Saving our Boys

By Greg Griffiths

The practical application of recent research  to improve outcomes for boys has been the focus of my work. Teachers/ administrators/ caregivers leave workshops with ideas that they can use immediately and processes that can be implemented over the longer term.

Techniques/  skills developed over more than twenty years of experience

• Language: English
• Publisher: STAMPA GLOBAL
• Release date: Sep 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781951585129

Book preview

Copyright ©2019 Greg Griffiths

Contents

Introduction

Some differences

1. Sex

2. Gender

3. Health

4. Longevity

5. Education

6. Employment

7. Communication

8. Anger

9. Incarceration

What can be done?

'E'ngagement for boys

1. Personal Best

2. Male involvement in schools

3. School Welfare - BAPS

4. Consistent Rules

5. Single sex classes

‘e’ngagement for boys

1. Talking & listening

2. Instructions

3. Reading

4. Writing

5. Activity

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Appendix 4

Appendix 5

Appendix 6

Appendix 7

References

Young Australian men are in crisis, with half feeling stressed and nearly 1 in 10 having thoughts about suicide

I wanna play cricket on the green

Ride my bike across the stream

Cut myself and see my blood

I wanna come home all covered in mud

Chorus

I’m a boy, I’m a boy

But my ma won’t admit it

I’m a boy, I’m a boy, I’m a boy (repeat)¹

Introduction

For most of us even if we do have a preference for a boy or a girl, we are rarely disappointed in the baby we are presented with but some couples would go through almost anything including travelling overseas to undergo IVF to choose the sex of their next child.

The natural male-to-female birth ratio seems to be around 105 males:100 females, but it’s not a simple algorithm, and speculation is that the natural sex imbalance at birth may be evolution’s way of evening things out.

Worldwide, there are on record about 107 male babies born for every 100 female babies². However, in recent times there has been a rise in the ratio of boys to girls at birth in several countries, mostly located in Asia, suggesting prenatal sex selection to the disadvantage of girls.

In economically developed countries, as well as developing countries, studies have found that the human sex ratio at birth has historically varied between 94:100 and 115:100. However, in more recent times there is suggestion that countries considered to have significant practices of prenatal sex-selection are those with birth sex ratios of 108:100 and above (selection against females) and 102:100 and below (selection against males).³

In Australia a La Trobe University study (reviewing 8654 mothers who had migrated from China or India to Victoria and given birth between 1999 and 2015) released August 2018, suggested higher rates of male offspring for mothers who had migrated from China or India. Overall, Victorian birth rates by sex over the time of the study were close to the natural 105:100 but mothers who had migrated from China or India⁴ were having 111 boys to every 100 girls on their second pregnancy, and 114:100 on third and subsequent pregnancies.

Setting parameters for discussion

Skewed birth ratios appear partly due to:

• natural factors influencing whether a sperm containing a Y sex chromosome or one containing only X chromosomes will be first to fertilize an egg, such as

o parental ages,

o environmental exposure,

o stress,

o the stage in the mother’s ovulation cycle,

o whether the mother has previously had children,

o paternal age,

o plural birth,

o birth order,

o gestation weeks,

o race,

o parent’s health history,

• non-natural factors, such as:

o sex-selective abortion

o the sex based killing of infants

o stress

These are basic groupings, and every reader can think of situations that affect stress (eg. affecting potential parenting decisions), such as warfare, awareness of genocidal intent by influential (possibly conflicting) groups, nationalistic/ethnic/cultural/racist and other issues that might affect parents’/offspring livelihood and childhood perceptions consequentially placing either/both parents at higher risk in several other health categories, or on a more mundane level, employment security, especially maternal desire for employment promotion, desire to travel, inability to secure permanent housing and many other influences that affect decisions about when to have children and can often increase stress at that time and alter the probability of any offspring. The relative importance of these headings can change dramatically for individual couples on a nearly daily basis .

However, countries with significant longer term birth imbalance by sex (usually pro male) have three general characteristics in common⁵:

• there is a decline in fercundity;⁶

• there is pressure for offspring of the preferred sex; and

• there is widespread access to technology to selectively abort

Post natal

Male infants suffer more often from health complications than female infants⁷. All other things being equal, more baby boys will die in their first year. However, global data suggests that many recorded female infants deaths are avoidable.

Discrimination appears to surface very early in life:

Studies suggest:

• a girl in India, from 1 to 5 years of age, dies from discrimination every four minutes (132,000 deaths per year);

• 39,000 girls in China die annually, within the first year of life, because parents did not give girls the same medical care and attention that boys receive. (Congo, Kenya, Pakistan, Iraq, Bahrain, Thailand are also cited) ⁸

Moving through life male children and youths take more risks and older males kill each other and themselves more often, all of which cause them on average to die younger.

