Why are so many American boys failing in school?

[Thanos]

Seems that women have outstripped men in education on almost all levels except the sciences in post scondary education
But why are American males of almost all races are failing in school?

Would love to hear your take on this?

[headexplode]

They're not masturbating enough.

[Reic]

Fine with me, more female freshman coming to ODU.



I, however, am in the College of Sciences, so I may get the short end of the stick.

It seems like most guys go to the engineering college here though :)

[Reic]

Seems that women have outstripped men in education on almost all levels except the sicences in colege.


Does anyone else find the irony in this? :laugh:

[HOF44]

It's pretty uncool to be to smart nowadays.

[Mass_SkinsFan]

Well, YOU ASKED FOR IT, Thanos.....

I really believe that this is largely based on the decided lack of discipline and the reduction in the requirements in our schools today.
We are now more interested in whether our kids get multiple (2, 3, or more) years of a FOREIGN language when most of the kids are barely literate in ENGLISH.

We spend extra time making sure we teach multi-culturalism but fail to ensure our students know the words to our own national anthem or the truth about the ideals this country was founded upon.

We're more interested in "why" little Javier punched little Carlos in the mouth than in punishing him for doing so. Especially if Javier comes from a low-income or single-parent home.

Basically we've taken Affirmative Action to its near penultimate extent in the educational system. We've turned the system entirely on its head and created an educational avenue where "trying" (which is more a female trait) is more important than actual "results".

THAT'S why male students are doing so much poorer than their female counterparts.... the system is designed to promote the concepts more aligned with female sociology than the ones aligned with male sociology.

[PleaseBlitz]

Too much ****ing Myspace and video games.

[IONTOP]

Because men have pride....

They won't admit they need help, so they won't go see tutors....

[Touchdown Redskins]

It's pretty uncool to be to smart nowadays.

Corollary: dumb is awesome! :thumbsup:




....:doh:

[Thanos]

Does anyone else find the irony in this? :laugh::doh: :doh: :laugh:

[PeterMP]

Seems that women have outstripped men in education on almost all levels except the sicences in colege.

But why are American males of almost all races and ethnicieties failing in school?

Would love to hear your take on this?

I've heard a couple different reasons for this. Some will tell you it is related to changes made in the education system through the 70's and 80's to bring up girls scores. I've also seen the arguement made that boys don't put as much emphasis on education as their are more "male" oriented jobs that pay well (e.g. plumber and electricians) that don't require college, but "female" oriented jobs (e.g. teachers and nurses) these days do. Another answer is the role of video games (still predominantly a male thing (and video games for females tend to be pretty different), especially in kids w/ ADD.

http://www.stonemountainschool.com/tom-sawyer-era.html

and of course more boys are diagnosed w/ such disorders:

http://www.4-adhd.com/girls-add-differences.html

I doubt there is a single answer.

[SkinsNut73]

...no time to study because they have all these nymphomaniac teachers hounding them for sex... :whoknows:

[Thanos]

Well, YOU ASKED FOR IT, Thanos.....

I really believe that this is largely based on the decided lack of discipline and the reduction in the requirements in our schools today.
We are now more interested in whether our kids get multiple (2, 3, or more) years of a FOREIGN language when most of the kids are barely literate in ENGLISH.

We spend extra time making sure we teach multi-culturalism but fail to ensure our students know the words to our own national anthem or the truth about the ideals this country was founded upon.

We're more interested in "why" little Javier punched little Carlos in the mouth than in punishing him for doing so. Especially if Javier comes from a low-income or single-parent home.

Basically we've taken Affirmative Action to its near penultimate extent in the educational system. We've turned the system entirely on its head and created an educational avenue where "trying" (which is more a female trait) is more important than actual "results".

THAT'S why male students are doing so much poorer than their female counterparts.... the system is designed to promote the concepts more aligned with female sociology than the ones aligned with male sociology.

What does multi-culturalism have to do with dwindling male attendance at American universities?

I mean seems that women get it (education is ticket toward more opportunity) and males do not.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

Women don't get distracted by what they can't see, whereas boobs are right in front of our face, even in class.

[BURGUNDYBLEEDER]

http://www.amazon.com/War-Against-Boys-Misguided-Feminism/dp/0684849569

I haven't read the book but the author did come speak at my school (Elon University) while I was still an undergrad. Just thought I would mention it even though the book isn't exclusively about bad grades.

