To wonder why working class white boys do worse than any other ethnic group, and how we can change this?

Does that explain why white WC boys underperform the black Caribbean boys though? 63% black Caribbean boys grow up in a lone parent household vs only 22% of white boys (admittedly I’m citing data from 2021). That would indicate to me dictate that BC WC boys should underperform. Would be interested to see the stats for the 2 groups in London alone, since WWC boys have access to the same resources as BCWC boys in London and large cities, where resources tend to be diverted.
I don’t see any governments throwing money at Blackpool. In fact I read a worrying article recently where more and more children are opting for home schooling in places like Blackpool, and homeschooling in this country is scandalously under regulated.

I came across a video of Nicola Thorpe chatting with two young lads at a rally and thought - they really don't stand a chance. They were marching because they're bored and would otherwise be in their bedrooms doing nothing, because everyone gets free stuff except them... and they were fully supported by their parents and grandparents.
It was so sad to see, because they seem like affable enough young men; but completely without direction and purpose.

Partly home issues, partly school ones. The one constant is lack of investment.

The vast majority of parents really love their kids. However, some of them simply don’t have the time or energy to insist (for eg) that kids do homework. Some see zero point in school work so don’t encourage working hard in school. Many parents work in low paying jobs so struggle to ensure kids come to school having eaten nutritious food and many kids lack extras (such as having a car to get to a football training session) and therefore don’t exercise.

Then there’s schools. In these areas they don’t have the money to attract decent teachers. Who the heck is going to choose to teach a class of 30 where there’s 2 with social workers cos their home life is really not okay, 4 with emotional / MH issues, 3 with significant behaviour issues and probably another 3 with undiagnosed SEN? With no additional pay for being in a tough school, but more abuse (cos the kids are dysregulated) and being hammered by ofsted?

When there’s a child who cannot cope in mainstream school and they need alternative provision the school get financially penalised. The grammar school I taught in paid for AP not even once in 5 years. Current (northern, disadvantaged, mostly white working class) has more than one kid in every year group in AP. And it’s not cos I magically became a shit teacher when I started work here. Keeping children who cannot cope with a classroom in a mainstream setting has a hugely negative effect on that child, their family and their classmates. It is wrong and unfair that there is insufficient access to suitable school for kids who can’t cope.

Why is this affecting girls more than boys? I think it is puberty. By the end of year 10 lots have girls are more mature and are taking school seriously. But (on average) for boys the change happens later. Biology is a bitch sometimes. Then there’s the usual social issues of boys being less compliant (cos “boys will be boys, innit”) and a significant lack of fathers (which I expect affects boys more than girls cos role models are very important).

Sorry, that was long! TLDR: some people are proper skint and the public sector needs more money.

https://www.google.com/search?q=wealth+distribution+between+agrican+and.caribbeam.immigtants+uk&oq=wealth+distribution+between+agrican+and.caribbeam.immigtants+uk&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTI3MjY3ajBqN6gCFLACAfEFeGvqgBgpe5_xBXhr6oAYKXuf&client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#lfId=ChxjMe

When white boys have parents who hated school and distrust authority figures and all their wider social contacts are the same then there is nothing to help them break that cycle unless they are very self motivated.

I think the fact that the disadvantage of being working class is massively underplayed will be a part of it. We know women/girls experience oppression and we know ethnic minority groups do so policies are in place to promote equality. What the government and society in general have no interest in is white boys/men because they are seen as the most privileged, which they are, IF they are not middle/upper class. Working class girls/ethnic minorities do worse than their middle class counterparts.

Putting money into education and sport facilities would make such a difference.

PM radio4 programme was featuring Wales this week - it was so depressing -the list of companies which have moved abroad from one region and nothing coming to replace them. Over decades.

I teach in a school in a pretty poor area with 50% FSM. Asian kids on the whole are the hardest working.

A huge majority of white kids have no aspiration and very little support from home. A lot of the white boys are misogynistic, racist and lack any respect for authority. A lot of parents are unemployed, lack an education and drink/take drugs. My year 11 class is a bottom set and they don't really want to go to college, a couple are involved in county lines and some have part time manual jobs that will become full time minimum wage jobs.
Poverty and lack of jobs in an old
industrial town have had a generational impact.

Well, they may go to mosque on a Friday or church on a Sunday all dressed up, but are they actually religious day to day? Does their family pray everyday, read religious texts, fast, take part in ceremonies, is sex before marriage frowned upon, is leaving a spouse and children frowned upon etc? The answer is usually no, just like white working class boys.

This is such a simplistic and uncharitable reading of this discussion.

I don’t think anyone sensible would deny that in both cases there are very strong cultural factors influencing outcomes (so, yes, that includes the parents and the wider community).

I've noticed that there are quite a lot of relatively recent affluent middle class immigrants from African countries like Nigeria. Just think about the African names of black British film and TV stars. So they're going to have social and economic advantages over more working class black Caribbean people.

White working class and black Caribbean heritage boys both lack strong religious and cultural standards of expectations and behaviour. This does have a negative impact on education and achievement.

This thread is interesting. So when black boys fail, it's because of racism and trauma. When white boys fail, it's the parents.

Very few kids would succeed if (a bog standard) school was their only education. Parents need to compliment that teaching at home, tutoring their kids after work, helping with homework, filling in gaps. For that to happen they need to value education enough to make their kids see it as non negotiable, and enough for parents to sacrifice their limited free time to it. Coming from an asian background, my first generation parents did this with me, and in turn I do it with my kids. My grandparents pride and joy was their wall full of their kids and grandkids graduation photos. Many families of colour do this by default - education is king.

Apparently there is a strong tie to geography.

Children from poor ethnic backgrounds tend to live in the south, in big cities which have huge resources and programs in place targeting this.

Poor working class white boys disproportionately come from the north, and smaller towns. Towns that have been decimated by de industrialisation.

Not only have traditional family units been destroyed but all structures and organisations with strong male role models that once could help guide boys through to successful manhood have also fallen. ie Local sports teams, scouts, church groups, teaching staff now predominantly women etcetera.
And unlike big cities there are few resources to target and ameliorate the impact of this societal poverty.