<p>At my D’s NHS ceremony last evening over 3/4 of the inductees were female. (Don’t know the criteria for membership, but I think its seniors only and GPA).</p>
<p>Girls rule - boys should go to all boy schools. It’s a good kick in the pants.</p>
<p>Last week at my son’s NHS Induction Ceremony, about 50% of the Junior class was inducted. 100% were male. </p>
<p>(He attends an all-male HS!) :)</p>
<p>Besides GPA, our high school also requires community service hours, a recommendation signoff from an adult sponsor/coach of an extracurricular activity that the student is actively involved in, and an academic recommendation from one of their teachers.</p>
<p>In my opinion, girls just have it more “together” at that age then boys do. I realize that what I’m saying is a mass generalization and I don’t intend to offend anyone because there are obvious exceptions everywhere - probably YOUR kid. But my D is 18 and my S is 16 and while they are both very bright, she can run circles around him in terms of organization, doing the “right” things that make teachers absolutely love her, and, in general, dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s to make getting into NHS a breeze. </p>
<p>One of our guidance counselors told me that AS A WHOLE (another generalization) it takes boys until their junior year of high school to “get” what they need to do to succeed in school, while most girls figure it out freshman year. In my family, that’s been true.</p>
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Good one, CM2!</p>
<p>(Plug in “over-generalization” disclaimer here.)</p>
<p>Girls are generally better at teacher-pleasing than boys from about birth until senior year in high school. They sit quietly, follow instructions, and mature two or three years earlier. Combined with the fact that most teachers are women who value classroom obedience and decorum, boys are pretty much screwed. My sons have experienced both single-sex and coed classrooms and the former were unquestionably much better for them. When I read about the need to move GIRLS to single-sex classes I have to admit that I feel like I’m reading something from another planet. In my world, girls do better in school than boys all the way from Kindergarten into late high school.</p>
<p>YMMV. “Large personal variation.” &c.</p>
<p>At my son’s HS, nominated applicants also had to fill out a lengthy questionnaire, write a personal statement, and have a faculty member write a recommendation.</p>
<p>Only half the eligible kids got in too (from both jr and sr class), and my son didn’t have another one of his friends who got in too. And all those boys filled out the appropriate forms, did what they were supposed to do. Among those friends of DS’s, I am most impressed with the level of commitment and organization that they bring to both their schoolwork and extra-curriculars (these are all fellow musicians), so I wouldn’t in any way categorize <em>all</em> boys as disorganized late bloomers.</p>
<p>Ds middle school math teacher says studies have shown boys perform better when placed in co-ed versus single sex classrooms. Girls actually are more likely to show their intelligence, especially in math and science, when placed in single-sex classrooms. Is this true? 
</p>
<p>
Rick, I think there is a benefit, even though it is for different reasons than those that benefit boys. Simply put, with no boys in the classroom, girls will focus on their studies, and not on how to impress the boys or be noticed. Girls at all girl schools can surpress their need to primp & preen & flirt until the weekend rolls around. The girls can compete for academic honors & sports/EC leadership, rather than prom dates & male attention. Much more is accopmplished that way.</p>
<p>I agreee that much of the K-12 experience can be very girl-friendly & anti-boy.</p>
<p>tutu: I don’t buy the “hide your light under a bushel” story. I think both genders with their raging hormones can concentrate better if seperated for classes in h.s.</p>
<p>We TEACH girls to do that authority pleasing thing by rewarding them like crazy for sycophant behavior in primary, secondary and even tertiary education and then–WHAM! </p>
<p>The business world, the creative world, the academic world and all the other grown-up worlds do not reward authority-pleasing compliance. This is why supposedly successful 20 and 30-something females drop like flies into ‘feminine’ salaries and positions while men get all the goodies.</p>
<p>All the goodies–stress, strokes, heart attacks, premature death. Woo Hoo.</p>
<p>Tututaxi – The middle school math teacher is correct. The current data indicate that single-sex classrooms are more advantageous for girls. However, there are several methodological constraints and hence, there may be some additional factors that have not been controlled. However, self-reports from boys in single-sex classrooms are more negative, scrores do not go up uniformly, and behavioral disruptions increase dramatically. I teach thismaterial so I have some familiarity. It is a difficult problem - real sex differences and how to best address them to maximize the benefit to all kids.</p>
<p>My only problem with all the girls are vastly superior talk is the Math SAT section results. Scores over 750 are 60 to 65% male and have been for many years. It seems like the popularity contest NHS winners are female and the merit only math stars are male. Perhaps the bias of many judges, teachers, have a bigger part than we all care to admit.</p>
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<p>hee! good one barron :)</p>
<p>Two years ago when S1 got in NHS there were 50 inductees. 13 were boys.
Top 10 in his class… girls were #'s 1,3,4,5,7,8. #2 ,a boy, had much higher SAT’s than girl #1. He had great grades and was known to be the class genius but had taken one or two fewer weighted AP’s than girl #1 so her gpa was higher.</p>
<p>It’s cause the person who chooses the members is a feminist.</p>
<p>Sorry, both NHS advisors were male.</p>
<p>I hate these threads. The conservatives take them as an opportunity to talk about girls and their “pleasing” behaviour. Has anyone read any management books lately? Some people suggest that more “girl” behaviour would be good for America’s corporations. And please, wanna bet most of those girls in the top 10% of these high schools now are NOT pleasers and love to kick butt? </p>
<p>I know some teenaged girls. They do well in school because they figure out the system has perks and they aren’t caught up in trying to be a “man”. They aren’t trying to appear cool, to act like they don’t care, like they don’t have to listen to authority. Heck, the boys have trouble even figuring out what a “man” is. Let’s blame popular culture guys, the athletes who act rudely, the rappers who sing about ho’s, for the trouble boys get into. Blame the conflicted picture of manhood that America seems to have put out there. Along with opular culture and pure testosterone and developmental issues. Blaming the female teachers and the “pleasing” girls drives me nuts.</p>
<p>BTW, I have a boy too. Whom I love with all my heart. And who shows some of the traits discussed here. But damned if I am going to blame his performance on his female teachers or dismiss the girls as ***-kissers.</p>
<p>ff funny and true
alu, in the great pre-eloquent days of our youth, does not your accurate list of flaws and pitfalls that await the male and mould his innocense describe a condition that once was summarized as ‘coodies’?</p>
<p>(I do know the source of this phrase but happily didn’t then, in those days when jfk still smiled without trajedy)</p>
<p>With 3 ds, I know lots of teenaged girls, too, and many of them scare the crap out of me. I just don’t have much personal experience with the people-pleasing type. The ones I know are bossy, ambitious, and manifestly not in need of being rescued from anything.
This may be true - I’ve certainly read lots about how classrooms aren’t boy-friendly environments. But if you’re trying to teach the state-mandated curriculum, prepare a gazillion kids for the annual state assessment, maintain some kind of classroom order, and do the myriad other things we expect of our teachers - it’s only common sense to reward the behaviors that make your job easier.</p>