Schools conspire against boys: educator

National Post ^ | June 30, 2002 | Anne Marie Owens

[sarcasm]

NEW YORK CITY - Schools are essentially anti-boy by their design, an Australian education expert told an international conference of boys' educators yesterday.

The poor performance of boys is inevitable because schools themselves are organized in ways that seem to conspire against boys doing well, author Peter West said.

''For too many of these boys, school is a place where they have to sit down, shut up and write this down,'' said Dr. West, who wrote the book What Is The Matter With Boys? and teaches in the faculty of education at the University of Western Sydney.

He told the annual conference of the International Boys' Schools Coalition that schools discourage touching, lots of movement and unpredictable bursts of energy -- all qualities that go to the essence of what it means to be a boy.

''Schools are about all sorts of non-boy things,'' he said. ''Is it any wonder that the ideal student has become, by default, female?''

Dr. West says any environment that stresses order and quietness and control, as most schools do, is inherently anti-boy.

As an example, he points out how boys will frequently reach out to touch other people, using a soft punch to the shoulder or a pat on the head as a way of connecting. Schools always curb this essentially social behaviour by imposing all sorts of No Touch or No Contact policies, aimed at reducing violence.

''Boys can't sit still; school still requires that kids sit still. Boys want to be outside; school keeps kids inside.

''Boys have brief spurts of attention; school requires constant, steady attention.''

He said even the physical differences between boys and girls, especially in adolescence, contribute to how conspicuous boys can be in schools.

''The boys get in trouble and it's no wonder: They've got big bodies that they're still getting used to, they have loud, deep voices ... girls have quieter, high voices, [and] blend in more.''

Dr. West started to investigate the problem of boys in schools when he began noticing that whenever he visited schools, boys were everywhere but in the classroom.

''Everywhere I went, there were boys. Boys standing out in the hallway because they got in trouble, boys waiting outside the office for discipline, boys lugging heavy equipment around for the teacher, boys straggling in late to school.''

As a result of what he had seen, he was not surprised when international evidence began to make the case that boys were not doing well in class.

Studies throughout North America and internationally have consistently shown that boys are being outperformed by girls across all grade levels.

Boys make up about three-quarters of the enrolment for special education and learning disability programs, are five times more likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit difficulties and prescribed medication for the problems, and are much more likely to drop out of school.

Girls have now surpassed boys in university enrolments, with female undergraduates making up almost 60% of the post-secondary student body across North America.

There are two national inquiries underway in Australia, investigating different aspects of the problem: boys' underachievement and the exodus of male teachers from elementary schools.

''There is reasonably convincing evidence ... that boys as a group are not engaged by schools,'' said Dr. West. ''If half the school population finds school a drudge, if half of it finds school a complete waste of time, then Western society is in for a great deal of trouble on its streets, in public places, in schools and in workplaces.''

When he surveyed boys about when they actually liked school, it was always whenever school was not at all like school for them -- moments when they got to leave the classroom, or engage in debates and arguments, or participate in hands-on activities.

He said schools and parents also have to do a better job of mentoring good male role models and making sure that doing well in school fits into the definition of what it means to be a boy.

''We've said to girls, 'Your chances in life are all about school.' We're not giving that same message to boys,'' he said. ''We've given girls a lot of strong messages about what they can do, about how they can be anything they want to be. We haven't done a good job with boys.

''They no longer know what it means to be a man. They don't know what it means to be a boy.''

[dennisw]

All true!!!!!!

[dennisw]

All true!!!!!!

[dennisw]

All true!!!!!!

[dennisw]

All true!!!!!!

[jimtorr]

He said schools and parents also have to do a better job of mentoring good male role models and making sure that doing well in school fits into the definition of what it means to be a boy.

''They no longer know what it means to be a man. They don't know what it means to be a boy.''

I don't really need to add anything to what the writer has already said.

[LadyDoc]

This is the real reason we drug 40 percent of students in some school districts with Ritalin. Even "normal" boys can't sit still that long. (only 3-5 percent of children actually have ADHD; many can be treated in non medical ways, and maybe half might need Ritalin to control neurological hyperactivity due to things like fetal alcohol syndrome etc).

[secretagent]

Another reason to end compulsory education and defund government schools.

[knuthom]

This is the real reason we drug 40 percent of students in some school districts with Ritalin. Even "normal" boys can't sit still that long.

I home school. One of my sons liked to do his math orally while standing on his head, doing flips or some other gymnastic sort of thing. I would read him the problems and he would do all the calculations in his head. I was surprised that he could do this, since I would have needed to write the problems down in order to do them. But he did fine. He is in college now.

