NH Men's Commission Gets New Member

I'm honored to announce that I have been recently appointed to serve on the NH Commission on the Status of Men. Commissioner Tony Raymond, a Police Chief from Plymouth, NH, resigned from the Commission earlier this summer due to family and time constraints. Governor Craig Benson then nominated me on July 28 and the Executive Council unanimously approved the nomination on August 18. I am excited to be able to serve on the Commission as an official member, and look forward to the challenges that lie ahead. Please see the Read More section for more info, and a request for assistance.The Commission on the Status of Men in NH has three main areas which it was assigned to study by the legislature: Men's health needs, the effects of fatherlessness on society, and the educational needs of boys and young men in the state. To date the Commission and the public have given quite a bit of attention to the first two mandates. So while I intend to help the Commission on all of its work, I plan to make my particular focus on the educational status of our state's boys and young men.



Young people are literally the future of our society. I am aware of many national trends which show that males are, on average, doing quite poorly compared to females in our educational institutions. From dropout rates to learning disabilities to college enrollment and academic performance, a substantial percentage of our nation's young male population is not laying the groundwork for a successful future. This is a gender issue that does not receive the attention it deserves, and there is still a lot of misinformation and stereotypes out there that have blinded the public and educational administrators from paying proper attention to this issue.



I intend to help quantify the educational needs that boys and young men have in NH, and identify areas where their needs are the strongest. Not only do the education administrators and teachers need this information, but the media and public need to be educated about it as well. In recent years, I've seen at least a half-dozen front page news articles about a local school district's alarming dropout rate, but never is it framed as a gender issue, nor are the statistics reported on even broken down by gender.



There's no way I can do this work in a vacuum, and I would like to request the help of anyone with a background in education, statistics, or young male advocacy. You don't have to be local to New Hampshire if you'd like to offer help - I need to obtain data about national trends to compare them with what's going on in NH. Please drop me an e-mail if you'd like to help out and I will start a mailing list where discussion of this work will be held. I want to see this Men's Commission succeed, and become an example that others can follow. Any assistance, either financial or in time, is greatly appreciated.



Sincerely,



Scott Garman



scott at mensactivism dot org

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