vanna,

"...people who have not the slightest positive opinion of boys or men".

You commit an identical sin in this regard in that you "never" opine the slightest positive opinion of girls or women,

You indulge in precisely that which you criticise -except that you target the opposite gender.

Psst....you know that rhyme that you heard in nursery school about snips and snails and puppy dog's tails....and sugar and spice and all things nice....it wasn't really a feminist plot - most boys got over it by grade 3.

Sheesh...no hope there methinks.

Wise words PaulL, Poirot and Divine. Fact is adults are adults and for the most part mature and sober men in building sites can be trusted to make rational decisions.

Children are not adults yet and need guidance. Unfortunately civil behaviours cannot always be learnt via role modelling, although it is an important part, sometimes there has to be rules and consequences.

If we don't let children learn by their mistakes how will they learn? How will they find their place in the real world that is far less tolerant of whiney excuse makers.

Pelican,
One of the areas that schools fail, is in harbouring individuals that have nothing positive to say about the male gender.

It is ironic that when boys marks decline, girls marks eventually decline also.

Vanna,

You can't be talking about the school I went to. I had great male role models, my maths teacher, my footy coach and the deputy pricipal.

I NEVER had a female teacher that discriminated against me.

You have clearly had a very bad experience, and need to somehow, make it everyone else's experience as well. Stick to what you know. If XYZ school treated you badly, say so. But don't tell me that ALL/MOST schools discriminate against boys, unless you've had experience at ALL/MOST of them.

PaulL
You could provide a link to an article written by any academic in any school or university in this country that says something positive about boys or men.

You will be looking for a very long time.

The author is referred to as an “expert” in boys and men, but recommends to “send bullies to a tough boot camp for a week.”

All children will carry out bullying at some stage, and I am wondering if this “expert” advice is also applicable to girls or just boys

See
http://www.teachersandfamilies.com/open/parent/ra1.cfm

I am also wondering if there could be a problem with a student who is a perpetual bully. About 30% of male prisoners are believed to be schizophrenic, and the prisons being used as mental hospitals. Could a perpetual bully also have some type of mental problem?

Basically I would in no way trust the author with my children.

How he is employed by a university is almost beyond belief.

I say almost beyond belief, because there are plenty more like him employed in the education system.

PaulL
I have had a quick scan through your links, and not one made a comment that was positive of boys or men.

Most comments seemed to infer that boys were impaired in some way, and needed to be fixed.

EG.
“Men have a very particular role in working with boys to encourage them to be nurturing and caring and to be in touch with their feelings.”

So boys are not naturally “nurturing or caring” and have to be made to be “nurturing and caring”

Same old feminist claptrap.

I am also well aware of the inquiry into boys education conducted some years ago, and it developed a 10 point plan that did not mention any “boot camp”

I actually raised the issue at a P&C meeting at one of the largest schools in rural QLD.

Guess what?

Not one of the teachers at that meeting, including the principal had heard of the inquiry into boys education.

Did you have a quick look at the link for girls bullying.

EG.
“Researchers have found that, contrary to popular belief, girls are not less aggressive than boys, they are just more subtle or covert in their use of aggression.”

So should girls also be suspended or sent to a “boot camp” for a week, or will this only be used on boys?

Or another way of putting this, do certain people get their jollies out of punishing boys.