Are the boys being discriminated against?

[bettycat81]

So DS's school have just published their fortnightly newsletter along with award winners (2 winners per class). Out of 14 awards only 4 have gone to boys. It was the same ratio in the last newsletter. So out of a total of 28 awards 8 have gone to boys. DS's class is very boy heavy with 5 girls and 17 boys. 3 out of the four awards have gone to girls. This follows a similar theme to previous years so it's not just a case of the 1st month...

So what is going on here? Does this follow in other schools? Are boys discriminated against generally in education or is it just that at our school the boys across the school are not meeting the requirements to win an award? - (I don't think this is the case). Of course the awards are just a snapshot and I have little knowledge of what goes on in the classroom so would love to hear people's thoughts and experiences.

I agree with you Siena. My post was sarcastic
I know. I was agreeing with you too!

The research actually shows that primary school teachers tend to favour boys in the classroom, taking more answers from them and generally giving them more attention (whether for positive or negative reasons I don't know). There's also a belief in some quarters that if you gear the lessons towards the boys' interests (whatever that cohort are currently into) rather than the girls' interests, then they will respond more positively while the girls tend to get on with whatever they're given and produce decent results whatever.
As for the male teachers being in demand (above) there's a whole different conversation to be had there about why they are constantly promoted into leadership positions so quickly, usually along the lines of how they are perceived (often by the women promoting them) as 'breadwinners' because they are male and therefore subconsciously seen as the right person to be in a more senior managing role. It's extremely irksome to go for a job interview at a school and see a bloke there waiting for his interview, as you know that they'be got a better chance of getting the job simply because they're male, if all other things eg teaching ability, are equal.