UK NEWS

BOYS SHOULD BE TAUGHT SEPARATELY FROM THE AGE OF 5 ONWARDS

Wednesday January 23,2008

By Nikki Barr for express.co.uk

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Young boys should be taught separately from girls after age five as they develop at a different rate, an expert said yesterday.

Dr Leonard Sax claims that boys are asked to sit down and listen at the wrong age and can be discouraged by their female peers.

Boys are afraid of looking too keen in front of their classmates when sitting among girls but develop a healthy competitive attitude when seated in single-sex classes, claims Dr Sax.

The American psychologist blames mixing the children as the reason for unmotivated and under-achieving young men.

He said: "With boys you have to start right away. If you wait until secondary school, you have waited too long. From the age of five, there are clear advantages in all-boys' education when teachers know how to take advantage of it."

Single-sex education is primarily held in private schools but Dr Sax is looking to increase the availability of single-sex classes throughout state schools.

Girls will also benefit from the separation as Dr Sax believes this gives them a chance to concentrate on predominantly male subjects like maths.

He also claims that overuse of video games, over-prescription of behavioural drugs and a lack of competitive sports has reduced their interest in education.

Dr Sax, who has just released his novel, Boys Adrift, recommends that parents limit their son's use of video games to a maximum of 40 minutes a day.

SINGLE SEX CLASSES AT SCHOOL

23.01.08, 8:10pm

i went to a boys only school all through my education. was good. then the education prat decided to mix the schools. was a bad idea. now it seems they have noticed this and want to have single sex classes. mixed classes causes disruption.
a school near me is doing single sex classes. a friends teenager at that school says it is far better and hopes it stops that way.

• Posted by: khxv • Report Comment

HOORAY!! YES TEACH THE BOYS IN A KINEASETHETIC CLASS WITH LOTS OF COMPETITION

23.01.08, 2:25pm

For too long the male child has been surpressed in the UK education system. The males are genetically different to the female who can happily sit for 6 hours and listen to boring monotony.......when the boys are educated in keeping with their evolutionary and genetic behaviour ...not only will their learning and interest increase but the rates of ADHD will diminish.

• Posted by: lisaj • Report Comment

BOYS SHOULD BE TAUGHT SEPARATELY FROM THE AGE OF 5 ONWARDS

23.01.08, 1:50pm

I think he is probably right.

• Posted by: JohnnyB • Report Comment

I AGREE AT SOME LEVEL

23.01.08, 11:22am

But if we seperate boys from girls then other problems may arise
My 5year old grandson loves learning to read.
He is already competitive and compares himself to other boys that are not doing as well.
He is happy and well adjusted.
Parents are the key to childrens learning habits.
Schools are only the tools that are used.

• Posted by: abuela • Report Comment