The 2014 SEA results are out and again the girls have outperformed boys across the board. Today in the Express newspapers a letter by David Subran titled, “How to Help Boys do better at school” complimented Kevin Baldeosingh’s recent article – “Why are our boys under-performing in school?” Mr Subran appears to have not gotten the point as Mr Baldeosingh was not very complimentary about the two UWI lecturers he interviewed for his article – Raymond Hackett (Education) and Gabrielle Hosein (Gender Studies) . Mr Baldeosingh quoted ‘nontraditional’ feminist Christina Hoff Summers works on the failing of boys to discredit the suggestions of the two UWI ‘experts’. This opinions of the two UWI lecturers are a mish mash of “unproven feminist theory” and about not really knowing “what boys want”, to Ms Hosein focusing on “girls”. Baldeosingh touched on 2009 Education Ministry report, although titled “Gender Issues in Education and Intervention Strategies to Increase Participation Of Boys” found that boys were performing badly but concluded that policy-makers “should ensure that programmes to raise achievement seek to do so for all students, rather than simply focusing on boys.”
We would like to commend Mr Baldeosingh as he points out a very significant problem that is probably at the root of a lot of the social problems in Trinidad and Tobago – Boys are ignored, and no one cares! In most of the western world – this is a norm. Focus on Girls and Women – regardless of the cost. It’s politically correct and even worse to criticize it. Take the recent Boko Haram kidnapping of 200 female students. Boko Haram was kidnapping killing boys during the preceding months – Hilary Clinton as SS in the US even refused to support the idea that they were Terrorists. It was estimated that in the preceding months before the girls were kidnapped – they had murdered almost 2000 civilians (mostly boys and men) up until August for 2014 alone. But when this is pointed out the messengers are labeled as misogynists. This is relevant because it shows the prevailing ideology in our culture – that boys are not worth thinking about.
Let’s get into understanding of what goes on as boys grow up in today’s female dominated environment. By female dominated we are talking about the about of face time boys get with their mothers, care givers, pre and primary school teachers – most of which are predominantly female. Over the past several decades for whatever reasons children have less and less contact with male authority figures. The reasons are multifaceted – the least of which is not the increase in “single mothers” households – especially in these problem areas of Trinidad & Tobago. There is a body of research in psycho-biology that suggest that boys actually need more attention and nurturing than girls. The trend by most care givers across the spectrum has been to treat boys more roughly and even with violence. Girls react differently compared to boys to abuse, often withdrawing and internalizing the experience – while boys externalize with impulsive and hyperactive actions. While a discussion on this subject is outside of this article – we can see the hypothesis of why we have problem behaviors in boys that are neglected. Indeed, some scientists have proposed these differences are due to the smaller size of the corpus callosum in the brains of boys. This neglect can lead to poor development in the prefrontal cortices which is responsible for self-control and empathy.
It is against this framework that we begin to see emerging the causes of our aggressive male problem in many parts of Trinidad and Tobago. The changes in the roles of women over the past several decades as well as the change in our schools and learning environments to suit the needs of girls may have brought out about a very significant problem over the decades. Women rights have lead to the recognition that women are free to work and function as they please. More and more feminists have been advocating for the complete abolishment of “Gender Roles”. Far from it some of them believe that Gender is a social construct and that biology needs to be rewritten to suit this hypothesis – if you can all it one. There is no doubt that women who work and have children see their lives as more stressful and unmanageable. In fact this have given rise to all the social programs supporting single mothers and women as a whole. We have failed is to ensure that boys needs are adequately taken care of. Many of the experts take pride in identifying boys as problematic. Psychiatry have invented new disorders to ‘treat’ their problematic behaviors with dangerous drugs whose effects and efficacy are not properly understood. Why haven’t we seen studies showing how these changes in politics and social norms have impacted the outcome in boys? Let’s get one thing very clear – Boys are very important. Without them we would not have Mozart, Da Vinci,Newton, Einstein, Abraham Lincoln or even Bill Gates. Unfortunately we also have Hitler and Jack the Ripper, for which there are no female equivalents. So make your pick – Trinidad & Tobago, Where are we heading?
Men Against Feminism - Trinidad & Tobago 