[Mass_SkinsFan]

Because men have pride....

They won't admit they need help, so they won't go see tutors....

Yep, that's part of in nowadays, IONTOP. I know that in my school career probably 75% of the "average" students who went for help/tutoring were female.

[PleaseBlitz]

I was a tutor in college. :geek: and the people i worked with were 50/50 male/female.

[Mass_SkinsFan]

What does multi-culturalism have to do with dwindling male attendance at American universities?

I mean seems that women get it (education is ticket toward more opportunity) and males do not.

Let's look at it. Say there are 40 weeks in your typical school year. Now take out the time wasted on multi-cultural topics like "black history month", "women's history month", and a ton of other stuff and there's probably only 26-30 weeks of real useful social science education going on in any particular school year. Beyond that, add required courses in all sorts of politicall correct and useless topics and you have a curriculum that most male students aren't going to find very interesting.

Now add to that the fact that I believe male students "tune out" topics they aren't interested in or see a value to much quicker and more completely than female students and you have a huge amount of the curriculum that most male students aren't interested in paying attention to, which carries over into the subjects that they should be paying attention to.

[Bacon]

Women don't get distracted by what they can't see, whereas boobs are right in front of our face, even in class.


They're not masturbating enough.

You guys never disappoint me. :laugh:

Personally, I've never noticed any obvious increase in intelligence or drive based on the amount of estrogen in a person's system. ;) Hell, all of the honor roll students at my school were male. :laugh:

[speardog1]

Bad Parenting. I had black and white friends in school that did well, and some that did bad. The kids that did well had parents that cared and that would discipline them if needed. But mostly, if you have parents that care, the kids do not want to disappoint them.

[GibbsFactor]

I blame MTV.

Girls wearing their hottie outfits distract the boys. Yep. That's it in a nutshell.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

I have a first hand experience on this. I did bad in high school. Real bad. I knew I could have done it, I just couldn't put my mind to it. Why I think guys are doing worse than girls is because we spend way more time thinking and trying to get girls. Them - not as much. But here are other reasons why I did poorly:

- Distractions in the classroom

I was more interested in the things that would make me laugh rather than be serious and do work. I never acted up, I was just distracted easily. At that age, I would rather have smiles on my face than divide fractions.

- Distractions outside of class that would take up my thoughts

Like I said before, girls. Girls girls girls. They were always on my mind. I spent most of my time in class thinking about them and how I would approach the ones I liked that week.

- Participating in other gym classes while I was supposed to be in math or chemistry

Some teachers couldn't give a ****. Those were always the "cool" teachers. While they are still cool, they helped lay down a red carpet for me to LC a class.

- The BIG thing that really got me was my home life. I was always staying up late not doing homework. I was always tired at school, and there were too many fun things to cram in to the day after school that I'd just blow off my homework. Again, girls were first - homework was, well, nothing. I'd always convince myself to do it the next day but it was procrastination to it's extreme.

- It didn't help that my parents were alcoholics and would only come down on me when report cards came in. I would get thrashed for my grades, but after a few days, it'd all be forgotten. I took it for sacrifice to what I thought was a great highschool lifestyle. Now, as I believe many early 20's kids would say, I'd do it much differently if I had a second chance. Hey, maybe that's an idea. High School for kids that didn't do it right the first time. I mean, what did I know back then? If I knew what I know now I'd do it so much better.

[KingGibbs]

They're not masturbating enough.

Based on my experience. I doubt it. :D


Too much ****ing Myspace and video games.

Major problem.


...no time to study because they have all these nymphomaniac teachers hounding them for sex... :whoknows:

:laugh: At least it helps keep their attendance perfect.


I was a tutor in college. :geek: and the people i worked with were 50/50 male/female.

So what's it like working with hermaphrodites?



But seriously, I think that "boys" are so consumed with sex these days and it doesn't help that the girls in their schools wear very little. I've always been a proponent of a uniform at all schools.

[Predicto]

Let's look at it. Say there are 40 weeks in your typical school year. Now take out the time wasted on multi-cultural topics like "black history month", "women's history month", and a ton of other stuff and there's probably only 26-30 weeks of real useful social science education going on in any particular school year. Beyond that, add required courses in all sorts of politicall correct and useless topics and you have a curriculum that most male students aren't going to find very interesting.

