Neighborhood Ministries

Boys are increasingly tuning out school. Boys like a challenge and want to find out how things work. They also thrive on competition. In addition, they need to get out and move around regularly. They don’t like long sessions sitting down. Schools in the past were ideal for boys. They involved hands on learning, stressed grading which was based  on achievement, and had regular recesses to break up the day. Unfortunately, this placed girls at a disadvantage because girls like reading more than doing hands on projects, are more interested in going along with the crowd, than competing, and don’t mind long periods of sitting. Since the 1960’s, schools have increasingly gravitated towards learning facts and figures rather than how things work because multiple choice questions can be graded by machine where essay questions can’t, saving time. Grades and competitions are being eliminated in an attempt to make all students winners and avoid leaving anyone behind. In addition, recesses are being eliminated to make more time for learning. While these changes benefit girls, they leave boys frustrated. As a result, boys are turning to sports to excel and leaving academics behind. If fact, boys are dropping out of school at an alarming rate. More girls graduate from high school then boys. The same is true for college and master’s level schools. While teachers formerly tailored learning to individual learning styles within co-ed classrooms, more recently teachers seem unable or unwilling to do so and have assumed a one style fits all approach which benefits girls but turns boys off. An increasing number of public schools, as well as private schools are finding that boys and girls actually learn better when separated by gender and learning is tailored to their different learning styles. In elementary schools, it also helps by enabling students to focus on school. While our society pressures boys and girls to spend time together, boys and girls of elementary school age prefer to separate by gender. It is a time when they are recognizing their differences and seeking to discover who they are and mixing genders creates conflict between them. By separating them, it reduces the distraction and allows them to concentrate on their studies. Many churches have known that for years and when Sunday School classes are large enough, they have found dividing boys and girls is more important to class stability than separating each class by grade level, as long as there aren’t too many grades together.