Boys Vs. Girls:Widening Achievement Gab

[Dhimbil]

 

Newsweek magazine’s cover story this week is the widening achievement gab between boys and girls in the US. The article says “by almost every benchmark, boys across the nation and in every demographic group are falling behind†“boys are two times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with learning disabilities and twice as likely to be placed in special education classes.†Now, I don’t know if anyone has done any specific study on Somali students and achievement gabs. But anyone who has attended high school or college in the US would know the obvious widening disparity between the number of Somali girls pursuing education compared to boys. For some time now Somali girls have outpaced boys when it comes to education. Even when boys attend school, they either drop out or don’t perform as well as girls. According to the article causes include lack of father figure, lack of encouragement to pursue leadership opportunities, misguided feminism (all attention to girls), suppression of male brain chemistry, and delayed boys brain development up to 18mnths. The article claims some possible solutions include separation of girls from boys in the classroom, give boys opportunity to be “boys†make lectures fast paced and exciting, provide mentorship opportunity, etc. Anyway, have you guys seen this phenomenon too and are other countries the same and what, if any implication does this have for us living abroad in the future or those in Somalia? According to the article, Margaret Spelling, US secr.of education, says widening achievement gap “has profound implications for the economy, society, families and democracy.†Also, what are the main reasons for Somali boys’ lack of interest in school? And what can be done to encourage more young boys to pursue and enjoy learning. Is our problem similar to the mainstream, if so can their suggestions work for Somalis as well?

 

Here is the Newsweek article

[Modesty]

I noticed that too khalid. Most of the guys in universities are older somali guys most of them I'm assuming have grown up back home. I see alot of younger guys basically lingering about, doing nothing, and I don't blame them. Many of them might not even have parental figures, maybe they were sent to the west without parents with a family they're not related to and who don't really care about them.Another thing that boys don't want to be studying (especially teenage ones) because they don't want their friends to see them as being "nerdy" which in their term is "uncool".

 

One of the reasons that the African American families tend to be matrilinial is because the black women is more likely to have a higher education than the black man, so naturally she chooses to stay single and raise her kids alone than be stuck with mr.uneducated.

[- Femme -]

It's a bit surprising isn't it considering that women/girls have only been entering the educational institutions less than a hundred years ago and already they're leaving men and boys in their dust. Some say the feminist movement has done alot to build the self esteem of girls at the expense of boys. It's just too many factors involved and I don't think one can really pin point it to just one cause.

[mantra]

its a conspiracy..

do you people not see? how is it that all men nowadays are useless?

someone out there is doing something to women who are pregnant with male embryos..theyre coming after me..

[Blessed]

If you run the word ‘women’ in SOL’s search feature or even google, you’ll find numerous articles defining, analysing and dictating womanhood. The same level of scrutiny can be found at the grassroots; across all societies women are made to prove their worth and at a young age girls are told that if they don’t work hard, if they don’t focus, they won’t get far in the world. This has sadly, taken the focus of boys. If you look at the Somali community a boy as young as 15 is allowed to roam around the streets late into the night, they aren’t given any responsibilities at home – whilst their sisters are treated like babies

 

. I remember, finding this disparity unfair to the girls when I was younger but now I think it’s unfair to the boys. I put my success in education and as a person in general is due to the constant guidance and molding of my elders. Sadly, I can’t say the same for the boys that I’m related to or those that I grew up with. I put that down to neglect. There’s also a lack of male role models in schools and youth clubs, so boys often don’t have an immediate role model to imitate. Add to that the fact that most Somali boys don’t have fathers at home and lest not forget the misrepresentation of the black man in the media. You’d have to be a real special guy to succeed in that environment and for that I respect all the brothers that made good.

 

As a community we really have to rethink about the way we raise our kids. *must go* I’ll add more another time I’a.