We need to rescue our boys

By WAYNE CAMPBELL

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

As our political leaders scramble to find solutions to the country's economic woes, we must as a
society urge our leaders in education to find ways and means of rescuing our boys, who for the
most part are sliding into a state of underachievement and underperformance at all levels of the
education system.

From as early as primary school we see our girls outperforming our boys in all the national
examinations, namely the Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy Tests, as well as the exit
examination, the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).

The crisis affecting our boys is not unique to Jamaica. Other islands of the Caribbean are also
experiencing similar issues. Developed societies such as the United Kingdom, the United States
of America and Australia are also grappling with the plight of boys' underachievement and how
to address the problem.

Male underachievement is more a socio-political issue than an educational one. Social and
cultural factors have influenced the various ways in which masculinity is defined not only in the
Jamaican society but societies all over. Masculinity and what it means to be a man does impact
on the education of our boys. Many boys view the school experience as feminine. Our boys' life
choices are severely circumscribed by the dominant notions of masculinity competing with
"multiple masculinities" in the society. For many boys, especially in a homophobic and
transphobic Jamaican society, they are forced to remove themselves from any association with
the feminine or curriculum areas related to same. One glaring example of boys removing
themselves from perceived feminine curriculum is the continuous poor performance of our boys
in English Language in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination.

Boys who speak or attempt to speak Standard English are called derogatory names and
ridiculed almost daily by their peers. The dominant notion of masculinity in the wider Jamaican
society is one in which to speak Standard English is tantamount of being isolated by one's peers
and the accompanying question marks which undoubtedly will follow surrounding one's sexual
orientation.

Not be outdone, our schools which mirror the wider society and space in which we occupy also
suffer from this. Not surprisingly, a significant number of our boys do not readily code switch
between the languages, instead they prefer to use and remain with the language of what
defines a man to be a man. Interestingly, even boys from a background of privilege and from
homes where Standard English is spoken are now struggling with the English Language as we
continue to see the intersection of class and gender and how this impacts the school experience
for our boys.

Our boys learn from quite early that having an education is not vital to be successful in life. In
fact, if we assess success in terms of material possessions in the Jamaican context, we will see
that an overwhelmingly majority of those men who are successful are those who did not excel at
scholastic pursuits. Many of these "successful" men in our society could be grouped in the
greater in the categories of (high) school drop-outs and those who have run afoul with the law.

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Related to the problem of boys' underachievement is the issue of our failing schools. There are
those among us who prefer not to use the term failing. However, these schools are just that
because they are unable to produce pupils with high levels of literacy and numeracy, which is a
must if we are going to find creative means of overcoming our economic issues. The problem of
failing schools is inextricably linked to poor leadership and management of those schools.

The interference of politics in the education system is the genesis of most of the ills affecting the
school system. We interfere in terms of how school principals are appointment, and once that is
done and known or perceived to be so, more challenges are adding to the already difficult task
or managing a school. Too many of our principals are politically appointees. Consequently, the
best and most suitable candidate is always denied the job if he/she does not have the political
backing. Then again, this is just the problem in the wider Jamaican society and therefore how
could we expect better in this sphere.

We can all conclude that enough research has been done in the arena of boys'
underachievement and underperformance and as such no more is required in order to address
the problem. The time is now at hand to find solutions and implement policies and programmes
to save our boys who will become irresponsible men if we do not rescue them.

Let us examine some of the solutions to the problem.

One way of attempting to address the plight of our boys who are now "disadvantaged" is by
"recuperative masculinity politics" which calls for a reasserting of masculine privileges in light of
the fact that the specific needs of boys are subsumed under the priority given to girls and
minorities.

We need to thrive for gender justice in our education system so that boys can benefit equally
from the teaching/learning experience.

There is also the need to urgently recast our current gender policy. One way of doing so is to
incorporate more men in the discourse to shape our national gender policy. It's ludicrous to think
that women only, or a gender board dominated by women can advocate the needs of our boys
and men. We also need to examine the possibility of creating so-called 'boy-friendly' curricula,
assessment and pedagogical practices. We now know that boys learn differently than girls and
therefore we should use this knowledge to refashion teaching methodologies that speak to both
sexes in the classroom.

Our teachers colleges and universities should be challenged and given incentives to create or
re-design new methods of teaching with a specific focus on boys. We need to create safe
spaces for boys at our schools and engage them in meaningful discussions about notions of
masculinity and get from them ideas and suggestions which could be implemented to address
their issues.

The society also needs to revisit how we ascribe and contribute 'success' to those endeavours,
which education is not necessarily a factor. The (undervalued) social currency which we now
use to judge success needs to be revalued. We need to "make over" the education system with
a macho view and "de-feminise" the education system.

We need to view the issue of male underperformance and underachievement with a sense of
urgency and dispatch, if not; we are going to continue to witness the spread of a deviant strand
of hyper masculinity sweeping across the education system. This reconstruction of masculinity
is already manifesting itself in all our schools. Our boys are wearing their school pants well
below their waist and at times exposing their undergarments. Our boys have altered their
uniforms, both the pants and shirts, so much that we can almost see all the contours of their
body. Those boys who wear the correct uniform are teased and referred to as "old". For many of
our misguided boys, to be young is to wear tight fitted khaki pants/uniform.

Our boys have become more violent in recent years even to the point of physically abusing
female teachers. Male teachers over the years have endured physical attacks from our boys;
however, this new attack on the female teachers by our boys should be viewed as a wake-up
call for school administrators and policy makers about the urgent need to rescue our boys. Boys
are bleaching their skin as much as the girls now. In fact, in some schools the majority of the
"bleachers" are boys. I will not even mention the fact that body painting or tattoo has all but
taken over the skin of many of our students. I ask myself where the parents are; obviously the
issue of parenting is for another time.
It is no secret that our boys are lacking in positive role models and therefore we need to employ
more male teachers. However, we should not just employ more male teachers in a vacuum. We
need to ensure that all our teachers are people of impeccable character. We need to
re-masculinise the education system and bring to the classroom a wide range of constructive
behaviours and masculinities which would challenge the hegemonic notions of masculinity and
facilitate our boys from all social classes and backgrounds to excel in their given field of choice.

Wayne Campbell is an educator