Something like this? Actually, I appreciate the initiative of Dr. Sax. Most psycholgists and psychiatrists are so politically correct they are unable to state the obvious. All-boys schools are an idea whose time has come again.
Posted on 07/09/2005 5:35:25 PM PDT by NYer
NEW YORK, JULY 9, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Boys and girls have marked physical and psychological differences and hence they have to be educated differently. This is the thesis of a book published earlier this year by psychologist and family doctor Leonard Sax.
In "Why Gender Matters" (Random House), he takes issue with the modern tendency toward gender-neutral child-rearing. According to this theory boys and girls behave differently because of the way they are educated, or because of cultural factors. Sax describes how in the mid-1990s he began to see more and more young boys arrive at his office with requests for medication, due to their supposed attention-deficit disorder.
The real problem, Sax eventually discovered, was that the second- and third-graders were being educated by teachers who did not understand the differences in how boys and girls learn. For a start, he explains, a girl's sense of hearing is more sensitive than that of boys, so the tone of voice used by a female teacher may be fine for the girls, but does not engage a boy's attention.
This experience sparked off Sax's interest in the subject of sex-based differences. His research showed that behavioral differences are not just caused by cultural factors. Research into men and women who have suffered strokes reveals that in men the left and right hemispheres of the brain are strongly compartmentalized, with the former dedicated to verbal skills and the latter to spatial functions. This division does not exist in women, who use both hemispheres of the brain for language.
And analysis of human brain tissue shows that there is a difference in its composition, at the level of the proteins. This difference is not due to hormonal changes that occur at puberty, but is something innate and is present even in children.
Sax also notes that girls and women can generally interpret facial expressions better than most boys and men. He cites research carried out at Cambridge University, showing that even young babies reveal differences in the way they pay attention to objects. Female babies are more interested in other people's faces, while male babies prefer to pay attention to moving objects.
Seeing differently
In fact, evidence exists that from the composition of the retina to the way images are processed by the brain, there are notable differences between males and females. This results in females being more aware of differences in color and texture, while males discern with greater facility location, direction and speed.
This difference is then reflected in the toys that young children prefer -- dolls for girls and trucks for boys -- and the type of pictures they draw, with girls using more colors and including more people in their drawings.
This has consequences when it comes to schooling, Sax explains. Given that most kindergarten teachers are women they tend to encourage their students to draw people and to use lots of colors. This can lead to discouragement among boys, whose different style of drawing is not appreciated by the teacher, leading them to conclude that "art is for girls."
Male and female differences are also evident in the way people navigate. Men are more likely to use abstract concepts such as north and south, and to refer to distances. Women, by contrast, prefer using visual landmarks. Neuroscientists have found, Sax noted, that even by the age of 5 the male brain uses a different part of the brain to navigate, the hippocampus, while the female brain relies on the cerebral cortex.
Feelings
Notable differences also exist in how emotions are handled. Children are generally not capable of analyzing their emotions, because this area of their brain has not yet developed. In adolescence, emotions are increasingly dealt with by the cerebral cortex, the area of the brain associated with higher cognitive functions.
But this change is far more pronounced in girls' brains than in those of boys. So, if at school adolescents are asked by their teachers to write or talk about their emotions this places boys at a disadvantage.
Another area with marked differences between males and females is in the willingness to accept risk. Most boys enjoy taking risks, and are also impressed by other boys who take risks. This is not the same for girls, who generally are less likely to seek out risky situations just for the sake of it. Boys are also more likely to disobey their parents when told not do something risky.
Sax explained that while boys enjoy doing risky things, they also systematically overestimate their own ability, whereas girls are likely to underestimate it. Researchers at Boston University noted that almost all drowning victims are male, for example. They concluded that a major contributing factor to this was that males consistently overestimated their swimming ability.
Boys are also more attracted to violence and conflict -- for example, in their reading preferences -- than girls are. And in their relations with others, boys are notably readier to fight and to respond aggressively than girls.
Friendships are also carried out differently. Girls tend to organize their friendships around spending time together, talking and going to places. Friendships among boys, however, revolve around a common interest in games and activities, with conversation and secret-sharing not holding a high priority.
Brain development
Learning methods between the sexes vary greatly too. Most girls, Sax explained, naturally tend to seek out a teacher's help, are more likely to follow instructions, and to do their homework. Boys, by contrast, will generally only consult a teacher as a last resort and are less likely to study if they find a subject uninteresting.
And when it comes to motivating students, boys respond well to stress created by confrontation or time-constrained tasks, an approach that does not give good results for girls.
