GENDER CONSIDERATIONS: THE MALE STUDENT

As has been said recently, there may actually be more than one single principle in child development - one is surely age, but an additional one might just be gender. There is a difference in opinion as to what statistics really say, but there is no denying that boys are 30% more likely than girls to flunk out of high school, and that they make up a significantly lower percentage of student bodies on college campuses. Although there is tremendous argument about gender tendencies in this politically correct world, there is little doubt that males are “wired” differently than females, and differences must be taken into account in the classroom. The following list of considerations should be heeded for males – although surely there are exceptions within gender, each statement in general tends to be true for the majority of the males -

1. Males lag girls developmentally in language skill, and are not as developmentally ready to read and write when entering kindergarten. Boys tend to face more discouragement early in education than do females.
2. Males process emotion in the more primitive parts of the brain (females process in the Neo Cortex), and males are more prone to seek out risky or dangerous activities because their autonomic (fight or flight) systems yield feelings of pleasure. Because of a tendency for recklessness, it is ever more important with males that they be supervised to eliminate chances for physical injury.
3. Males respond well to strict and authoritarian discipline (fair): warm and fuzzy discipline can actually be counterproductive.
4. Salutations for and from male students should be formal (What is your answer, Mr. Johnson?).
5. Males process threat and confrontation differently than females. Rather than having a numbing of sensation and a withdrawal (the female autonomic nervous system is influenced more by the parasympathetic nervous system, driven by acetylcholine rather than adrenaline. Females often get an unpleasant, nauseated feeling in response to stress) males are energized as their autonomic nervous system is driven by adrenaline. So when they are stressed, they may experience a “thrill” or tingling excitement. Male senses sharpen in response to stress - females generally numb.
6. Exposure to stress improves learning in males (impairs it in females), as it enhances the growth of neural connections in the male hippocampus.
7. Males are energized by confrontation and time-constrained tasks. They tend to enjoy competitive questioning, team drills, timed tasks.
8. Boys need competition and aggression (used to be possible in PE class before the replacement of traditional sports with aerobic activities, stationary bikes and jogging). They need socially acceptable outlets for their aggressive impulses (soccer, basketball, etc.).
9. Males do not hear as well as females. Need higher volume than females - routine seating at front of class is best.
10. Males prefer non-fiction to fiction, newspaper articles, and action (war stories with struggle and action) rather than stories that center on behavior motives and relationships. They enjoy male protagonists that are exciting, rather stories that center on characters’ experiences or emotional agonies.