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Do Schools Treat Boys and Girls Equally?
Q: Do you think our schools are now unbiased on gender? Are girls and boys treated equally?
A: Sadly and angrily, I regret to say that the same gender prejudices that I observed while teaching school in the 1970's are still widespread today. Boys and girls, as judged by every study I respect, are treated differently at many levels. Go to a graduate school of education and ask a resource librarian to help you locate the pertinent research in this area you inquire about; you will be most dismayed at the findings.
Girls have been and continue to be second class citizens in the classroom and are given overt and subtle messages that their opinions are not valued as much as boys. The most alarming recent gender-based travesty in our schools is the labeling of millions of young boys as having ADD or ADHD. These diagnoses are given to boys (as young as 3) almost exclusively and, in my opinion, are resulting in the inaccurate labeling and inhumane drugging of our nation's young boys. All this the result of an all-powerful biopsychiatric community and drug companies alliance which has convinced parents, teachers, and many mental health professionals that certain behaviors in boys are part of these "disorders" and can best be treated with dangerous drugs.
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Carleton Kendrick has been in private practice as a family therapist and has worked as a consultant for more than 20 years. He has conducted parenting seminars on topics ranging from how to discipline toddlers to how to stay connected with teenagers. Kendrick has appeared as an expert on national broadcast media such as CBS, Fox Television Network, Cable News Network, CNBC, PBS, and National Public Radio. In addition, he's been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, USA Today, Reader's Digest, BusinessWeek, Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, and many other publications.
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