DD is having a hard time adjusting to her 'enormous' and 'overwhelming' secondary school and is having a particulary hard time with boys in her class behaving like little thugs.
eg She was partnered with a boy for a class yesterday and he kept getting things wrong, so she kept telling him he was wrong and then he got angry and told her to 'calm down' although she hadn't been raising her voice or acting agitated. Males trying to keep females in their place by telling them their being overemotional when they're not is pretty classic sexism in to my mind!
eg She tells me a lot of girls don't like to speak up in class because the boys laugh at them and put them down when they do.
This is particularly difficult for me because I went to an all girls school and was very aware of the privilege of not having to compete with (or for) boys during school hours.
I've told her she just has to be doubly calm, keep her head, and keep on speaking up in class. It's tough, but it's her education that matters, not theirs.
Any other advice?