Boys in School: 33 years of failure

barkmagician · 2023-08-22T23:53:55+00:00

why should boys work hard when they know theyd still be disposable men in the future anyway

irish-car-bomz · 2023-08-23T00:27:12+00:00

The college comparison, schooling, and parenting all have something in common. Why waste my time at school to get a degree with debt when I can work a trade? Women do not take most trade jobs, at least in the US. Men are being resigned to physical jobs and, since they are treated as brutes/brutish by teachers whom are overwhelming female, are steered in those directions far more often.

There is double the effort on helping girls at any level and boys are written off as if it's solely on them to step up.

TheTinMenBlog · 2023-08-22T16:50:05+00:00

We officially did it!

33 consecutive years of boys falling behind in British schools; an unbroken ‘winning’ record that the Red Sox, Real Madrid, or the Chicago Bulls can only dream of.

33 years of neglect.

33 years of incompetence.

33 years of looking the other way.

The failure of boys is complete.And not just in the U.K., boys have fallen behind in education right across the Western world, and in fact, even globally – there are now more boys out of school than girls.

But this is not their failure, but ours.

A failure of awareness, of advocacy and care.

A failure of policy, funding and research.

A failure of courage, political will, and compassion; a silent crisis for which there are still no explanations.

To the few who ask ‘why are boys behind?’ You will find the dead end of every road is the same – ‘We don’t know.’

For our boys we have no good answers; just turned out pockets, blank pages, and empty hands.

All I see are head scratches, puzzled expressions, and awkward looks at shoes.

Whilst the few experts that do speak out for boys are ignored, or face ‘feminist derision’, to quote Mary Curnock Cook.

Curnock Cook who herself served as Chief Executive of UCAS, and has yelled from the ramparts in support of boys for years, only to be roundly ignored.

So how much longer will this silence go on?

Will we continue to accept such neglect, and cowardice?

Will I be back here again next year, with the same post?

How do we help our boys?

~

Images by Taylor Flow, Akshay Chauhan, Soragrit Wongsa, Klim Musalimov, Jessica Radanavong, and NRV from Unsplash.

Illustrations by Deasy

LeanMrfuzzles · 2023-08-23T05:34:36+00:00

I’m gonna be straight up. A lot of teachers are sexist as fuck.

blamethebossanova · 2023-08-22T17:19:15+00:00

When I was a young boy - the world treated me like I was a grown man. I'm talking grown men and women treating me like I was a grown man who understood what it took years to understand. They'd physically intimidate and threaten me. Expected me to just let things roll off my back like a grown man at age 5.

Led-Rain · 2023-08-23T05:18:16+00:00

I remember teachers pulling me from recess, talking amongst the two of them who was gonna whip me, did it, then sent me back to recess.

That was the most confusing memory of abuse i still remember.

But when I talked about it, "there must have been a reason, no teacher would punish a student without a reason."

You could argue they were both women who hated boys. But "the chances of that happening isnt possible!"

Like, dumb fucks, do you really not think a completely female staff wouldnt have one man-hating boy beater?

ayroxus94 · 2023-08-22T21:12:40+00:00

“We don’t know why”

I do. From birth, boys are taught they’re evil, toxic, manipulating, untrustworthy. It’s no surprise boys have given up.

BoomTheBear86 · 2023-08-23T09:46:10+00:00

Feminised curriculum design and maintenance.

This is such a complex issue I don’t even know where to begin. I say this as an educator who works in the tiertery sector in the UK and has also worked in higher education as well; teaching “traditionally feminist” subjects like sociology, psychology etc.

The starting point is curriculum design has become very feminised over time due to the prevalence of female teachers over men. Men and women do not think and learn in the same ways. Boys generally benefit from opportunities to demonstrate knowledge or imitate, rote acquisition and facts. Girls tends to benefit from communicative approaches devoid of competition that veer away from objective fact and more towards judgement or argumentation. Both are capable of both but obvious strengths are visible.

