This is a summary of a conversation we had on "boysed" when someone
asked the same question.
We need to develop a list of social outcomes that all boys should
have reached by the time they leave school. These could then refined and
proposed for recognition by schools to be as significant as academic
outcomes in terms of what our schools are supposed to be about.
Can we think about the need to develop emotional literacy, social
literacy as well as what many refer to as traditional literacy. Boys
need to be able to :
Recognise when they are in conflict
Identify and argue the other persons point of view
Lose with dignity
Win with humility
Ask for help
Tell when they are hurting
Play just for the joy of it
Be still and reflective or bouncy and irreverant
Recognise and resist injustice
Welcome difference
Be themselves.
Other things we should be teaching boys:
1. To regulate his fertility and avoid being involved in an
unplanned or unwanted conception. (Requires male specific reproductive
health education, based on male self interest.)
2. Take pride in his identity as an individual and as a male.
3. Be able to make first person statements such as "I think. .", "I feel.
.", I want. .", "I believe. .". (Perhaps this can be linked to the lesson
that whenever people talk about meaning, they are already talking about
themselves and their values, rather than about any objective reality or
consensus morality.)
4. Be able to recognise and resist discrimination against males on the
basis of gender stereotyping.
5. Ablity to care for himself in regard to practical (e.g. cooking),
attitudinal (maintaining a sense of self worth), physical,
emotional, and spiritual needs.