Political Correctness and Boys in Education

[framed]

What do you guys think about the following article:

Stop feminizing our schools.

It makes some pretty good points about the realities of life, and how political correctness (and specifically feminism) have really gimped our youth in terms of coming to grips with life and the competitive aspects of it.

I can relate to some of the specific examples about girls in education, and how the pattern of rote memorization and regurgitation of facts played to them, while leaving out the creative out of the box thinking that arguably is a must for advancing science (and thus everything else in our society)

I'm not sure you can make the link between feminism and "teaching to past the test" style of American education of late, but if the link holds its one that should definitely be crushed.

What do you guys think?

 

[FourBear]

I agree with the article. I'm a female, and when I attended high school things were still largely of the "sprint to the final test" style...and I actually preferred it that way. I'm not sure whether it's femininization or a general "don't want to hurt your feelings, everyone is right" sway of the education system.

 

[dong]

I haven't read the article yet, but more recently one of the new Simpson's episodes was a direct response to this.

 

[mamab]

I can see where this "push to participate" is detrimental to boys. And I can see where they would say "Why bother?" I do believe they are being pushed by the wayside to give girls an upper hand. And its a shame. Just one more reason why I choose to homeschool. I know my boys will learn for the sake of their learning, not being pushed aside to appease some little girl who's sitting next to them.

 

[mtatum4496]

I agree with the article. The idea that persons (male or female0 should be passed over when they demonstrate superior abilities in anything simply is sending the wrong message to all our young people. Enthusiasm is great, but it's place is to be coupled with ability, not a replacement for it.

 

[tater03]

I have my two sons in our local school system and I am in the classroom alot participating and helping and I can say I have not seen this there. I can see how this happens but so far I have not personally had to deal with it yet with my sons.

 

[mamab]

Actually, I think it all started long ago, that it's not a recent happening. I remember feeling like the girls were "catered" to when I was in high school. I believe the trend was starting back then.

 

[tater03]

I don't know I must be out of the loop because I just don't remember thinking this in highschool. I'm just not seeing it either where I am at yet. Maybe I am just not looking for it though.

 

[mtatum4496]

I can't say that I saw this sort of thing in my high school, but we are talking about thirty years ago for me. My peers regardless of their gender were recognized for their achievements.

 

[FourBear]

Would you say this is a result of overcompensation for previous non-catering to/ignorance/discrimination toward female students?

 

[framed]

I don't think its specifically catering to women, its just pushing a more feminine way of thinking that happens to be less comparable for boys. The competition that boys thrive on has in lots of cases been replaced by more "touchy feely" "give it your all its the effort that matters" type sentiment. That nurturing thing certainly has its place, but it also has its limits and must be balanced with actual results, and allowing disappointment to happen. After all if the contest is rigged why bother trying at all?

I think the general fear of hurting people's feelings has caused this problem more than a specific drive to cater to girls. Unfortunately in the real world feelings get hurt, and competition is real. People need to learn to deal with that while growing up. Boys specifically thrive on it while growing up, and depriving them of it is more specifically damaging for them.

 

[mtatum4496]

Whether we like it or not, competition is real. We compete for mates or at least romantic partners. Sometimes we compete in order to keep them. We compete with others to secure a job we want. As parents, we compete with all sort of other influences in order to expose our kids to the values we hope they will adopt as their own. Yes, it is important to encourage everyone to do their best at whatever they choose to do, but I am not sure when we try to take competition out of the picture if we are not also ultimately limiting the potential for both genders.

 

[mamab]

I would say that some of tendency to "cater" to girls is because most teachers are women. I would agree that there needs to be some competition, and feel that teachers are doing all students a disservice by not allowing more of it.

 

[mtatum4496]

Maybe it is the gender of the teacher that make some impact these days. I do not remember it being so years ago. We seemed to pick up very quickly on the few teachers that either favored the boys or the girls and tended to not really care for those teachers. And thus far, I have not seen this predilection with my son's teachers. But it could be the case.

 

[tater03]

I keep coming back to this topic to see if maybe I am missing something in my son's school. But I have come to the conclusion that I am just not seeing this yet with their teachers in any way. Maybe once they are older and in highschool I would see this. Not sure.