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The Forum > Article Comments > Boys and guns > Comments

Boys and guns : Comments

By Peter West, published 11/1/2008

A new report from the UK might encourage a move back to single-sex learning, even within a coeducational school.

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It's hardly a new discovery - that boys, on the whole, like boisterous and aggressive games of conflict.

Also, anyone who has watched a co-educational class of 13 - 14 years olds, and younger, too, - will surely see that by and large, the boys would be happier out playing physical sports - like football. Meanwhile, the girls are inclined to be happier in class, either doing schoolwork, embellishing it with decorative headings, etc, or chatting.

I think that there's quite a case for some degree of segregated learning. I feel sorry for many young boys, at the mercy of their hormones and somewhat uneven development in physical, mental and social skills. Why should they be cooped up all day in the classroom situation?
Meanwhile, girls, having passed their main growth spurt at around 9 years, do mature in a more even way, and are not so much troubled by that pesky testosterone, and by less well developed abilities of judgment and inhibition.

At the same time, some girls do enjoy those games of boisterousness and conflict. And they still have a hard time being allowed to do this. And some boys, who do like quieter pursuits, are discriminated against.

Anyway - I'd welcome an education system that gave the boys more opportunity to flex those growing muscles, and to play aggressive games, and play at gunfights.

BUT - I don't see how any kind of promotion of guns is going to help their development. The idea that schools might actually do this is a really backward and dangerous idea.
There are plenty of other ways, and not all of them actual physical activities, by which boys' (and girls') competitive spirit can be encouraged, rather than by war games. The world of fantasy offers exciting and adventurous games, as does chess.

Kids can tell the difference between imaginary and real. The promotion of guns as OK is education for war.
Christina Macpherson www.antinuclear.net
Posted by ChristinaMac, Friday, 11 January 2008 10:31:14 AM
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Frankly I don't see why these debates are always framed in terms of appropriate behaviour for boys and girls.

As girls, my sisters and I played with guns (despite efforts to tell me I was Annie Oakley or Calamity Jane, in my mind I was the Cisco Kid), as we played "cops and robbers", "cowboys and indians" and general war games launching attacks on the enemy's forts made from stacks of mown grass or pine needles, as well as Red Rover and British Bulldog - all played equally among girls and boys. Thankfully, my mother was a "tomboy" herself and never reined us in, unlike other mothers who didn't want their girls playing tomboy games. Mum also let the nice boy down the road play quietly with my dolls. I think we all turned out pretty well.

I feel sorry for all boys AND girls who aren't allowed freedom to play as they like. Also "aggressive" play does help learning - it develops strategy, planning and motor skills, among others. But don't make it gender-based, and allow it just for boys and exclude girls, or force it on unwilling boys. Let boys and girls decide for themselves if they like rough and tumble or prefer to sit quietly.

As for aggressive play leading to behaviour disorders, it's not the guns that are the problem (which is just role-playing, and usually as a hero) - inappropriate and dangerous behaviour needs no prop. At our school, there was a boy who took an unhealthy delight in hurting people, and once tried to hang another boy. This had nothing to do with the games and all to do with the boy.
Posted by Nixie, Friday, 11 January 2008 10:37:25 AM
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There could be a misconception that girls are going ahead in leaps and bounds, but this is not the case

“From 1975 to 1998, the mean score for male students in reading comprehension decreased significantly, from 50.2 to 49.0. The results of female students did not change significantly during the same period (rising from 51.1 in 1975 to 51.3 in 1998).”

http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/publications_resources/profiles/educating_boys.htm

0.2 % improvement in over 20 years is not a significant improvement.

Teachers developing a more positive attitude towards boys would certainly not do any harm, but I have heard from a teacher that they were taught in teacher’s college that boys are immature. I have never been able to find any scientific evidence of this, or mention of it in any modern research carried out in education. But teachers being taught that boys are immature means that the teacher now goes into the classroom with a negative attitude towards boys from the very start.

In view of the fact that girl’s marks have hardly improved, it could very well be the case that attempts to dumb down boys and carry out feminisation of the school system have now backfired, and girls marks have not significantly improved either.
Posted by HRS, Friday, 11 January 2008 11:02:07 AM
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Whenever I read a bleat from HRS/Timkins about education, I reach for my (toy) gun.
Posted by CJ Morgan, Friday, 11 January 2008 11:20:10 AM
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CJ Morgan
If I make a post, you will inevitably follow with some derogatory remark, which is a form of stalking, and I regard a number of your remarks as being veiled threats.

Rarely do you mention the actual topic, which does not show that you had much training as a teacher. You must have went into a class, but rarely mentioned the subject, and had no regard for debate, but considerable regard for making veiled threats.

There are schools that have cadets, and girls have been in army cadets, air force cadets and navy cadets for many years.

Boys are not the only students to have an interest in guns or defence forces.
Posted by HRS, Friday, 11 January 2008 12:51:43 PM
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Timkins,

If ever there's an article posted on OLO about education or feminism, you will invariably make some inane comment under the guise of your HRS sock puppet.

I'm entitled to respond to your silly bleating, and there's absolutely no threat intended - no matter how precious you choose to be about it.
Posted by CJ Morgan, Friday, 11 January 2008 1:10:32 PM
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