Sax is careful to point out that every child is unique and, also, that not all boys or all girls are the same. At the same time, he writes, this "should not blind us to the fact that gender is one of the two great organizing principles in child development -- the other principle being age."
Girls and boys, he explained, differ substantially in the speed with which their brains mature. The various regions of the brain develop in a different sequence in girls compared to boys. Therefore, rather than saying that boys develop more slowly than girls, it is more accurate to affirm that girls and boys develop at a different pace. Language skills develop earlier in girls, for example, while spatial memory matures earlier in boys.
In fact, Sax argued, these differences in cerebral capacities between the sexes are larger and more important during childhood and adolescence than the differences between adults, when both males and females have reached full maturity.
This difference, he argues, should be acknowledged by educators, and then used positively. Just trying to stop boys from fighting among themselves or playing dangerous games, for example, is insufficient. The solution is not to try and eliminate this aggression in males, but to transform it by providing constructive alternatives.
And when it comes to teaching, instead of prescribing medications to boys to treat attention problems, a better solution would be to separate the sexes and use teaching methods appropriate for each sex. In a word: letting boys be boys.
This is why you can't read a map, but you always know when we have passed someplace before.
Something like this? Actually, I appreciate the initiative of Dr. Sax. Most psycholgists and psychiatrists are so politically correct they are unable to state the obvious. All-boys schools are an idea whose time has come again.
I'll never forget a comment that an astute teacher made to me one day about "schools breaking little boys' spirits".
What a novel idea. Quit teaching them to be wimps and whiney caring little brats.
A boy is the only thing God can make a man out of.
They know what they are doing. Refer to your tagline.
good post
Great post!
Thank you for your insightful comments to this thread! They tell me that my first sentence as a child was phrased in the form of a question and I still tend to approach problem solving by posing questions. I want to have all the pieces before assembling a response, if that makes any sense.
From the early years, I was proficient in language. After learning French, I moved on to Italian and then 'picked up' different Italian dialects. Language has always fascinated me, especially since words often get in the way of properly describing emotions. Here again, I find myself wanting to learn the ancient language that developed a thought, since contemporary translations often ignore nuances in the original language.
He is probably hoping medical science will allow him to breastfeed one day. Sometimes I think real men are a dying breed.
The Pedagogy of the Difference was created at the end of the 1900 by Sutton-Smith... Nothing new.
Guess my sarcasm was not evident enough.
Excellent observations. Of course there are great female authors, so it's not exactly fair to paint the entire gender with one brush. But I think women's pragmatism stems from the fact that females, as a sex, evolved as specialists, designed for a specific function, which not only makes them vulnerable, but makes them lean toward perspectives that redound to their safety and security. Men, on the other hand, have got to take risks, because if they don't (and this is a gross oversimplification) there might not be food on the table for tomorrow, or the tribe next door might wipe you out.
You made perfect sense and yes, I completely understand your desire to learn more about the origins of language.
Heloise is another brilliant historical female mind (of Abelard and Heloise). Her writing is extraordinary.
Austin's unique perspective in her many works also reflect your sentiments.
Bronte and Shelley break the mold, with fabulous results.
Historical factors may have also played on part in the prominence of masculine great works. Women were typically the connecting point between the family and the rest of society; as a result, their attentions were devoted to not just home and family, but to maintaining the bonds between their families and other families. This served to occupy the vast majority of their time, leaving room for little else. Great historical female writers may have gone unnotice or failed to flourish for sheer lack of time.
Improbable? Not really. My own experience is such that after the birth of my first child, my writing took a back seat to the needs of my son. After my daughter came, I found myself in near retirement status. Only now, several years later, am I finding a few moments here and there to write. Given the tools available to our ancestors, it is actually easier for me to put together 30 pages of material than it was for them...by virtue of the fact that I can type 100 words per minute, versus writing them with quill and ink, or pen and pencil by hand.
Subtlety doesn't work for some of us, we have to be hit in the head.
LOL...
I get ribbed about my dry wit. Sometimes it is just plain parched.
later pingout.
Homosexual Agenda + Moral Absolutes Twofer/Pinger.
Doesn't your jaw go slack that it took lots and lots of money and highly education intellectuals to tell us what many of us understand already?
Men and boys are really different, in many ways, from women and girls. Neither is worse or better. Where would either of them be without the other?
But these differences are mental, emotional and physical. Deep inside we all have the same needs, deep inside we are all created by the Supreme as eternal souls. That's where the real equality is. Feminism is a vile attempt to make everyone equal in a rubberstamp method. It kills real individuality, and forces people into molds they're not suited for.
Freepmail me if you want on/off either pinglist.
Bump and ping.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.