Essay for english (2nd sem.)

I’m Not Being “held back”

An alarming rate of boys are dropping out of high school. The numbers increase steadily every year. Why is this happening? Is it the schools fault or the students? Some will lead you to believe that schools these days are too focused on females and are holding boys back. That is not true. The current school system’s way of teaching does not “hold boys back,” but it does not help them improve either.

Are boys being held back by the school system? The answer is no. In Bauerlein’s and Stotsky’s “Why Johnny Won’t Read” it reads , “Publishers seem  to be more interested in avoiding ‘masculine’ perspectives or ‘stereo types’ than in getting boys to like what they are assigned to read (93).” Yes, I will admit that some of the materials male students are assigned might not be considered “cool,” but that does not change the fact that it needs to be done. Just because a piece a literature a student is assigned to read might appeal more to females than males should not “hold back” a male student. Yes, it is boring. Yes, it is a book for chicks. Oh well. Read the story, do the work, and get it over with. Do not just sit there and fail because the story is not written for your specific gender. Furthermore, in Ann Hullbert’s “Boy Problems” she writes, “Men in the Army or prison and more job options for males (in construction and manufacturing) that don’t require a college education but pay relatively well (97).” From about when I was 10 ‘till now I have heard countless times that when I grow up I will need to get a job and support my family. Now, I am pretty sure that a lot of other males have been taught this same thing. No matter what happens, a man is suppose to be able to provide for his family, So, if said man finds that there is a better opportunity to do that by working now instead of finishing school then I can understand why the drop-out rate is so high. Why deal with the stress of school and work if finishing school will not affect how much you make at that job? Now, I am not saying students should drop-out and find a job. I am just saying that it is understandable why the drop-out rates for males are so high since ,from birth for some, males have had the need to be able to provide forced into their skulls.

As I said earlier, some people, probably the males who dropped out, blame the failures on the school saying that the school is holding them back, and that the school is helping further the female students education. In David Brook’s “Mind Over Matter” he writes, “Others say the educational system has been overly feminized. Boys are asked to sit quietly for hours at a stretch under conditions where they find it harder to strive (94).” This is an understandable argument. How is one supposed to succeed when the conditions hinder said success? Well, I have a counter to that question. How do the conditions affect boys more than girls? Research done by the Children Trends Database, in October of 2012, shows that more boys choose to drop out than girls do. Honestly, I believe people who blame the school, entirely, for their failures are just plain lazy. Girls have to sit through the same classes and lectures and do the same work and homework as us boys do. Do they just drop out? Do they say it is unfair or that the school system is against them? No! They sit down, do their work, and get things done.

So, apparently the school system has been “feminized” and is causing the males nationwide to fall behind. A despairing predicament if you ask me. There is only one question to ask. How do we fix it? Well, if the system is more towards females then the obvious solutions would be to focus on boys right? WRONG! In Brook’s “Mind Over Matter” it states, “We conclude that the issue is far less driven by a nation’s culture than it is by basic difference between males and females in the modern world (94).” The school needs to find a common ground. It does not need to focus towards one gender, but on both. I am not saying it is going to happen over night or anything like that. It will take time and a lot of trial and error. Also, in Bill McBride’s “Closing the Achievement Gap: Teaching to Gender Differences” he claims, “If we don’t begin to alter our methodologies and materials for young men, the drop-out rates will continue to rise.” This is very true. If one gender is being focused on, then the other will just loose the want to improve and fall behind. If we had a more “competitive” school system, an example would be the way the Japanese schools rank their students, then I believe males and females would be more interested in doing better in school.

Is the current school system holding the male population back by unfairly feminizing the school curriculum? Are males just being lazy and need to start working harder if they truly want an education? Do males have too much expectations put on their shoulders to worry about school? I do not know. It is up to each individual male to determine that. All I am saying is, I am a male and I am doing just fine in school despite the “female centered” school curriculum. So, I will end this with a question. Do YOU, the reader, think that the school system that is applied in today’s society is oppressing the male population and giving an unfair advantage to the females, or do males just need to realize that their education is very important and start doubling, maybe even tripling their efforts when it comes to school work and just get the job done?