| The discrepancy between the academic scores of boys and girls has long been discussed and debated in American education. When I started teaching 25 years ago in Oklahoma City, much of the data gurus were talking about the gap. If a teacher sported standardized test scores where the boys outscored the girls by more than five points, a discussion was held to find out why. Not only were white children outscoring children of color, but boys, in general, outscored girls. Who knows why? |
However, in recent years, the trend seems to be shifting. It's easily observed. Generally speaking, girls appear to be outperforming boys. More and more girls seem to be qualifying for gifted classes (They are letting their giftedness show.). More and more girls are making the Math teams. Girls are earning higher grades and seem to have better attitudes toward learning than their male counterparts. The same was true of the graduation I just attended out of town: there were 16 students in the graduating class who scored 4.0 averages and above. Of that number the resounding majority were girls.
I don't know what's going on - or it is only happening in settings surrounding me - but when I observe a pattern of boys sleeping and yawning in class and girls eagerly smiling and answering questions, it gets me thinking. When I see boys with a severe lack of focus, while girls are thinking more creatively and constructively, it gets me worried. For so many years, society has discussed the unequal footing on which a woman stands in contrast to a man, but now the tide seems to be turning. I can assure you that if it goes unchecked, it will not stop with equality, but that same tide may soon be out for men. When will men be the ones holding the Equal Rights signs on the picket lines, but that may not be true: some of those future men may still be playing Minecraft and trading Pokemon cards instead of filling the jobs or the picket lines. I know I state this in a cheeky way, but I'm just trying to make the point.
When will the boys step it up? Some do, as they always have, but more must. Some study at home, some put forth the effort to complete work, and some have a desire to improve, but more must. More must learn to ask questions, more must overcome bad habits, and more must realize that midnight button pushing and the avoidance of work are setting them further and further behind. Too often mountains appear before them, and rather than climb the mountain one foothold at a time, they simply turn around and go back to bed.
Boys, the girls are climbing. It's time to wake up. Let's make something happen. Prove my observations wrong. I'm looking for you to succeed, but I can't make you succeed. I can't succeed for you. I can't climb for you.
Don't take this in the wrong way. I don't write out of fear that the ladies are taking over the world. I don't write out of a sense that men should regain a superior stance over women. Far from it! I fully desire for the highest qualified to get and retain positions of power, no matter the skin color, no matter the gender. I just want to see my boys (and girls) make their best efforts to be all they can be in life. I want for all to achieve.