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[Alberta's Child]

Every day as I pick my son up from school I hope for a good behavior report that can be celebrated with ice cream or a trip to the park.

Looks to me like this guy is raising a real wuss. COntrast this with someone I know who rewarded his four year-old child for laying a beating on a kid who picked a fight with him in the playground.

[muawiyah]

Agreed! But I think you should re-read the article in the sense that the writer is very angry and sarcastic.

The solution is clear - adult females outside of the family structure should not be allowed access to young males - particularly not in public places. The first thing they do is turn to totalitarian methods to control what they see as unruly behavior.

Unruliness is part of the male's inheritance. Punishing males for such behavior is the same as punishing someone for his skin tone, or a physical handicap.

[The Giant Apricots]

You've missed the points of the article...

[The Giant Apricots]

The vast majority of elementary level public school teachers are female.

[Alberta's Child]

Unruliness is part of the male's inheritance.

Boys were made for summertime, while girls were made for the school year. Many financially successful people will tell you that they learned more outside school than they learned inside, which might explain why most rich people are men.

[VietVet]

"The vast majority of elementary ... school teachers are female."

An obvious case of discrimination in hiring, selection and training. We MUST have a massive affirmative action program, immediately. Let's do it for the children. [saracasm off]

[Dianna]

My son goes to public school. But I certainly would not be keeping him there if, on a daily basis, he was made to feel ashamed for perfectly normal behavior.

I don't have this problem yet, but my second son is much more active and less inclined to worry so much about getting into trouble.

[shaggy eel]

?

[Dan from Michigan]

Many financially successful people will tell you that they learned more outside school than they learned inside, which might explain why most rich people are men.

I learned more from the football field than I did in the classroom. 75% of school was a waste of time.

[Alberta's Child]

75% of school was a waste of time.

I agree. Even today, I get my best ideas while rolling along a highway somewhere instead of when I'm sitting in the office.

[VietVet]

Granted that the tone of the article is angry, and maybe that it is saracastic (although I don't see that), the point remains that although he *knows* that is son is being discriminated against for no valid reason (he doesn't say so, but the tone of the article definately gives the impression that the boy is not doing anything particularly wrong), never-the-less, Mr. Sachs impresses me as a wuss himself. Why doesn't he stand up for his son?

I moved twice between the ages of 5 and 7, attending a total of three schools. In the first two, I had been a prize pupil. In the last, I came in at the middle of the term, and received the usual "new boy" treatment. Thing was, I had been brought up to stand my ground, so I was constantly in trouble, mostly for fights. My parents were always getting called in to see the principal. When, after they had heard out the principal, and me, they thought I was in the wrong, I was punished. When they thought I was in the right, they would tell her so, in front of me.

Don't get me wrong. I am not advocating that parents always support their children against the school authorities, or the community authorities either. My mother was a teacher, and nothing can wreck the good order in a classroom faster than a spoiled brat whose parents never make him/her toe the line, and do their utmost to help him escape discipline. But this writer says that he knows that his son is not always in the wrong, yet he does not say that he sticks up for him.

[Pushi]

My children are all grown. My two boys went to a Catholic school (and, we aren't Catholic, but we supported it--I was vice-president of the home and school association and my wife was treasurer) part of the time because the government school was so lacking. There is no way today that my two boys or my daughter would attend a government school.

[Nick Danger]

But this writer says that he knows that his son is not always in the wrong, yet he does not say that he sticks up for him.

Consider the possibility that he is doing the right thing there. The author's behavior teaches the son that he can rely on no one, not even his parents, for aid or assistance in the event of injustice or difficulty. This is in fact the correct lesson, because this is what life is really like.

Someone suggested above that this will turn the son into a wuss. I think quite the opposite. This is likely to produce a child who is fiercely independent and careful about husbanding resources that might be necessary to conduct 'fight or flight operations.' That is not a bad thing.

I think it is precisely the wrong lesson to teach a boy that there are Giant Hands in the Sky that will come down and fix things for him when difficulties arise. There are no Giant Hands in the real world and the sooner he learns it, the better.

[weikel]

Yep

[Arthur McGowan]

Please reread what you wrote. It's sick.

You approve of a father behaving like a totally emasculated nonentity, not merely standing by while his boy is destroyed, but cooperating. This father is helping the evil government school destroy his fatherhood.

Which is precisely the purpose for which the Prussians invented government schooling, and precisely the reason that system was imported to the U.S. in the 1840's.

[notpoliticallycorewrecked]

My son went to public school until he encountered a 2nd grade teacher that hated boys. She sent a very strong subliminal message that boys were bad. She didn't pick on him (to my knowledge) but she harassed many of the boys in the class. I saw her in action and figured that it was just a matter of time before she got around to directly harassing my son. I had him out of that class and into another after only 6 weeks of school.

My husband and I both worked in the class room as volunteers. We got the impression that she was demonic or a witch.

I was on the PTA board and let the principal know loud and clear that she needed to go. Since she was a new teacher to the district her contract was not renewed at the end of that year.

That was the begining of the end for the public education experience for my children. We started homeschooling my son in the third grade and haven't looked back.

[vikzilla]

This article really hit home with me. I have 9 yr old boy that is the sweetest little gomer I could have ever hoped for. However, he's full of energy all the time. He behaves very well at home, but was constantly getting these daily reports (Pink Slips)for things he did at school.