These factors may encourage sex imbalance, but there are other more immediate and in the short term probably more influential factors:

• warfare: notably in the wake of WWI in western Europe, and WWII, particularly in the Soviet Union (excess of females); more recently, execution on a large scale of male prisoners and/or non-combatants in middle east and eastern European conflicts.

• sex-selective abortion and infanticide (excess of males, notably in China as a result of the one-child policy, or in India); and

• large-scale migration by males seeking income who cannot bring their families with them (as in Qatar and other Gulf countries⁹.

• countries on the Arabian peninsula tend to have a very high ratio of males over 65 years of age (per 100 females: Saudi Arabia 113, Arab Emirates 273, Qatar 284 males ), indicating a difference in mortality rate for females or a below-average mortality rate for males (or, perhaps a large population of ageing male guest workers divorced from their families).

• countries of Northern and Eastern Europe (the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia) tend to have ‘normal’ ratios at birth but low ratios of males:females among those over 65 years of age: Russia 46:100, Latvia 48:100, Ukraine 52:100; similarly, Armenia has a far above average male ratio at birth 117:100, and a below-average male ratio above 65 years of age (67:100). This may be caused by emigration and/or higher male mortality as a result of higher Soviet era deaths. Other possible contributory factors are an ageing population, with a higher than normal proportion of relatively elderly people (noting that women outlast men - on average) and alcohol abuse.

There are repercussions: Higher ratios of males: females make it easier for women to marry, but harder for men.¹⁰ In parts of China and India, there is a 12–15% excess of young men. Many men will remain single and will be unable to have families. In societies where marriage is regarded as virtually universal and social status and acceptance depend, in a large part, on being married and creating a new family, this can have devastating social effects¹¹

The First World G7 members all have a gender ratio in the range of:

• 95 - 98 males per 100 females for the total population;

• 105 - 107 males per 100 females at birth;

• 105 - 106 males per 100 females for the group below 15 years of age;

• 100 - 104 males per 100 females for the group aged 15–64 years of age; and

• 70 - 75 males per 100 females for those over 65 years of age.

An overall picture begins to materialise: ¹²Averaging the total human population, the ratio of men to women is much more even at 101:100.

Countries with more males than females:

¹³

worldbysexmajority.jpg

• Pink = Female higher than male

• Green = Equal

• Blue = Male higher than female

• Grey = No data¹⁴

A man finds out what is meant by a spitting image when he tries to feed cereal to his infant¹⁵.

In Australia there are geographic areas which may for similar reasons as described above have varying sex ratios:

¹⁶

How does this reflect in schools?

Globally in schools more boys are attending longer, but this should be interpreted with a little concern as it would seem that more boys are attending longer in some parts of the world where girls are discouraged from attending. However, in those countries where enrolment is not determined by sex there appears to be a clear indicator that girls attend school longer. Whether the ‘length’ of schooling implies a ‘quality’ of schooling is another issue. ¹⁷ Whether length of schooling has any implication for engagement in education and participation in whole school offering is another question, and will be addressed in the Australian context a little later.

In Australia:

In 2017 there were 3,849,225 students enrolled in schools across Australia, representing an increase of 50,999 (1.3%) on 2016.

In September 2017 ABS Gender Indicators noted the retention rates by sex for students from Year 7 to Year 12 have narrowed 2006 - 2016, though males remain behind¹⁸:

Government schools’ share of student enrolments increased to 65.6% in 2017, up from 65.4% in 2016 (Catholic schools’ enrolment made 19.9% to independent schools 14.5%). This continued the shift towards government schools observed since 2015. In the 20 years prior to this there was a shift towards non-government schooling.¹⁹

Student enrolment data for 2018 for each state by system, sex and whether indigenous are in Appendix 7.

A moment about teaching:

In 2016, approx. 85% of primary school teachers worldwide were appropriately trained, but:

• only 71% in southern Asia; and

• only 61% in sub Saharan Africa.²⁰

There might be some consideration, that there could be a difference in the ‘quality’ of education provided in less developed nations (generally with a greater male student population) than that in more developed nations (generally with a greater female student population).

This might suggest that the geographic areas in which boys are attending more years are the areas in which the staff are trained less, and the reverse appears true: girls are attending more years in the areas in which the staff are better trained.

A moment about the classroom:

It would also seem that research is suggesting that the traditional classroom is not set up for boys²¹ and:

• at the very base level there is a rejection of process by boys that affects learning²².

• there is generalized difference in learning process by sex²³

While studies on compatability of the classroom by sex have generally been in more economically developed societies, classroom structure is not so different in less developed countries.

The issue may not be quantity, rather than quality.