[Lil'freeper]

As a newly former science teacher at an all-boys school, I concur with the author and LadyDoc. They can no longer be beaten into submission, so they must be drugged. And drugged they are. My heart has broken more than once when a bright and effervescent personality has returned from break a leaden-eyed robot. Time after time on surveys (the ones used to 'diagnose' these supposed pathologies) I have stated that the young man in question is a normal, extroverted fourteen year old boy who is more like his peers than unlike them in his behavior and achievement only to be ignored because the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD was already formed in the hearts of the other adults in his life.

My fear is that as this generation comes into adulthood they will withdraw from their 'meds' and find themselves ill equiped to function within their natural, God-given personality types. Will they be the aggressive entrepeneurs that their fathers are? Will they have the convictions of their grandfathers? What kind of parents will they be given the examples their own set? I can't answer these, but I predict that the problems caused in the long term will be greater than the supposed problem of boyish behavior in the short-term.

[ZChief]

I have been indulging a day dream for years now where a school for boys only would be operated with their natural tendancies in mind. It would make lots of room for their desire to explore, to roughhouse and to joke (3 Stooges 101 would be mandatory for graduation)while also steering them through the academics. I still need to work out the details but it would be a great experiment.

In the meanwhile we continue to homeschool our kids. One has a 3.8 GPA in her 2nd year at college (her junior year to boot) with two majors and a minor and a wonderful social life; she turns 19 next month. Our 14 year old son is doing great with all his academics and his social life. Neither has ever darkened the doorway of a public school.

I am also a scoutmaster. We have implicitly let it be understood that we want dads only on campouts. You should see the fun we have around the campfire and the respect we receive from the boys. The most interesting fellow we have is a big problem in his public school and is drugged on behavior controling medications, but he really thrives on our progrom of camping and all the required skills. We thought he was going to be a never ending problem when we first got him but now I'd bet he will finish his Eagle rank.

[dawn53]

My sister and I both homeschool our boys. They are teenagers now, and pretty much can sit still long enough to get their tasks done.

But when they were younger we always got a kick out of how movement seemed to help them. The "outstanding" speller in the bunch did much better when he was younger if he was rocking in a rocking chair. The most original writer did the best when he would walk around, dictating his essays and then transcribe them.

The "need to move" does lessen as they get older and mature.

[ZChief]

"we continue to homeschool" = my wife continues to homeschool

PS I have been lurking on FR for years and loving it. This was my first reply.

[Greg_99]

I always wondered why boys had attention deficit more than girls. A teacher wants the following:
1. Child to sit quietly.
2. Speak softly
3. Child to do what they are told.

This way they can control the class better. It's no wonder the boys are being drugged.

[A. Pole]

Feminists hate men!

[MissAmericanPie]

This is all easily fixed, but they won't do it there or here. Three recess periods a day, for play and to burn up energy, even if one is gym, would go a long way in burning up boy energy. They need this break to be kids, if they are allowed to do anything that is. Tag is out, dodge ball is out, etc. Schools are very anti-boy.

[ladylib]

Some schools have done away with recess. That time is used to train the kids for the high-stakes tests that administrators hope their students pass so they can keep their cushy jobs. We have zero-tolerance policies that adversely affect boys ("No going "bang, bang" with your fingers now. You might shoot somebody." -- "He drew a picture of a gun! He terrifies me! I want him out of my classroom now!") I would hate to be a kid today. I wonder what kids think about society in general and their teachers and school administrators in particular? Not much I imagine.

[A. Pole]

This is all easily fixed, but they won't do it there or here. Three recess periods a day, for play and to burn up energy, even if one is gym, would go a long way in burning up boy energy. They need this break to be kids, if they are allowed to do anything that is. Tag is out, dodge ball is out, etc. Schools are very anti-boy.

In Poland there is a 10 minute recess after EVERY 45 minutes. This results in MUCH better concentration during the 45 minutes of learning. Common sense.

[A. Pole]

In Poland there is a 10 minute recess after EVERY 45 minutes. This results in MUCH better concentration during the 45 minutes of learning. Common sense.

The "zero tolerance", "no recess", discrimination of boys, drugging the kids is a PROOF that teachers education training is WORTHLESS and HARMFUL. Also NEA is made out of people who are IGNORANT of child psychology! Those people have no clue!

[sarcasm]

They know exactly what they are doing; it's called the feminization of our society.