Much curriculum now slightly veers towards these feminised methods. For example less exams, more coursework. Less practical, more theory. More group work, less solo project work.

And people will say “the boys have the trades thank god” but to that I say that is a regressive mindset. Yes the boys have “the trades” to fall back on, but if we encourage that rather than try other stuff you condemn the problem to multiply. You essentially justify and endorse the view that education shouldn’t even try to be for boys.

And you might say “the lads will end up taking a trade that makes decent cash and keeps them happy, what’s the issue?”

The issue is not every lad wants to do a trade, so that assumption doesn’t help him.

The second, is the trades do not dictate or influence social policy or mechanics. That is only through sectors and spheres locked behind higher education such a politics, business, marketing, advertising; psychology.

So you may end up with a generation of boys who make fine cash and have a steady job, but they’ll inhabit a society that at the higher level is not made up of people who have much concern for them beyond them “working their little jobs” at all. And worse; you’ll have justified it.

And then you’ll lose. You’ll lose the arguments like “why does men’s mental health get no attention?” “Why are means health issues underestimated?” Etc. Because the bodies that explore such issues or are meant to, will be nearly entirely compromised of women who have historically and continue to demonstrate strong in-group bias. You’re essentially handing a lot of power over future mens social standing and welling over to a group of people and hoping they’ll “make time” for the men in that society, because no actual men were encouraged to make it there to develop these changes themselves.

This in my opinion is not good. If we keep shrugging our shoulders at this and waylaying concern with “men enter trades anyway so that’s fine” say hello to a future where male suicide continues to dominate, male mental health is a joke topic and men lack a lot of fabric for societal support; essentially becoming the invisible working horses for society that nobody really cares about which is precisely one of mens chief problems is it not?

Admittedly the issue is difficult because we’re dealing with the problem of choice here; those boys choose trades and the girls don’t. Outside of some dubious stuff there’s no way we can stop them doing that, but so long as we don’t try to think of ways around the issue the problem will continue.

A start might be resisting the common message of “it’s okay boys don’t pursue uni, it’s a waste of time and they could get a real job in the trades”. If a boy wants to enter trades awesome, but that should be a decision he reaches himself, not because he’s been told university is “crap for him” and not worth his time. If this trend continues there will (within the UK at least) emerge a clear two tier caster system of “societally influential and directional jobs” make up exclusively of wealthy men born into wealth and women, and then a lower tier of “societal maintainers with no influence and power” which will predominantly be the rest of the men and a small minority of women.

And if we think those few “rich men” being in the top causes them to spare a thought for the common man at the bottom, think again. They’re almost separate species due to how pervasive social class is in the UK. But the fact that even working and middle class women do enter this tier fairly routinely, means the decisions they make in that tier are made with some reference to “women as a group”. Social mobility is way more visible in women in the UK than it is for men.

NeoNotNeo · 2023-08-22T22:34:49+00:00

As per feminist doctrine all forms of equality include preferential treatment

gaedikus · 2023-08-22T22:28:21+00:00

They are not teaching the boys correctly. Boys do not learn the way girls do. They refuse to teach in a way that boys will learn and that will have its consequences.

My work is the same way, the difference is I still do it the way I know the boys are going to learn. Based on what my fellow teachers have said and what I have experience, the boys are most engaged in my class.

skcuf2 · 2023-08-22T19:30:56+00:00

Didn't Jordan Peterson say something around how the school system fails boys because it's such a static design that it doesn't account for developmental differences by sex? Makes me wonder if those 'all boys' or 'all girls' schools are better for brain development.

Sure as shit not going to happen in public schools in the US since they can't even tell if you're a human or cat...

HuMaNB34NS · 2023-08-22T18:21:53+00:00

can someone explain slide 9. what does it mean they were ahead? is it in general?

