The myth of gender bias in school

There was definitely a gender bias against girls when I went to school in the 80s and 90s. There was only cheerleading and volleyball for girls. Boys had multiple sports. But my senior year, things started improving and additional sports were added for females. At that time, there was also the attitude that women could go to college, but after that, they should stop working and raise a family. I don't believe that is the attitude anymore either.

But, I am very thankful to those who brought gender-equality into the educational system. Messages to young girls that they are "less-than" males is hurtful and detrimental to their futures.

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I am a high school teacher and went to a training last year by a well-known doctor and researcher who is promoting single-gender classrooms. The research definitely supports the idea that boys are now falling behind. Girls are doing slightly better, but neither are where they should be in this country. I wish that more people would look into single gender classrooms. It takes a lot of nonsense out of the classes and allows the teacher to focus on the needs of that gender in the classroom as well as the research supported learning styles of each gender.

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Is there really a gender bias, or are boys just seeing more competition from girls? The university I attended admitted a sickeningly large percentage of high school valedictorians and salutatorians. (I graduated 3rd). Faced with that many "bright" classmates, most of us felt darnright average. That is a very sobering reality check.

The point of my metaphor is: perhaps 30 years ago boys were "big fish" in a smaller pond than they are today. If we continue to give boys and girls equal access to academics, sports, and other opportunities, eventually we will stop having these gender discussions because there will be no reason to study why one group is doing better than another.

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I have two view points about this matter, one as a teacher and one as a parent and neither are optimistic for the boys.

Let me explain about my godson, Matt. Matt's only 10 years old but faces an uphill battle in school. It's not because he's ornery or academically deficient - he's never had a detention or even a B on his report card, but he is in fact a boy.

I'll start with the easy ones - athletics. Matt and my son, Sam,started playing ice hockey in first grade and still play now. When they get to high school, they and their friends will never get a chance to play for their school. Twenty years ago, and periodically since, the ice hockey teams have asked for dual seasons. The boys would pay for ice, pads, uniforms, and transportation and the schools could pay for coaches and refs. The schools turned them down. Magically, swimming asked for the schools to allow dual seasons and for the schools to pay for everything and the schools accepted - because more girls swim. Then there's lacrosse. This year girls' lax is sanctioned - and completely funded and get a state championship. Boys on the other hand have to pay for pads, coaches, refs, transportation, and even to rent the fields from the schools to play, and even though they were around longer and have more teams willing to play, the schools refuse to sanction them. In most schools, the hockey and boys' lacrosse players cannot put up fliers to recruit and their games are not listed on the schedule because they aren't "official" school sports. Then there's field hockey. Yes, Matt plays field hockey and has since second grade. In this case, the team is there, it's just one small boy that wants to play. There are no entanglements of cost of pads or a whole team - but he's a boy. So no matter how small he is, he is not allowed to play for the school because he is a boy. Yes, in middle school the girls are bigger they can go play on the boys' basketball team, football team, or even wrestle (even if the boys complain about being grabbed by the girls - the schools don't care) No matter what though, NO BOYS ALLOWED on girls' teams. Even if there is space and the boy is a 7th grader playing on VARSITY.

Then comes education. You see Matt is a stereotypical boy - above average in science and math, average in English. In English, Matt was reading a 6th grade book in 1st grade, but it was called Vampirates. Yes, it was a book about Vampire Pirates. The teacher decided that just the name scared the girls, so he wasn't allowed to read it. Instead she suggested a sports book, but in her classroom she had an autobiography of Wilma Rudolph or Allie's Basketball Dream. From before, Matt's not interested in running or basketball, but there he was reading a book he didn't have much interest in just to get through it. As for Science, well our district runs some great science programs - for girls ONLY. One was for the Challenger Space Program in the high schools. Now, boys could go - but they would have to join the AFROTC and pay for it themselves, whereas the girls got to go for free. So in fact, the city kids that spend an hour on the bus to come out to our school were told to pony up if they wanted to go while the affluent girls who got Benz's for their 16th birthday and two professional parents got to go. When I was teaching science, I was approached by a group because my female students were performing so well on standardized test. When they asked for me to join a committee, I accepted but then was tossed because my secret to getting the girls to learn was treating them like scientists instead of like girls. Somehow the females in the group thought this was sexist of me. I should be "considerate" of the difference and change my teaching to better suit the girls - even at the expense of the boys and the girls themselves. In October, a group even went before the House Subcommittee on Science and Technology to push for Title IX controls to be enacted on math, physics, and engineering. That means if a girl wants to be a social worker, the schools will have to throw money at her to try the STEM subjects, and if she doesn't want to they'll start blocking boys from studying them. Nothing is said about the disparity in education, social work, fine arts, or even biology and veterinary sciences. It's a one way street against the boys.