.


Nonsense.

First of all, you pulled those "figures" right out of your butt.

Second, they don't "waste" a third of the school year on those dreaded matters that you dislike. They use those issues to get students to do basic work. An essay on MLK teaches the same research and writing skills as an essay on George Washington or an essay on why the sky is blue.

Plus, there has always been useless information in school curriculum. I had to memorize all the state capitols as part of social studies. What could be more useless than that?

I may not know what the true answer to the OPs question is, but I know that your answer is incorrect.

[Darth Tater]

Much of what goes for education these days is opinion based on feelings and not logic. Opinions based on feelings are communicated in a subjective manner as opposed to a rhetorical manner. Positive subjective communications are more likely to occur between similar parties. The primary way one's intelligence is measured is by the ability to communicate.

[Zguy28]

Too much ****ing Myspace and video games.Wait, so video games don't affect people's personalities when it comes to actions such as violence, but it does with their learning ability? Or are you just saying they spend too much time playing and not enough learning?


Personally, I think American's priorities have shifted. Personal entertainment is now priority number 1.

I blame Mark Brunell.

[DGreenistheBest]

Needs more pics of alleged smart women

[skinsfan07]

They're not masturbating enough.

that made me lol

[Thanos]

i'm deathly serious on this matter.My alma mater is almost 70% female.Sure its great if you are a male student there,but this will have wide ranging ramifications for the futre.More and more women are forgoing marriage in large part because the pool is so shallow.

I seriously doubt a woman working on her MBA wll get with the mechanic at Merchant's.But that's neither hear nor there.

i think its a due to a myriad of factors to include fewer male teachers as role models within the public education system.

[skinsfan07]

Because men have pride....

They won't admit they need help, so they won't go see tutors....

I agree with this.

[Bacon]

Needs more pics of alleged smart women

I think this kind of sums it up right here.

[Mass_SkinsFan]

i'm deathly serious on this matter.My alma mater is almost 70% female.Sure its great if you are a male student there,but this will have wide ranging ramifications for the futre.More and more women are forgoing marriage in large part because the pool is so shallow.

Yes it will have wide-ranging ramifications, but it's also a matter of a break-down in social norms and proper roles for each gender.

[Destino]

I think boys are failing because I don't think males respond to kinder gentler education and culture. Less discipline is worse for boys than girls lets face it little boys (and men) pride themselves in how much crap they can get away with. Boys are more active and aggressive then females in a society that is becoming more passive and less disciplined male nature works against them in the early years.

[GibbsFactor]

I think boys are failing because I don't think males respond to kinder gentler education and culture. Less discipline is worse for boys than girls lets face it little boys (and men) pride themselves in how much crap they can get away with. Boys are more active and aggressive then females in a society that is becoming more passive and less disciplined male nature works against them in the early years.

Now that I will agree with you 100%.

:applause::applause::applause:

[nuposse87]

Getting decent grades k-12 is easy as long as people put effort into it. I personally don't give a damn if my male counterparts are failing, serves them right for not taking an interest in learning. Maybe it is because I'm from a minority family, but my parents forced my siblings and I to take an interest in reading and learning. We were taught to ignore the pointless **** growing up and now my sister and I are doing well in our respective universities.

[headexplode]

I blame Mark Brunell.

Finally, something we can agree on.

[IONTOP]

Maybe it is because I'm from a minority family, but my parents forced my siblings and I to take an interest in reading and learning.

Nope... It's called good parenting.... well I guess that is a minority family...

[SkinsOrlando]

Internet porn, more concerned with gettin laid and being cool, althought it is possible to do both, atleast it was when I was in school.

[Zguy28]

I think boys are failing because I don't think males respond to kinder gentler education and culture. Less discipline is worse for boys than girls lets face it little boys (and men) pride themselves in how much crap they can get away with. Boys are more active and aggressive then females in a society that is becoming more passive and less disciplined male nature works against them in the early years.I actually heard a figure on a radio show citing that upwards of 60% of men now are passive in personality.

We are afraid to initiate.