KatsutamiNanamoto · 2023-08-22T20:11:24+00:00

It’s the mark of a self-destructing society. Men instinctively and naturally lead their family. They natural provide and protect. Women are attracted to these qualities. Wonder what the correlation is between low marriage rates and low male education? Women want an educated, ambitious, successful man who can provide for their family. Women date endlessly because the top men don’t commit to them. There literally aren’t enough men that fulfil their standards because of the endless push to get women into higher education and ultimately to earn as much as men if not more. It would be funny if it wasn’t fuelled by such short sightedness.

CrowMagpie · 2023-08-22T20:26:42+00:00

I think all the answers on slide 6 are true*, but we ignore them when they happen to boys, so when scholars say they don't know why (slide 7), they're being disingenuous.

* There may also be other answers.

peeknic · 2023-08-23T15:33:40+00:00

Must be due to ThE pAtriARchY! 🤡 /s

Diablo_Canyon2 · 2023-08-22T21:47:47+00:00

Bring back gender segregated education.

VARON_DAk1ng · 2023-08-23T09:35:14+00:00

In my opinion, gents if you allow me to. I think this is because there is this pathetic idea that males are the prime problem in any case.

Feminism's every word, if one is wise enough to understand, speaks that "we want to better than men" they don't want equality.

And the day society accepted this plague, if a boy fails he fails, if a girl fails feminists will rip their clothes apart and start a protest or some sh*t, with claims of patriarchy and sorts.

Current_Finding_4066 · 2023-08-23T14:46:26+00:00

I do not agree that we do not know at least partly why boys are falling behind.

Studies have been done and shown that boys get lower grades for the same level of work. We also know boys are punished harsher for the same kind of undesired behavior.

Of course, affirmative actions that discriminate against men exacerbate the issue.

These three certainly are part of the issue.

There are other possible factors at play and we might not know the exact importance of some of the contributing factors, but that is a far cry from us being totally blind.

Not to mention reports of shaming boys, of making them apologize to their female peers for alleged crimes of their forefathers. Imagine the psychological damage of being treated as a potential rapist, being made ashamed of being attracted to girls, being shamed for being masculine. For just being a male.

Maybe the problem is that society is not prepared to have an honest conversation about the treatment of boys.

Stinky_Fly · 2023-08-23T12:31:02+00:00

One of the solutions can be that we need more male teachers, majority of teachers are female leading to bias in almost every aspect of schooling and studies. This could also be a result of society regarding girls in general as fragile way too often leading to not being too hard on them in most aspects of day to day life.

Anavar4775 · 2023-08-26T00:38:18+00:00

Boys aren't supposed to sit down 8 hours a day copying down what the fat teacher writes on the board.

Igualdad23M · 2023-08-22T18:50:50+00:00

Data is boring. Dont want to be mean here but shooting data to

a) people who dont care about what happens to men

b) people who is already concern about the topics you are talking about

is not so usefull. World doesnt change just by showing data which proves men are struggling, Have you ever wonder why black men care more about their right as blacks than their right as men. We need more identity group sentiment.

ah-tow-wah · 2023-08-22T22:36:58+00:00

Thank you for posting this.

2023-08-23T04:05:00+00:00

I KNOW WHY

Derek2144 · 2023-08-22T22:22:49+00:00

Toxic self gratification society, that's what makes men fail as men, lack of objectives and roles models are secondary to that.

Character must be forged by labor, discipline and a proper environment.

Absolute contrary principles are promoted today : degeneracy, self indulgence, gluttony, consumerism...

franzschneider · 2023-08-23T07:43:03+00:00

Good thing retarded government-school curriculums aren’t the standard for success! Fuck school! Learn REAL life skills!

Ok-Preference9776 · 2023-08-22T23:26:08+00:00

Mans got to Round 33 he must be a pro!

(Jk) Britain is fucked

DA-ZACHYZACHY · 2023-08-22T20:25:38+00:00

I think boys have access to better options outside of higher education, namely trades. They choose them at a far greater rate than girls. That's not a bad thing, I think on a whole we have too many people going to universities and standards are just not being upheld.

