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"Boys to Blame for Girls' Academic Woes"
posted by Scott on Saturday April 13, @12:58PM
from the education dept.
Education Ron Herbert submitted this National Post article and writes "What I found disturbing about this article was the glaring omission of boys' lagging academic performance in school. Talk about a case of the "elephant in the room" syndrome!" The researchers explain that boys are less emotionally invested in relationships, so their grades are not affected by having a girlfriend. Perhaps the social pressure on boys to perform well could have something to do with this as well? Or maybe the fact that so many boys are doing so badly, they're not sacrificing academics for the sake of their relationships, but some other time that they give up (ie sports or recreation)? The researchers seem quick to jump to stereotypical conclusions, and yet I don't see much evidence they used to back this up.

Source: The National Post [Canadian newspaper]

Title: Boys to blame for girls' academic woes

Author: Adrian Humphreys

Date: April 12, 2002

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Double Standards (Score:2, Insightful)
by MayaMan on Saturday April 13, @01:53PM EST (#1)
(User #631 Info)
You know, I find it interesting that when boys display the ability to juggle their obligations and emotional relationships effectively, maintaining a more responsible attitude under the emotional stress of adolescent affairs, they are suddenly seen as doing something wrong. They are less emotionally attached, or take emotion less seriously.

Why?

What this study COULD say (I'm not suggesting its the truth) is that girls are less able to deal with emotional stress than boys and have more problems balancing their academic and romantic lives than do boys. In other words, girls are less emotionally developed than boys are.

But, of course, then the boys (and men) couldn't be blamed for anything unpleasant in girls (and women's) lives.

Something kinda scary about this article is that it seems to hint that girls shouldn't have relationships in school. So, girls who graduate from school, and possibly go into college, would end up getting into their first romantic relationship in their early to mid twenties (depending on career decisions), without the development of relationship skills. That would only lead to more volatile romances and the blaming of the male partners for not wanting to commit to someone with no interpersonal skills.

And what about the boys? Should the boys in school who are balancing things well NOT get into relationships with girls? Should they, too, forget about romance until after school, or should they instead start dating the other boys?

I basically just don't understand people lately. I've found myself shaking my head a LOT over stuff like this these days.
Credendo Vides (By believing, one sees)
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Double standards and self image (Score:1)
by Lorianne on Saturday April 13, @05:29PM EST (#5)
(User #349 Info)
I didn't see a blaming boys bias in the article. I think what the article said is that there is a pervasive double standard on sex and self-esteem where where girls are socially sanctioned for having sex and boys are lauded for the same. This self esteem from the double standard value system being applied would naturally cause girls more problems with negative self image.

The article seems to be stating that societal double standards about sex produce a negative effect in girls who have sex and a negative effect on boys who havent. Well????? Why not fix that problem by removing the social stigma from girls who have sex, so that more boys can have sex! Or, alternatively, place more social stigma on boys who have sex so the ones who don't won't feel so bad about themselves!

Geez. We are so screwed up in our sexual attitudes. It's a wonder kids manage to get out of high school sane as it is.

Also, the article didn't bring up the fact that boys more than girls commit suicide. How much of that suicide is over failures in the love-life department I wonder? I'm not convinced that self-image and interpersonal relationships (or lack thereof) have little effect on boys as the article seems to imply.
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