Will Girls Rule the World?

Recent academic results show that they are closer to reaching this objective than you think!

Boys are being left behind…but it may not be their fault
By: Janelle Wallace, Editor

Did you know that boys achieve 71% of all school suspensions, and are 50% more likely than girls to be held back a grade?  This year's GCSE results in the UK provide clear indicators that, not only are boys failing in everyday life, but they are also failing academically.  Girls say that boys concentrate too much on sports, while boys say that the girls are simply cheating. The government is concerned about the "unacceptable" difference between the two genders.  Not only the government, but also many of us in society today,  have noticed that girls in the education system are outperforming their male counterparts….by a large margin.  

According to a recent broadcast on 60 Minutes, scholars and researchers claim that eventually, colleges and universities may no longer have any boys at all, because boys won't have the grades to get in as compared to their female counterparts.  Recent Statistics show that in 1998 girls formed 65.3% of the enrolment for pre-university education and this number is on the rise. Prestigious schools like Harvard, Yale and Stanford now have higher girl enrollment in all major faculties like medicine and law. If the decline in the number of boys reaching academic standard to enroll in university continue , scholars feel that 2058 will be the last year that society will see a member of the male species in university! 

According to researchers, one of the reasons for this is that boys are concentrating too much on sports and other activities unrelated to schoolwork. They also claim that schools are partially to blame for this. Researchers feel that boys are being congratulated more on these other activities than on their academic achievements.  Ralph Mainard, head of Dulwich Middle School, stated, "We consider that gentle encouragement for boys to become involved in extra-curricular activities is the healthiest approach."  This statement clearly reflects that this school provides boys with more encouragement on extra-curricular activities than on schoolwork.  

After examining this year's GCSE results in the United Kingdom, a concerned parent from the USA asked, "Could it be that there are too many teachers who are female and therefore communicate better with girls?"  There may be some truth to this statement. Personally, I think that the school system is structured to meet the maturity level of girls more than boys.  Almost all of the academic programmes within the school community are based around the general strengths of girls.  Even in different classrooms of our own school, girls are expected to get good marks, and the boys' main priority seems to become sports and other activities unrelated to school.  Mainard also feels that, during the ages of 13 and 16, boys are beginning to seek greater independence in school, which can often lead to conflict and unruly behaviour.   

While boys are looking for individualism, schools set out to establish conformity, which can be challenging for a boy to demonstrate consistently. A mother/teacher at Plum Tree Park Public School said that when her two young sons arrive home from school their bodies physically hurt, after a long day of sitting still.

 To drive the boys away from that conflict, the school provides many extra-curricular activities for boys to keep them "occupied" and out of mischief.  Meanwhile, the girls are relied upon to work to the best of their abilities, something they can handle with an advanced level of maturity. And the government is wondering why girls are outperforming boys in school?  Well, Mr. Chrétien, there is your answer.