did anyone read the article in last sunday's observer about raising boys...

[beforesunrise]

... and thought it was really, well, a bit crap? it was all about boys are being shortchanged by society, are much more likely to go to jail or be knifed etc. so far so good.

but then it went on to identifying the reasons as an increasinlgy "feminised" education system and teh fact that boys don't get to run around enough.

no mention of the huge impact of fatherless households, or of the stark divides of those crime stats by racial and economic background.

but, more fundamentally, i just don't think it is true that boys have it so hard. i mean, girls get into trouble in ways that don't make the headlines- ie they get pregnant, for example. and women are still marginalised and discriminated against in many parts of society. i reckon it's still harder to be born a girl than a boy. and raising girls is as hard if not harder, in the long run.

maybe because i am a mother of two girls, but i am still annoyed by it- so superficial, and so WRONG...

anyone else?

Was this stolen from a Steve Biddulph book called 'Raising boys'? The book is exactly the same. As the mother of a boy, I don't think he's allowed to run around enough. Boys are not like girls, they want to run and climb trees.

Link?

I thought it was lazy journalism, relying too much on anecdote and acquaintance. I agree with TMMJ - my boy has so many emotions that he literally explodes with them sometimes! Agree with the fact that they do need to seem feeding quite often, though!!

of course they need to run around- they all do, really. dd1 is quite tomboyish and she likes to run around and climb trees (and colouring).

but what annoyed me was a) the superficiality of the arguments and b) the fact that a man was complaining about how hard it is to be a boy in 2009 Britain- i still think boys and men in general have it easier than girls.

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/apr/12/family-sons-children

I think I would tend to agree

is there any evidence that fewer boys went to jail/got into fights in the days when the education system was geared towards boys? of course not

certainly by the time they get to university there are no signs that boys are being marginalised

of course many of them won't make it to university- but that goes for girls as well as boys; as you say a lot of it is about economic/social background

I have both a boy and a girl and I don't feel either has been shortchanged by the school system because of gender

the big divide was between dd who is disabled and ds whose disability is less apparent

there was a really good article, marginally linked to this topic, in the saturday guardian about this academy for black boys in east london (plus that woman with the weird surname camila batmansomething). made a big point that lack of authority in the form of a father is crucial in crumbling young men's self esteem.

It's health and safety gone nuts that's stopping them doing this then!

Does Jay Rayner have any girls? Because life on planet boy sounds like life on planet one boy one girl to me.

Steve Biddulph's going to be after her blood!!!

ah ha!! feminised education system...now where have i heard that before

I looked at three local primary schools when I was choosing my ds's school. Only one had a male teacher and he was the head. Boys and girls, on the whole, are different. They think differently and act differently. From childhood to adult.

I also can't see the point in the second article of saying that 9% came from single mothers. Meaning that 91% came from two parent households. Why are single mothers always to blame?

I would love to see the stats on the 'remedial' group numbers for boys or girls at primary level - in my sons class - 10 in group - 1 girl....

Well I've got two boys and a girl, and my two boys are very different. One is a 'typical' boy but the other isn't. When I just had one girl and one boy I felt the boy was like he was because he was a boy but then I had another boy and he is a male version of my daughter...very different to first boy. I know others who have this phenonemon too.

Well I've got two boys and a girl, and my two boys are very different. One is a 'typical' boy but the other isn't. When I just had one girl and one boy I felt the boy was like he was because he was a boy but then I had another boy and he is a male version of my daughter...very different to first boy. I know others who have this phenonemon too.

I really do believe the 'One size fits all' classroom method of teaching short-changes many boys. I think both boys and girls would benefit enormously from some intelligent use of more outdoor work and learning through practicals etc.

so agree doodle2U

I suspect if you looked properly at the research base to this boys are so utterly different line that is so in at the moment you would find that there is a fair bit of social conditioning going on that encourages boys to run about and girls to sit quietly from a very young age (probably early babyhood). My dd has a much easier time in school because she is outward facing, and likes to please. ds has a tougher time because he has always marched to his own drum. This year he has a male teacher for the first time and his behaviour at school has if anything got worse. My children frequently behave like "planet boy" and dd certainly gives as good as she gets - she is more likely to hurt ds than the other way around). I think this is a terribly lazy way to look at children - there is far more diversity between different sorts of children than a simple boy/girl switch. It's as bad as saying all adults either behave like women or men, with two sets of stereotypes there.

Crap dull argument, full of lazy stereotyes.

Was I the only one who wondered who picked up the pillows and put them all back again at the end of the game on Planet Boy?

Education is definitely 'femanised' in the primary years. How ridiculous to expect a 4 year old boy to sit still, shut up, listen and conform in the classroom. It's a wonder any of our kids survive formal education .... it's all SHITE!!

Unfortunately, for our boys we have a 'one size fits all' approach to education in this country and you're in luck if your child falls slap in the middle - they will enjoy it and 'get on'.

The negative press boys/men get in the real world reflects in the classroom, leading to a negative self-image along with low self esteem. As a parent of 2 boys, I will be fright to keep them happy, educated and hopefully fulfilled and out of trouble, because I don't think our schools or society is doing a very good job at it.

but why should we expect a 4 year old girl to sit still and shut up, any more than a boy? maybe because that's we are going to expect her to do all her life? because girls stand still and do what they're told, and put up with any cr*p whereas boys are "challenging" and adventurous?

that's what maddens me. not the fact that boys and girls are differnt (doh! last time i checked neither of my girls has a willy), not that children start school too young, not that we get things wrong in educating... but the assumption that this hurts only boys!

and i really get annoyed by this all thing becuase it smacks of sexism and discrimination from the crib.

women are still earning way less than men, they are still more likely to suffer discrimination and violence in all walks of life. girls are still more likely to be raped, assaulted, sexually objectified from a really young age. they may outpeform boys at school but they underperfomr (statistically speaking) in virutally all other aspects of their life.

so excuse me for not buying this "poor boys we treat them so badly" story. if we want to talk about the differences, the challenges, the best way to help every child develop his/her full potential, let's. but please do not give me this boys don't run around enough let's make education more "masculine" story. Bollocks,the whole society is male centric or have you not noticed????

Isn't it odd how the educatuonb system worked well for boys until girls started to go better in it. Kids were expected to sit still and learn by rote 60 years ago too - where are the calls that it was not macculine enough for boys then?

Sour grapes

grasping at straws

=

rubbish

or 2+2=5

i read the article, i did agree that schools are very female orientated. we have no male teachers at all.