I don't know about standards in general... but with 8-out-of-ten kids with ADHD being boys, and girls getting an average mark that is 7% higher than boys...

The feminist educators have certainly made sure that boys standards are suffering at school.

PartTimeParent

What has your allegation regarding feminist educators got to do with the rates of ADHD in schools?

Surely you can't be suggesting that feminism is the cause why boys don't appear to be doing as well as females if your statistics are correct.

Gee I've heard feminism blamed for lots of things but never ADHD... which medical journal do you subscribe to?

Go to the list I posted and read points 4 & 10. Neither of those have been caused by feminism...

I hope I misunderstood your post... because it doesn't make any sense whatsoever

I don't know whether part time parent was making an allegation as such but my older son, when he was younger, and now my younger son (age 8) have always said that the majority of female teachers they have had tend to obviously not to like the boys, they pick on them and they prefer the girls and are much nicer and kinder to the girls. I also have two girls who confirm what my boys are saying. Now my children have changed schools a few times and the same complaint has been made at the majority of schools.

Maybe the teachers cannot cope because many of the boys are louder and more active but my kids say that the boys are not favoured and the girls are and the boys get picked on and that makes them angry and aggressive. They also say that everybody usually gets blamed for the actions of a few so it really isn't worth anybody's while being good because they are going to be punished anyway. Discipline is not consistant and/or fair and it causes confusion, resentment and aggression.

It shouldn't be surprising that teachers lash out given that teachers are having trouble coping with what is expected of them and the fact that the public system is so run down, underfunded, underesourced and morale is so low. Teachers are humans and they get frustrated and the students are the ones that often pay the price. I think teachers should start standing up for their students rights as well as for their own!

I might say that my son was a quiet and reserved boy who became withdrawn and depressed and very unwell because of the way he was being treated at school and he now fears school so much that it makes him physically unwell and he has had to be put on distance education on psychological and medial grounds as a results.

Things affect different children differently - some react inwardly, some outwardly - but usually there is a reaction.

Jolanda,

Thankyou for that insightful and reasonable comments.

The education system is like a processing factory... they herd kids through in an underfunded and regimented system. In many ways this is another way of stifling creativity and individuality.

I am sure that some female teachers out there do exactly as you say... and it is a shame but I am pretty sure most don't. Boys can be a handful (I know I was one) and we got up to all types of mischief. But I think I remember I was tougher on the female teachers than I was on male teachers also. It's a male thing! I also remember (oh oh a confession) telling my mother that I was picked on because I was a male. Looking back it had nothing to do with my gender I was a brat!

Therefore in some ways it is what came first the chicken or the egg.

Please don't think I am saying your kids were like me... that isn't what I am suggesting whatsoever.

Generally speaking girls are more easy to teach than boys. Boys have that poison called testosterone in their systems...ha! Plus many parents are in denial about how naughty their children can actually be... especially when in group mentality mode which a classroom often creates.

There are so many kids disadvantaged by the one size fits all that the education system seems to have become. The eleven points made earlier often contribute to this.

Teachers have a very tough role and the group punishment scenario is always a bad concept. Noone is entitled to punish the innocent.

I wish I had a solution to the education problems but a first step would be to fund it properley so that individuals needs are catered for more easily.

Your last line is accurate. Many kids respond and improve through doing drama after school hours. If your budget runs to that (it isn't usually too expensive) why not give that a try. It aids creatiity, socialisation and gives the kids a chance to cut loose and have some educational fun.

Hi Opinionated2. Yes schools should be funded and resourced properly and teachers and students should have the support and encouragement that they need and deserve. What they need to do is re-direct some of the money that is going to Private schools to Public schools for a few years so as to bring up the standards of the Public schools so as to make it fairer - the Private schools can just level for a while. It’s just wrong to have such a huge gap in education.

I agree with you that there are boys out there who are difficult to control and it isn't easy for teachers. My son says that the girls are also starting to do the same......I do feel for teachers, it really is impossible for them to do what is expected of them. What concerns me is that because teachers are so busy protecting their reputation, they don’t admit that they cannot cope and that the kids are suffering as a result and that the system needs to do something about it.

You know my husband decided to Coach my sons under 7 soccer team last year in order to see what was happening and to look after our son. He got the shock of his life! He couldn't cope with the 13 boys, he said they were rude and wild, they didn't listen and the majority of parents didn’t' seem to notice or care. He had to get help and he found it so stressful and frustrating. It seemed like the parents wanted my husband to discipline their kids, he had to tell them that he was there to teach them soccer, it was their job to discipline their kids. My husband then understood why my son was so scared and what the teachers have to deal with. He is coaching again this year as my son needs him.

Instead of my son being on distance education, those boys that can’t behave should be on Distance Education and be educated at home! Maybe the parents would take some more responsibility if there were consequences.

I must say I do not agree with what was said in the article where it said:

“An alternative may be that, as Brendan Nelson put it, “every young Australian … should be able to find and achieve his or her own potential”. That is to say that every student learns as much as they possibly can. Again, impossible to achieve and impossible to measure”

I don’t agree that this is impossible to achieve and impossible to measure. Its quite simple actually, all you have to do is run the education system like centers of learning and excellence, instead of age based child minding centers.

Schools should design their classes to suit their student’s needs, not try to squash students into a set mould that doesn’t fit.

There should be no ‘competition’ for entry into school based classes or courses, students should just apply for whatever class, year and level that they believe would be best suited for them in the different subject areas and would have to show that they will be motivated and capable. It would give students a say in their education and something to strive for and focus on and it would take away the advantages that tutored and coached students have in that many are winning the places in the advanced classes and schools simply because they have had and can afford more exposure and practice in academics. It’s not fair.

Students should progress through education at a speed and level that it beneficial and appropriate for them. They could then find and achieve their own potential. It would make it more okay to be different. At the moment they are always trying to make everybody of a similar age the same and it is causing hostility because it is blatantly obvious that we are not all the same. Why is it okay to be 2 years older/younger only if your date of birth fits in to what the Department of Education says and not any manner else?

To measure the success, you just have to ask the students if they are happy and learning.