The boys are in fact succeeding in spite of the challenges the schools put in front of them, much like the girls did 50 years ago. If you look at the girls' test scores, the too increased from year to year. The AAUW does not point that out. If you use their logic, that the boys are doing fine so there is no crisis, then similarly the girls were doing fine so there was no need for Title IX or even to remove the barriers they faced in STEM subjects. The AAUW throws a fit when the girls aren't represented as the AAUW expects. Somehow if a girl decides she likes English more than math, it's the math teacher's fault for not encouraging her more so they throw more money and programs at the girls. On the other hand, if the boys AREN'T ALLOWED do the reading they want or AREN'T ALLOWED get in the science programs they want or AREN'T ALLOWED to play the sports they want because of their gender, thats perfectly OK because they're just boys. - and the schools are listening to them.

What these groups don't get is that it's NOT A CRISIS OF ACHIEVEMENT IT'S A CRISIS OF OPPORTUNITY - Just like with the girls 50 years ago.

The problem is we raise our sons to deal with it. It's time to stop just dealing with it and start demanding equal rights. Too many groups like AAUW marginalize the men as sexist and just fighting against women and continue to push a the sexist agenda and justify the discrimination the boys face. Men can only do so much, we need the mothers to start realizing their sons are facing obsticles just like they did and then go fight for their sons.

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As a former science and math teacher, I'll concur there is systemic bias against boys in those areas, so much so that it is in fact outright discrimination.

Most colleges and universities run summer science programs for girls that are free or reduced cost. There are female-only awards and prizes at the district, regional, and state science fairs. Finally science teachers are evaluated on how well they teach to females as governed by research pushed by the AAUW. I know for a fact the English teachers in my district are not judged on how well they include the boys, even though there is a larger gender gap on that side of the building.

Each one of these is an example of schools' "Greater than or Equal" methodology for gender equality. In sports it's they have to have equal numbers, but it's acceptable to have greater numbers in fine arts. They're pushing for equal test scores in science, but the skewed test scores in English are fine. Basically whenever there is a perceived difference, if it favors the boys then the boys are limited or the girls are given special considerations, but if it favors the girls it is listed as acceptable.

Now, even according to the AAUW's own research, there is a much bigger correlation to Socio-economic background, but then the money and the focus is on girls. If the schools were truly trying to fight the affects of historical inequities, they'd spend more time, effort, and money or the economically disadvantaged and the minorities rather than the girls. As it stands, when there are opportunities the recipients are most likely to be white, middle- and upper- class girls while the lower SEC boys, especially the minorities are over looked.

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First, it's not to much of a crisis but still it's something to think of. Girls are offered more programs because they actually want to go to them. I go to school with many boys and if there was a science or reading program they wouldn't even be near the sign-up sheet, while me and my friends would sign up quickly.
Second, in school the teachers will have academic contest between the boys and girls. We (Girls) usually(Most of the time) win
but, the boys are only a few points behind.

We're pretty evenly matched. The only thing is I don't believe most boys want to learn. The main excuse I know is "I can't do that much homework because I have football(or other sport) tonight". Girls usually don't use this excuse. Not saying that I don't love sports, I actually like sports a lot, but most boys I know say the way they're getting in to college by a sports scholarship. They don't even think about the possibility of their grades effecting any way of getting into college.

Boys are very intellegent when they want to be. Most famous people are men.

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