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I had an educator friend call last week and say that schools must do more right now with boys to prevent future mass shootings. Though way too general and a bit random, I understood where she was coming from.
With more than 50 years of data, The Violence Project shows a staggering 98 percent of these crimes having been committed by men. And it’s no surprise when examining why, the classroom and its role in a student’s upbringing is scrutinized.
BOYS ARE IN MUCH MORE TROUBLE THAN EVER
The U.S. News and World Report uncovered that at the turn of the century (this one), boys received 70 percent of all failing grades in schools across the country. Boys made up more than two-thirds of the student population that was labeled as “learning disabled.”
Boys are the suspected culprits of four out of five crimes brought up in juvenile court. It was not like this before. Half a century ago, boys dropped out of school at a slower rate than girls. As of 2016, American high schools see boys drop out nearly 40 percent more frequently than their female peers.
Yes, as a group, boys are noisy, rowdy and hard to manage. Many are messy, disorganized and won’t sit still in class. Young male rambunctiousness, according to a recent study leads teachers to underestimate their intellectual and academic abilities. “Girl behavior is the gold standard in schools,” says psychologist Michael Thompson. “Boys are treated like defective girls.”
MORE FUEL ON THE FIRE
We know too many boys grow up without a strong male role model at home — or at school. This gender disparity in the teaching profession is unfortunate because it is critically important for young boys to see positive male role models in their lives. Qualities that make a great teacher, like patience and sympathy, are not typically associated with men.
By modeling these character traits, male teachers can shape their students’ ethical compass. As much as young men look up to sports figures, a strong male role model in the front of the classroom can positively influence the emotional development of his students, especially boys.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18.3 million children, or 1 in 4, live without a biological, step or adoptive father in the home. There’s a lack of male role models in our schools, too. As of 2018, only 24 percent of all K-12 teachers were men, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
RETHINK MASCULINITY IN SCHOOLS
As teachers, like it or not, we are on the frontline of societal change. Schools contribute hugely to upholding the gender biases and stereotypes that exist in society. By questioning the way that we help shape boys into young men, we can consider more positive alternatives to the current picture, where boys are faltering academically and are often damaged by society’s expectations about how they should behave.
More male teachers are not a band-aid for education’s problems. These problems are all very systemic, but when I think back to my teachers it wasn’t the gender of the teacher that ever made me connect with them at a deeper level.
WE BETTER GET CREATIVE
In the 1970s when women were facing inequality in regards to college education, steps were actively taken to combat it. By 1972, Title IX was enacted and institutions across the nation restructured their curriculums and athletic programs to be more inclusive of women.
Now that these “future men” face a similar plight, nothing has been done to alleviate the inequality. We are not giving our boys the same energy that all kids deserve. Instead, we are letting their suffering fall to the wayside. And by continuing to do so, being a boy can be a serious liability in today’s classroom.
This column is by Ritchie Lucas, Founder of The Student Success Project and Think Factory Consulting. He can be reached at 305-788-4105 or email at ritchie@thinkfactory.com and on Facebook and You Tube as The Student Success Project.