[Henry]

So we know what we're talking about here. According to the National Center for Education Statistics in 2006 and my rough math:

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d06/tables/dt06_009.asp

Males 20-24:
84.9% HS grads
52.1% some college
15.2% Bachelor's/Associate's degree or higher

Females 20-24:
88.6% HS
60.4% some college
21.0% degree of higher

[kuraitengai]

...no time to study because they have all these nymphomaniac teachers hounding them for sex... :whoknows:funny, cuz i was going to say that it was cuz there werent enough hot teachers. why would you go the extra mile and work your butt off for a teacher who wasnt hot and you werent trying to impress?

[RVAbrendan]

Too much ****ing Myspace and video games.

yep.

[youngestson]

A partial list:
Not considered cool
Schools are organized and run in a way not friendly to boys
Most rights of passage have become obsolete, illegeal, watered down
Paranoia about all male groups ie. Boy Scouts, Church Groups, sports
Stress on female education has ignored and in some cases harmed males
Boys don't enjoy many of the things done in school, and with cuts in extracurriculars from NCLB this will continue.
Develop more slowly then girls, and are grouped behind from early grades
Willingness to let them fail...pick themselves up...try again no longer popular
Almost no all boy activites any more means less bonding...less bonding means fewer friends....means less working togeather
Parents are totally flippin' out of control, mega managers, and snoops "advocating" for their child every minute of every day, attacking all who question the possibility that little Jr. may have done something wrong
Stuff boys are interested in are taboo in school
No neighborhood is safe enough now to allow kids to roam around and learn stuff on their own
Proliferation of CD, computer, multi media, movies, T.V. 1000s of cabel channels and people who think it's allright to never crack a book infront of their kids because "they don't have time and get all their news from AM radio.


Ok. I feel better now

[KingGibbs]

funny, cuz i was going to say that it was cuz there werent enough hot teachers. why would you go the extra mile and work your butt off for a teacher who wasnt hot and you werent trying to impress?

You got it all wrong. You want to get the teachers attention by doing poorly. That way she can "tutor" you after school, preferably at her house.

Why don't we go right into my bedroom Jimmy and I'll teach you Human Anatomy 101 in there. Yes, Ms. Johnson.

[playboy1972]

I don't know how I graduated. I used to look at girls all day from the 1 grade until 12 grade. I managed to mix in a little reading in between.

[sith lord]

It's pretty uncool to be to smart nowadays.

Bingo. Smarts is out and ignorance is in. BIGTIME! I could go on and on at what I've noticed, but I don't have the time.

EDIT: I'll just say this. School have become nothing more than a place to hang out with their friends to some of these kids.

[Jumbo]

two words: flooride in are water

we still have columnists in this country, there just called librals now. Plus they took God out of claas. women arent infected as much by this because they live longer.

[CallMeGreen]

I actually heard a figure on a radio show citing that upwards of 60% of men now are passive in personality.
I'd argue this point with you but I don't want to offend anyone.:rolleyes:

[pjfootballer]

I have to go with the Boob effect. Some of these ahem**young** ladies dress and look like they are 25, yet are only 15 or 16.

[DeanCollins]

can I get a demographic count on that :laugh:

[jbooma]

Seems that women have outstripped men in education on almost all levels except the sciences in post scondary education
But why are American males of almost all races are failing in school?

Would love to hear your take on this?


Ok if we are going to have this debate be specific when you say "fail".

I have been hearing this from so many screaming our education system is failing us yet see many people that may not finish college and be successful. Please explain exactly what you mean.

[Thanos]

Ok if we are going to have this debate be specific when you say "fail".

I have been hearing this from so many screaming our education system is failing us yet see many people that may not finish college and be successful. Please explain exactly what you mean.
Black and Hispanic male high school drop out rates are thru the roof.Fewer males attending college...................period.

[Helter_Skelter]

They're not masturbating enough.

It's probably more accruate to say they're masturbating too much, if there is such a thing.;)

[Ellis]

I think the public school system has failed.
Everyone has pretty much made a point to that being true.
big class sizes, too many useless classes, no emphasis on gender role in society, etc.

My kid(s) will go to private school even if it means I have to get a second job.

[SkinsHokieFan]

A lack of real male role models

The fact that boys do not have enough activities to get all the energy they have in them out

Lack of discipline being enforced

[CEJ2200]

We're falling behind because of...