The last straw was when he got one for running on the play ground. I mean duh!

I took the slip back to the teacher with a copy of Hoff Summers book. I told her if she ever gave him another slip for anything short of physical assault I'd shove it up her ass. At 6'4" 310 I think she believed me:)

[The Giant Apricots]

I have 9 yr old boy that is the sweetest little gomer I could have ever hoped for. However, he's full of energy all the time. He behaves very well at home, but was constantly getting these daily reports (Pink Slips)for things he did at school. The last straw was when he got one for running on the play ground. I mean duh! I took the slip back to the teacher with a copy of Hoff Summers book. I told her if she ever gave him another slip for anything short of physical assault I'd shove it up her ass.

Good for you!!!

[The Giant Apricots]

An interesting article...

[Nick Danger]

It's sick.

Thank you for replying. I wasn't familiar with you, so I did a "Find In Forum," without which I would never have discovered the thread about the three inch long Giant Bloated Ants. I'll have to thank you for that, I will now be able to sleep much better knowing that those things are out there.

All seriousness aside, yes, there is a component of angry sarcasm in my note.

[weikel]

Manly men want to be free men so the liberal schools try to pussify boys.

[The Giant Apricots]

An accurate assessment.

[weikel]

There are a lot of those man hating types around Middle School( luckily they practically dissapeared when I got to Highschool).

[summer]

I think boys would benefit by having more teachers who are males. However, most men do not consider teaching as a career.

[The Giant Apricots]

Men are discouraged from seeking teaching as a career, just as women were discouraged from seeking medicine as a career 150 years ago. Same thing. And problematic. The schools are ruled solely bywomen, and that imbalance results in a biased system.

[summer]

It is a very big problem. I agree.

[AppyPappy]

You threatened a woman with bodily harm because your son misbehaves?

[codder too]

There are so many things going on in Government schools and this author has pointed to several of them.

Behavior MODIFICATION VS Good Discipline = "pink slips" and the feminization of boys.

ADD, ADHD far higher incidence in males thanks to WHOLE LANGUAGE approach to teaching reading.

Of interest is this fathers concern that he not undermine the teacher disciplinary tactics. The observations of a later post gives the best advice . Get into the classroom yourself and observe, if you are able to do that. That teacher you have told your child "he must respect", may not merit that respect.

Your child deserves the "innocent until proven guilty" status in your home.

Bottom line for all the above cited situations: GET OUT OF THERE.....Your observations are right on target and your child needs you to defend him RIGHT NOW.

[Harrison Bergeron]

"I've agonized over this question again and again, but I always decide that it is my duty to support the teacher. "

He rails about the injustice, and swears to uphold it. This guy is a democrat.

[Tijeras_Slim]

The school where my wife works, the only men on staff are the Principal and the custodian. (And the Principal's kid is in Special Ed, and can "do no wrong".)

[codder too]

Sure like your screen name. Harrison refused to remain "Average". That's what we need to encourage all our kids to do. (trust you have seen the video)

[CyberCowboy777]

[Harrison Bergeron]

"Of interest is this fathers concern that he not undermine the teacher disciplinary tactics. "

As Nick Danger sardonically pointed out in post 16, it's one approach to preparing a boy for life in a feminized environment.

By way of example, here's a good anecdote:

The Last Time I Hit a Woman

[The Giant Apricots]

I agree...there's a link somewhere to the rest of the author's wiork, and it is worth reading, he writes a lot of good stuff. However, his final conclusion here, to go along with a misandric system so that his son will learn that that is the way it is, is a critical error. Probably a common one.

[The Giant Apricots]

font color="blue">Many elementary schools have female principals too now, completing their gyncentric motif, given that their entire teaching staffs are female most of the time.

font color="blue">Which leaves the janitor as the only employee with a Y chromosome.

font color="blue">The racial parallel is striking. If a company only hired white people, but had a black janitor, that would justifiably be labled racial ghetto-ization. I'm sure it has happened.

Thus, a company (school) which hires only or almost-only women, with a man serving them as their janitor, it must be labelled ghetto-ization by gender.

font color="blue">And that ain't right. For anyone who hasn't read it, I recommend The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers, available at amazon.com for about $12.

[The Giant Apricots]

And with HTML done right...

Many elementary schools have female principals too now, completing their gyncentric motif, given that their entire teaching staffs are female most of the time.

Which leaves the janitor as the only employee with a Y chromosome.

The racial parallel is striking. If a company only hired white people, but had a black janitor, that would justifiably be labled racial ghetto-ization. I'm sure it has happened.

Thus, a company (school) which hires only or almost-only women, with a man serving them as their janitor, it must be labelled ghetto-ization by gender.

And that ain't right.

For anyone who hasn't read it, I recommend The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers, available at amazon.com for about $12.

[vikzilla]

I believe in an individuals right to be treated equally. Man or woman, it doesn't matter to me.

[tellw]

It doesn't get reported much, but the male/female gap on school test scores is almost as bad as the black/white gap. Here's data from my school district (liberal Montgomery County, Maryland) showing the disparity between 8th grade boys and 8th grade girls. On all subjects girls score much higher (except for science where the two are pretty close with girls having just a slight lead).