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Here is another interesting article...I think this speak directly to how
school damages our boys. I would wager few unschooling/homeschooling parents
see this kind of extreme behavior and thought patterns in their sons...it is
social conditioning in the classrooms that is not working for our sons.
Debra
...who is trying hard to see that her strong willed son doesn't turn out to
be one who feels the need to overpower someone, especially women in order to
feel ok.

Official: boys can't help being macho

Research finds youths can't resist being bad even though they know the
consequencesJenifer Johnston

Teenage boys deliberately underperform at school, adopt anti-social traits
and commit criminal offences even though they know it affects their career
prospects and damages their relationships with friends and family.New
research published by the British Psychological Soc iety found that boys
cannot shake off the pressure to conform to a 'macho' blueprint.The findings
are the result of an extensive six-year study of boys aged 11 to 14.The boys
were asked about themselves, their peers and the way they are perceived. Most
said that they thought being strong academically was 'gay' or 'girly'.
However, in individual interviews, boys said they were anxious about not
making the grade and many were resentful towards teachers who they said
favoured girls.Being 'hard' or 'cool' was also very important, and
researchers discovered that popularity was often gauged on how tough or
anti-adult individuals appeared. Football, whether following a team or
playing the sport, was an important topic for many who were interviewed and
an indicator of how masculine an individual was considered to be. The 'absent
father' syndrome was also apparent -- a third specifically mentioned that
their mothers were more available to them than their fathers. It is hoped
that the results will help influence teachers and social policy
makers.Professor Stephen Frosh, who led the research, said the results showed
that boys had a lot to offer when given the chance. He said: 'On their own,
they were surprisingly willing to be truthful and thoughtful about their
relation ships and problems. 'Boys have a lot of confusion about how to get
what they want and still keep their masculine image.'Boys are much more artic
ulate than they are given credit for and there are lessons to be learned
there for social policy makers. Instead of always pushing boys towards sport,
they should be given a way to do well academically without stigma.' A
spokesman for the Educ ational Institute of Scotland said the research
highlighted the problems that boys can suffer in the classroom. He said: 'For
a number of years, the issue of maintaining the interest of teenage boys in
education has been recognised as a problem area. 'Different rates of matur
ation, peer group pressure and the perception that learning is not a
masculine activity can all contribute to boys being left behind in comparison
to girls.'Alleviating the shortage of male role models in education -- both
at home and in the classroom, including the shortage of male teachers --
could go some way towards tackling the problem and help close the gender gap
which currently exists.'Anne Houston, director of ChildLine Scotland, said
the research supported the organisation's efforts to encourage boys to open
up -- even at an early age. 'We receive three times as many calls from girls
as we do from boys,' she said. 'They need to know it is okay to talk about
their problems. 'Boys seem to wait for help to come to them, leading to
frustration in a lot of cases, and they act it out by getting into trouble.
'From very early, boys bottle problems up and don't reach out for help, which
sadly is a precursor to the very high number of suicides we see in young
men.'Dr Mark Hamilton, co- presenter of the Radio One Sunday Surgery
programme, said the study results did not surprise him. 'This mirrors what I
remember from my peer group,' he said. 'Something that continually baffles me
is that boys stick to the rebel image, but society emulates the rebels. 'In
terms of education, it makes it very difficult for boys to concentrate on
their work when they are nervous about being labelled a geek or a swot.'









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Fetteroll

on 2/3/03 8:51 PM, debsusedbooks@... at debsusedbooks@... wrote:

> Official: boys can't help being macho
>
> Research finds youths can't resist being bad even though they know the
> consequences

And unfortunately they're blaming the boys and the peers and the fathers
when the problem is the environment of school. Funny how so many "problems"
disappear when you get rid of school :-/

Joyce

Barb Eaton

Thanks for the reminder. I'm listening to Raising Cain right now. It
talks about some of this stuff too. Tootles! :-)

Barb E
"No one can make you change.
No one can stop you from changing.
No one really knows how you must change.
Not even you.
Not until you start. "

- Dr. David Viscott, Author and Psychologist




on 2/4/03 5:29 AM, Fetteroll at fetteroll@... wrote:

> on 2/3/03 8:51 PM, debsusedbooks@... at debsusedbooks@... wrote:
>
>> Official: boys can't help being macho
>>
>> Research finds youths can't resist being bad even though they know the
>> consequences
>
> And unfortunately they're blaming the boys and the peers and the fathers
> when the problem is the environment of school. Funny how so many "problems"
> disappear when you get rid of school :-/
>
> Joyce