Boys and education
As a mother and as a woman who has had the privilege to live in the great time of feminist rulership I thought that since feminism was about equality my concerns for our sons would have been accepted, which they have been; and work would be done to give our sons fair treatment, which unfortunately is a whole other matter.
Never did I realise that being for equal rights as a female was to be non equal rights for my sons. I had no idea that I had signed up for an opposite rulership that I had been opposed of.
I find in the women’s groups that there is an attitude that men must fight as hard as women if not harder to gain equality to women. I find that in the funding sector male is not even an option. You don’t have a box to ask for funding that says male. But you have one that says female. Or disability or gay/lesbian or elderly or even child which is up to the age of 12 for a male.
You see, a male child is not considered a child after the age of 12. He is then considered a man because he has testosterone. Testosterone is the enemy of feminism. Gosh, throw that by me again. hehehe. But seriously, I am not joking you.
I was shocked to learn that under the human Rights Commission, men do not have rights. So every male child over 12 does not have rights. You see, men never did have rights. Only responsibilities. Us females started rights. But our own female leaders do not want to give rights to men nor our sons.
Girls risk falling behind in the classroom’
21/04/2008Girls risk falling behind in the classroom because government policies focus on the education standards of boys, a report claims. A “significant proportion” of girls are struggling to read but many are not getting enough help, it is claimed.
About a quarter define themselves as “non-readers” because they find books boring and fear being labelled a “geek”. They are also less likely to get encouragement from family members to pick up a novel at home.
A study by the National Literacy Trust, a reading charity, says many young girls were “in danger of being overlooked by current policy drives”.
At the moment, girls continue to out-perform boys at every age in the classroom. They pull ahead in tests taken at the age of seven and extend their lead at 11, 14 and 16. More young women now go to university and are more likely to get a good degree.
A series of reforms have been aimed at boys to address the imbalance. This includes additional cash to buy books for boys. But the National Literacy Trust warns that the achievements of girls may suffer as millions of pounds of government funding focuses on gender-specific initiatives.
This is what we are up against to give our sons a fair go in education. It is a mountain that few of us even realised. But it exists because women gained power and through women studies at University level and millions of dollars in funding, we grew a movement of hate for our own sons without even knowing it.
Hi Julie,
Yes, education is becoming a major problem for boys, but in reality it is just part of a wider picture. Consider the health of males;
First Men’s Health Meeting
The first meeting on men’s Health was recently held in Wellington by Associate Health Minister Damien O’Connor. View press release at
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0804/S00561.htm
Before men and fathers get excited and start considering such questions as; will men now finally get a Ministry of Men’s Affairs?, one needs to read the press release.
It seems that there will be few changes if any, and a conference under the guise of ‘Men’s Health’ ended up being a conference on ‘the Impact of Men’s Health on wives and partners’.
“There’s a need for a more comprehensive and inclusive discussion around men’s health issues and how they affect wives and partners, wider family groups and society as a whole,” said Mr O’Connor.
The Families Commission has no interest in the role or health of fathers in the family, even though fathers are integral to families; the Children’s Commission has no interest in the role or health of fathers in the lives of children, even though children are worse off without fathers; and the Associate Minister of Health seems more concerned about impacts on wives, partners and the wider community, than the actual health of men and fathers.
I wonder if any person or party taking part in the talks raised the issue of why there is a Ministry of Women’s Affairs but no Ministry of Men’s Affairs, and how a Ministry of Men’s Affairs would help “engagement and collaboration between men’s health groups and government”, as O’Connor suggests annual talks will achieve.
O’Connor goes on to say “The focus for the medium to long term is on seeing disparities reducing”, yet the most glaringly obvious “disparity” lies in the Governments refusal to match it’s support for women by introducing a Ministry of Men’s Affairs. Hello……
Comment by xsryder — Mon 28th April 2008 @ 7:35 pm
Hmmmnn,
there has been two conferences on Boys In Education, plus there is another at Massey Auckland this year…
Successful boys: Meeting the challenge
When: 7, 8 & 9 July
Where: Sir Neil Waters Lecture Theatres Building,
Auckland Campus,
Massey University
Keynote speakers:
John Cowan
Maggie Hamilton
Michael Irwin
Dr. Ros Mc Lellan
Dr. Stuart Middleton
Tim O’Connor
Sully Paea
Conference Registration Fees $485; Earlybird – $435 by 30 March 2008
Draft Programme Boys Conference 08 – Draft Programme
For more information, contact:
Michael Irwins
Phone: 0064 – 9 – 414 0800 extn 9635
Email: [email protected]
Plus, in the archives soon at http://www.fatherandchild.net.nz, our recent article on how overseas efforts have made a difference, but here in NZ, nothing is done…
Comment by Brendon Smith — Thu 1st May 2008 @ 5:10 pm
It’s worth hearing an excellent interview this morning on National Radio with Leonard Sax, educational
psychologist, about gender differences and the extent to which boys are being short-changed in the education system.
This link will expire in a week but if people want to hear the interview after that I have a copy. Email me at [email protected]
Comment by Hans Laven — Fri 2nd May 2008 @ 1:47 pm