Sorry we've been such naughty children Mr West, but can't you tell from the responses by the good folks above that you can't talk about what's nice for kids at school without the sexist issue raising its ugly head?

It's there everyday of the year. Feminist sexism is in their faces. They obviously see it as a problem pertinent to single sex vs co-ed schooling.

Whilst it may not be what you intended with your well-meaning and well written text Peter, it is unfortunately, what you got.

Doesn't that tell you something?

There's a clue in there - have a think about it.

Bond Pete,

I think that it doesn’t really matter if the school is co-ed or single sex, as either type of school can have good or bad teaching systems. But the author’s general negativity towards boys would not be conducive towards the good education of boys, and the author’s general negativity towards boys does very much indicate that the author is feminist.

The author says that it is important for the parents to shop around and ask questions before enrolling their son in a school, and the author is completely correct in that respect.

If the school is co-ed, then parents should definitely ask how many boys receive high marks compared to girls, and if there is a major difference, then the parents should ask why.

The parents could ask how the school would regard their son if their son likes to play competitive games or sport. If the school said that this would be interpreted as being an attempt by the boy to “strengthen their sense of strong masculinity”, then the parents could ask why so many women compete in the Olympic games, or are those women actually men in disguise.

The parents could ask how the school would regard their son if their son likes to read adventure novels. If the school said that this would be interpreted as the boy finding “descriptive tasks tiresome”, then the parents could ask why millions of girls rushed out to buy the latest copy of Harry Potter, or were those girls actually boys in disguise.

And so on.

If the school has nothing but negativity towards boys, and wants to interpret everything that a boys does as being negative, then the parents could very well decide that the school is feminist, and decide not to enrol their son in that school

A short-cut would be to enquire about the ratio of male and female teachers and what roles they perform.

Mr West did not speculate about the desirability of having relatively equal numbers (or as close to as possible without setting quotas) of men and women teachers in both co-ed and single sex schools, however it is very relevant to the development of adolescents who need good male and female role models.

Many past students of Catholic schools, where single sex education was commonplace for decades, required that both teachers and students were of the same sex, resulting in a monoculture that for the students lasted through all of their important sexual and personality development stages. This put these students at a distinct disadvantage at university and in later life.

What some parents forget is that an education is for life and passing exams is just part of that. What really holds some people back in the workplace and in life is that they are uncomfortable or fearful dealing with the members of the opposite sex.

Our children have always had roughly the same number of boys and girls at their birthday parties and other social events, not through any instruction from us but because they normally have a mixed group of friends. Any weekend the 'drop ins' (always welcome) are likewise usually a mixed group.

Another crucial point not mentioned by Mr West is the importance of raising RESILIENT children. How do you do this if their exposure to the opposite sex in their day to day life is manipulated by (albeit) well meaning parents?

This is why many parents are so critical of public education system in Australia, which has few male teachers. Apologists would have us believe that young men are not interested in teaching however the discrimination against men in education is similar to that encountered in the nursing profession and wastes talent.

Parents should regard a pronounced imbalance in the male/female ratio of teachers at a school as a red flag indicating limited opportunities for the social and academic development of all students, regardless of sex

HRS

That was a good continuation of your original generalisations. I'm impressed that you seem to know the inner workings of every school and female teacher.

But, as I asked, a little factual back-up would be nice.

Peter JH,

I gave you that factual back-up. Stop living in denial.

Peter JH
Your questions regards facts are very generalised, but there are many facts and techniques for boys education available from this source http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/morethanmarks/index.htm

For a parent to decide on what school to send their son to, they should be asking the school principal many questions.

Ultimately schools are for education, so if it is a co-ed school, then the parents can ask the principal for a breakdown of average marks for girls and boys. There is likely to be a significant difference, so the parents can ask the principal why there is a difference. If the principal says that they do not know, then that school goes down to the bottom of the list.

If the principal says that the difference between boys and girls marks are the same in the school down the road (which is the most common response likely from a principal), then that is not a reason but an excuse, and teachers are not being paid to continuously give excuses.

The parents will be most likely told that the school is very concerned about the lower marks being achieved by boys, so the parents should ask to see the formal written plan that the school has developed to increase the marks being achieved by boys. My experience has been that 80% of the time the school will have no such formal or written plan, so no changes are likely to take place in that school.

You can try this for yourself. Pick at random a number of schools in your town and ask those questions. You can report your findings.

I also think that you could be confusing feminism with the female gender.

A racist is someone who maligns a race, as very few racists do not malign a race.

A feminist is someone who maligns the male gender, as very few feminists do not malign the male gender.

It is like a formula (such as F = ma or m = Mn), but a feminist does not have to be female.