11 Plus Exams Forum

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... chool.html

I know this didn't have to be in the indep thread but thought it tied in with some recent debates and that Tipsy would especially enjoy it, , especially the line "girls outperform boys because they are nicer".

Well boys are much nicer than girls. Girls are caniving b*****s - just look at the forums on the internet. Girls are smarter in the sense that they do what they should to look good whereas boys are straight forward and harmless, even if it is to their academic detriment!

CM - you've put MODship back at least 6 months by starting this thread!

As the mother of 2 girls and 1 boy, I have to agree with Tipsy's sentiments about them.

Girls are sooooooooo much more complex

T.i.p.s.y wrote:Well boys are much nicer than girls. Girls are caniving b*****s - just look at the forums on the internet. Girls are smarter in the sense that they do what they should to look good whereas boys are straight forward and harmless, even if it is to their academic detriment!

CM - you've put MODship back at least 6 months by starting this thread!

Do I sense some feeling on this subject

I was drawn to this article because of its highly simplistic headline.

Seriously I would not label all girls in that way , any more than I would say all boys are aggressive. It took a while to find some kindred spirits but DD1 has some gorgeous friends at her single sex school and few disputes.

I think it is wrong to use the word "nice" in this article for what is actually a greater ability in girls to conform to traditional teaching methods and practice.But that is a huge generalisation.

Re the last comment do you think my career in diplomacy should be on hold too?

Snowdrops wrote:As the mother of 2 girls and 1 boy, I have to agree with Tipsy's sentiments about them.

Girls are sooooooooo much more complex

I think a lot of the relational issues/ cattiness are the flip sides to female strengths.The down side is the "she's not my friend anymore / squabbles " but the strength is the depth of the relationships we form when we find our true friends.
Girls do not stay in the "shallow end" of relationships and that brings joy and pain.

All such articles are based in generalisations that have a little truth in them.My daughter had the worst bullying and nastiness from boys but I know girls can be hideous at times too.

if this article tells us anything useful , it tells us that perhaps some schools need to adapt their approaches to bring the best out of boys too.

Are you trying to scrape your way back into the MODS' goodbooks?

T.i.p.s.y wrote:Are you trying to scrape your way back into the MODS' goodbooks?

Who are these powers that be anyway? Are they incognito?

With a DS of 14 and a DD of 11 I can confirm that the DS is so much easier! DD is in Year 6 and is now looking forward to starting at a new school with none of her old friends going there. The last few months have been a nightmare with the fallings out/ b****ing/ etc which are still dominating what should be a lovely time at the end of Primary school. I never had any of this with DS. Boys are so straight forward and girls far more complex, but isn't that true when they're adults as well!!
There are obviously exceptions to all this but talking to other Mums (Dads don't seem to notice as much!) it appears that the majority conform to the above.

sp wrote:With a DS of 14 and a DD of 11 I can confirm that the DS is so much easier! DD is in Year 6 and is now looking forward to starting at a new school with none of her old friends going there. The last few months have been a nightmare with the fallings out/ b****ing/ etc which are still dominating what should be a lovely time at the end of Primary school. I never had any of this with DS. Boys are so straight forward and girls far more complex, but isn't that true when they're adults as well!!
There are obviously exceptions to all this but talking to other Mums (Dads don't seem to notice as much!) it appears that the majority conform to the above.

I have 3 girls.The amount of squabbling they have gotten involved with has had more to do with their personality type than their gender.

As I only have girls, when there are tough times, I don't think "that's because they are a girl" , rather I see it as a combination of factors around their personality and how others interact with it.

I too have a year 6 daughter.She hardly EVER gets into arguments.She knows how to see both sides and if she can't make peace, she backs off and goes and plays elsewhere.She is the only one in a class of 30 going to grammar, she is not phased and has let the occasional negative comment wash over her.She is easy going but also secure enough not to rise to baiting.

DD1 is more headstrong and had more of the kind of trouble you describe SP ,although the worst of it came from boys.

If DD2 was a boy I would think"boys are so much easier" but because I have all girls, as I said, I think her easy time at school is down to personality type not necessarily gender.
People who have both boys and girls tend to put " differences" down entirely to gender.

Last point - when DD1 was small, she had all the "problems" some associated with boys .She had trouble conforming to "sitting still" and always needed to run and let off steam.She would wriggle and wriggle in church services and generally charge about the house pretending to be a dinosaur. All behaviour associated with boys.
That was just her being her.Now she is a sophisticated teenager who would not care to be reminded of her dinosaur days.

I've got 2 boys. Believe me there is plenty of complexity and potential nastiness (from other boys, natch ) there, too.