Some Australian sex based differences

the nineties:

oboys are significantly more ‘disengaged’ with schooling and are more likely to be at ‘risk’ of academic achievement - especially in literacy

omales make up over 90% of the prison population

oboys exhibit significantly greater externalising behaviour problems

o50% of consultations to paediatricians at tertiary referral hospitals relate to behaviour problems with a ratio of boys 9: girls 1

oboys constitute 75 - 85% of grade 1 - 2 children identified for Reading Recovery intervention

oboys have a significantly higher prevalence of auditory processing problems, attention deficit diagnoses, schizophrenia, dyslexia and dyspraxia.

oboys report significantly less positive experience in schooling in terms of enjoyment of school, curriculum usefulness and teacher responsiveness.

oboys are more likely to ‘drop out’ prematurely. 1994 - 1998 Australian national estimates indicate 30% of boys did not complete all schooling years, nor did 20% of girls.

oboys are subject to more disciplinary actions during school, are more likely to participate in delinquent behaviours, alcohol and substance abuse, and during adolescence are 4 - 5 times more likely then girls to suffer from depression and commit suicide (Rowe 2000a).

The question is whether this has changed?

the naughties

o in NAPLAN²⁴ literacy assessments 2008 - 2017 girls’ means outscore boys’

o males continue to make up over 90% of the prison population

o in 2005, 50% of males aged 15 and over had at some time been a victim of violence. Just over 10% had experienced violence in the 12 months to 2005.²⁵

o boys exhibit significantly greater externalising behaviour problems.

o school behaviour records (anecdotally²⁶) show over-representation of boys.

o court records indicate significant increase in convictions for young males for rape

o 50% of consultations to paediatricians at tertiary referral hospitals relate to behaviour problems with a ratio of boys 9: girls 1

o boys constitute 75 - 85% of grade 1 - 2 children identified for Reading Recovery intervention

o boys have a significantly higher prevalence of auditory processing problems, attention deficit diagnoses, schizophrenia, dyslexia and dyspraxia.

o boys report significantly less positive experience in schooling in terms of enjoyment of school, curriculum usefulness and teacher responsiveness.

o in 2011 across Australia 73% of girls and 66% of boys completed Year 12. However in NSW while girls’ completion rates have remained stable 2002 - 2011 (72 - 73%), boys have increased significantly²⁷.

o while suicide rates have declined over the decade males are more likely to be engaged.

o nearly one in ten young men are having thoughts about suicide²⁸

Some differences

Tried so hard to be a man, a man, a man

I made my bed now I’m gonna lie in it

Seems instead like I’m gonna die in it

Where did I go wrong

I tried so hard to see

I tried so hard to be a man, a man, a man²⁹

1. Sex

To a young boy, the father is a giant from whose shoulders you can see forever³⁰

Male and female bodies are different at the cellular level, without making any comment on either being better or worse. Inside every cell of our body is DNA, which is a manual for all of the body’s structures and functions. A typical human’s DNA is contained in 23 pairs of chromosomes. Chromosomes are long, stringy aggregates of genes that carry heredity information. They are composed of DNA and proteins and are located within the nucleus of our cells. Chromosomes determine everything from hair colour and eye colour to sex.

genes.jpg

³¹

Sex chromosomes have evolved over thousands of years, originating from two identical chromosomes. The 23rd pair of chromosomes determines whether a body is male or female. Except in the case of reasonably rare anomalies, the 23rd pair of female cells have two X chromosomes, and male cells have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. The presence or absence of the Y chromosome is what determines sex - the Y chromosome contains several genes that are crucial to testes formation.

While the X chromosome has remained large throughout evolution, with about 2000 genes, the Y chromosome lost most of its genetic material and now retains less than 100 of its original genes. That’s led some to:

• hypothesize differences in disease susceptibility between men and women³².

• hypothesizing that the chromosome is largely dispensable and could shrink away entirely. In some circles there has been thought that the bundle of DNA that determines maleness would be defunct within five million years,

• hypothesizing that the sex chromosome, which shrank millions of years ago, retains the handful of genes that it does, not by chance, but because they are key to survival.

According to research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, USA if this DNA change is to be the effect that causes the disappearance of men it will not be for at least 50 million years³³.

Many males are now probably sighing in relief! We can plan our future. Is this why so many young boys will not set goals? That males might vanish in 5 million years means that it is a waste of time to plan for next week!! But now that MIT have cleared up this misconception and males’ use by date is about 50 million years into the future (all other things disregarded) - all is now good.

We can get on with life and plan for next Christmas.

Of the few genes located on the Y chromosome some are related to sperm production and other physiologically masculine traits. A gene known as the sex-determining region of the Y chromosome (SRY), for example, starts the cascade of testosterone that makes the male fetus different from females.

The Y chromosome also includes a gene that relates to the brain, (although scientists haven’t as yet determined precisely what this gene does) and it has copies of some genes.³⁴

It’s not quite like running out of a cup of sugar, or borrowing a bat.

X%20and%20Y.jpg

35

One of the jokes that some women sometimes make at the expense of men is that a Y chromosome is really a broken X. Images of X and Y chromosomes might enhance this conclusion. Y chromosomes are a fraction of the size of