But curriculums are also generally moving towards content that favours girls, which is something I've witnessed first hand. Removing math, moving towards short/extended answers, forcing everyone to take "English".

SexEd1970 · 2023-08-22T22:49:31+00:00

I am not sure why parenting doesnt make your list of what is wrong with boys. I am also not sure why things like "affirmative action" do make your list. Is it the expectation that some other group should just not compete and let boys just be in the lead? Are girls supposed to just say, now it is their turn to be left behind? Girls are out competing in the same environment with the same opportunities.

If you are sick of your boy not measuring up, then take a good long look at parenting. What about personal responsibility, what about community, what about community leaders of faith? When I look at at younger men and teenage boys, I see the biggest bunch of indoor kids ever assembled, whining, out of shape, and constantly playing video games. I hear girls talk about guys stroking to porn but cant get it up in bed at the age of 22. Nobody dates, sex has become a parody of porn, laced with absurd violence and impossible positions, all the while boys sit around eating complete garbage while whining about not having a girlfriend with a thigh gap and being entitled to sex.

Men arent being left behind, they are being out competed on a level playing field. They arent being discriminated against, they are just are too fragile to keep up. Men want to be treated like men but act like babies. Boys dont fall behind when their parents pay attention to their education, when they participate in class, and do the work.

Boys are facing so many challenges, with so few role models that convey community, family, decency, and love along with the toughness, strength and brutality, it is no wonder they are lost.

Real men take personal accountability and educate their children. Do other people get opportunities you dont? yes. That will always be the case. Is it unfair? No more unfair than if you got the opportunity instead.

khna25 · 2023-08-22T18:28:15+00:00

I really don't want to discourage the good work by TheTinMenBlog, but this time I feel like it is the wrong battle to pick.

Boys are routinely outperforming girls of the same age in STEM. Just like sports, they even have a separate female league for the International Mathematics Olympics, because it is rare (but possible of course) to see a girl qualifying for the mixed ones. This to me is proof that boys are not underperforming, they just like other subjects on average.

It's not by chance that boys appear to underperform since just around the time when humanities boomed at university and high school: those are indeed the subjects where on average girls do better.

By saying that we underperform, we are kind of playing their game by seemingly show that we are less talented, when it's not the case actually.

Our boys are not left behind, they're just not free to study what they like.

MaxTheCatigator · 2023-08-23T20:45:26+00:00

Children growing up without the father present, boys much more than girls, have much worse prospects including college dropout rates. Could something like this be at play here?

Sir_Fistingson · 2023-08-23T23:29:20+00:00

During college, I was taking an accounting class during the summer so that I didn't need to take it during the fall semester, since I had just changed majors and needed to catch up on specific courses.

I recall the professor saying something along the lines of, "I get alot of men in this summer class, and not alot of girls, probably because the girls are more academically successful."

He had assumed that every young man in his class was taking the class because they had failed it previously.

ChancesLowButNotZero · 2023-08-24T15:54:40+00:00

The game is fixed against boys in every direction. Just talking about that fact here on Reddit will eventually get me booted off Reddit. I do see that sentiment is swinging back the other way but it will be too late for so many as the suicide rate for men is increasing every single year.

Individual-Reading-6 · 2023-08-30T03:09:48+00:00

Boys are kinaesthetic learners due to the development of the posterior parietal lobe. School isn’t catered to our learning style that’s why we can’t sit still in class and we usually are “class clowns”.

titanicboi1 · 2023-08-30T16:43:32+00:00

“When will we help our boys?” The day I turn 78

Title	Boys in School: 33 years of failure
Author	TheTinMenBlog
Upvotes	1382
Comments	107
Date	August 22, 2023 4:49 PM UTC (2 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/15ybepa/boys_in_school_33_years_of_failure/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/boys-in-school-33-years-of-failure.1229352 https://theredarchive.com/post/1229352

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