In “Animal Farm”, Old Major gives a speech telling the animals why they should rise up against the humans in charge of the farm, going as far as saying, “is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils in our life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings?” In short, Old Major was a revolutionary, seeking liberation from the human oppressors. Thomas is one of the founding fathers of our nation, as he wrote the famous pamphlet, “Common Sense”. Thomas Paine, like Old Major, “Address[ed] a mass audience unfamiliar with legal precedents, classical learning, and complex rhetoric, Paine strove for simplicity (Thomas Paine par. 4). An excerpt from “Common Sense” shows the similarities between the speeches: “O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her.—Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.” The main difference between the two is that Paine talks about England more respectfully than Old Major speaks of man. Yesterday, the staff assigned to helping the special needs kids came in to give us a presentation. Going toppinot the presentation, I felt guilty because I had always been scared of special needs people. They're just so unpredictable, and they don't have control over their own bodies. When they came in I was really on edge for this very reason, and the fact that they were yelling and making a lot of noise only made that worse. But I got a new perspective after the presentation,. They went through and told stories about each student, and that helped me realize that even though they don't act like most people, they still have personalities and emotions. This lesson has helped me be more comfortable around those with special needs.
In 2010, 27 percent of men completed college, while 36 percent of women completed their college education (Flannery par. 27). This is an alarming difference, and the root of the problem is within the primary and secondary schools. Nearly all of the surveys and studies of elementary schools show girls having better overall grades in general, especially in reading. This is problematic, as it is a generally known fact that neither gender is any smarter than the other, so the why do these statistics seem to show otherwise? The answer is simple; the school system is tailored for the girls and makes it harder for boys to succeed.
This problem can be traced all the way back to kindergarten. At such a young age, it is very apparent that the gender of the child affects the behaviors and their attitude towards learning. Boys tend to be much more unruly and hyperactive than their female counterparts. At this age, "girls are truly only outperforming boy in 'non-cognitive approaches to learning'... leading to better grades from teachers" (Bias against boys... par. 3). Girls are given better marks on assignments, as many grades are based on the behavior of the child. Since boys are not as well behaved and obedient, their grades often suffer. These lower grades can lead to decreased future opportunities, for employers and colleges look back at grades to make decision as to who gets a spot. a more short term effect is that these lower grades sets a trajectory for lower achievement academically. They may think they are less intelligent, leading to decreased effort and taking easier or "blow-off" classes. Some might not even qualify for advanced classes due to grades that aren't based on intelligence. These concerning facts show up in statistics, with a whopping 80 percent of high school drop-outs being male. It also affects their achievement in post high school education, as men make up 45 percent of colleges in a country where the male to female ratio is about even (Day par. 5). It's almost as if the education system is stacked against the boys. Another problem that boys have to face is that the curriculum used by most schools does not teach with a method beneficial to the average boy. Male brains are more inclined to learn from "interaction with the environment that allows sensory input" (Day par. 5). As schools shy away from recess and physical education, it has been "harmful to all kids, but more so for rambunctious boys than eager-to-please girls" (Christakis par. 4). Boys are a lot more active and competitive at a young age, and taking away their time to get their energy out and develop social and motor skills has been especially harmful. Boys are most likely to be kinesthetic learners, meaning they learn better from hands-on learning. Very few if any schools use teaching methods that cater to these needs, giving girls who are able to sit and listen an advantage over the hyperactive boys. A great solution would to introduce more activities where boys can get involved physically. A major reason that boys do poorly is because their teachers expect them to. This is called the Pygmalion effect, where the expectations that a person faces determines how they perform in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Unfortunately, many young men find themselves on the losing end of this (Hanna and Linden par. 1). The teacher's grading is very often biased by gender. A study done in 2010 by the London School of Economics shows that "students are aware of these biases, and this knowledge has an impact on how invested they are in their education" (Lawrence par. 2). The study took 1,200 students and had them write an essay. They were offered a monetary reward if they were able to predict how the gender of the teacher would affect the grading. The paper was then graded by a male teacher, a female teacher, and an outsider that didn't know the gender of the author. Male students were almost always able to identify that their grades would "suffer when assessed by female teachers compared to the grade given by an outside examiner" (Lawrence par. 4). The most concerning finding of this experiment was that males "tended to apply themselves less when taught by female teachers" because "they generally felt that their effort wasn't going to be appropriately acknowledged and rewarded" (Lawrence par. 6). The results of this study show how much harder it is for boys to succeed. Among British schoolteachers, only 15 percent are male, which means that 85 percent of boys have to deal with potentially biased grading. (Lawrence par. 7). If more parents were aware of this bias, they would be shocked and outraged; and understandably so. Possible solutions for this problem include pushing for more male teachers, or making grading anonymous until after it is graded. In conclusion, boys face many struggles as they go through their education, and this can harm their future prospects. They are given lower grades based on behavior, which closes off opportunities. The boys are forced to try to compete in a system designed for girls' method of learning. They are almost destined to fail, as teachers grade them worse than their female counterparts. We can fix these problems if the schools and the parents realize that there is a bias within our education system. Some may ask why we should care, and there is a very simple answer; these young men are the future of our country, and we should do everything we can to protect that future. Works Cited Christakis, Erika. "Do Teachers Really Discriminate Against Boys?" Time. Time, 6 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Day, Lori. "Why Boys Are Failing in an Educational System Stacked Against Them -." The Good Men Project. N.p., 28 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Flannery, Mary Ellen. "Why Girls Are Outperforming Boys in School." NEA Today. N.p., 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Hanna, Rema M., and Leigh L. Linden. "Staff Nurses Claim Sex Discrimination in Grading." Nursing Standard 3.46 (1989): 7. Harvard University. Web. Lawrence, Julia. "Students Can Detect Teachers' Gender Bias, Boys Suffer Most." Education News. Education News, 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. |
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