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Underachievement of white boys

(205 Posts)
JohnnyMo Sun 24-Aug-25 09:11:24

๐™‚๐™–๐™ก๐™–๐™ญ๐™ฎ: I must tell the white working boys who are least likely to achieve in education how lucky they really are.

๐™‚๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฌ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™›๐™› : Maybe you should start another thread about why they underachieve as a group. I doubt if it has anything to do with other cultures.

GrannyGravy13 Sun 24-Aug-25 12:04:08

growstuff

Personally, I think there should be an alternative curriculum from about the age of 14 (Year 9 or 10). I'm not in favour of the 11+ because it's too young and there have always been problems with it. However, by the age of about 14, it's fairly obvious which pupils are not going to be motivated by traditional exams. There should be an alternative curriculum with recognition of achievement in a range of non-traditional skills. I wouldn't target it at any particular demographic. In any case, each area is likely to have different needs, so I wouldn't give extra support specifically to white boys or black girls (or whatever). I would consider each individual pupil on his/her merits.

Blimey growstuff I am in total agreement with you.

I wouldnโ€™t do away with grammar schools, but encouraging a 13+ test would be a good move forward.

(I know that at least one of our localโ€™ish (is that even a word ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ) has a limited intake in year 9)

growstuff Sun 24-Aug-25 12:06:51

JohnnyMo

Chocolatelovinggran

What role do parents play in this? There's lots on this thread about school teachers " see boys as a problem to be managed while the girls are taught" ( sweeping, judgemental criticism of a whole profession, at all?), sport, government keeping them down to provide soldiers ( any data to support this?), the only reference to families is to point to single parents.
Growstuff is right, there's a problem with underachievers from a certain demographic, which is worthy of some more thoughtful discussion.

Maybe with hindsight I should have said SOME female teachers, but I stand by that that some female teacher do have that attitude even if subconsciously.

As I pointed out towards the start EVERY other demographic which is underachieving gets targeted help, something growstuff has not addressed.

I didn't address it because it's not true. The only universal support in English schools is from Pupil Premium, which schools are free to spend as they wish. Unfortunately, schools are still under pressure to produce results for the data crunchers. After analysing their results, if they spot that a certain group is underachieving, it is very tempting to direct funding towards that group to keep Ofsted and the wonks in Whitehall happy.

Oreo Sun 24-Aug-25 12:10:27

GrannyGravy13

To be fair, the media is full of BAME people telling its viewer about white privilege.

We have now got the likes of the Tates and others on social media telling boys to man up and take charge, which then leads on to endless programmes and documentary about male toxicity.

It is hard for a young white boy in the 21st century.

Some thrive with a cushion of a supportive family, a safe place to do school work and a healthy attitude. Many havenโ€™t got these things that most of us would take for granted.

Basically some of these lads slip through various nets feel that nobody cares about them, there is nothing out in the big wide world for them unless they are an influencer, sports person or similar, education is not a priority.

Excellent comments.๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป

growstuff Sun 24-Aug-25 12:11:58

GrannyGravy The issue with the grammar schools in your area is that they're not available everywhere and they not highly selective. They're not so selective as the grammar schools in Chelmsford and Colchester. Some of the pupils in them would be better off in a less academic environment. The local comp in my town usually achieves higher average results than the Southend grammar schools.

Allira Sun 24-Aug-25 12:12:08

Unfortunately, schools are still under pressure to produce results for the data crunchers.

Yes.
Children are treated as one homogenous mass not as individuals with different strengths and talents according to governments.
Numeracy and literacy are important but not everyone will find the type of Maths taught in schools useful in their future lives.

Eloethan Sun 24-Aug-25 13:03:49

I expect there are many reasons for the under achievement of white boys - although I think this under achievement relates largely to white boys who live in deprived areas.

There are large areas of the country that are very deprived - with poor housing and transport, and poor employment opportunities. Schools in these areas have difficulty in attracting experienced and skilled teachers - they are more likely to want to live and work in more leafy, attractive areas where there are less social problems. These areas tend to have been ignored, whereas more investment should be directed towards them.

People from ethnic backgrounds are more likely to live in cities or large towns where, even when there is deprivation on an individual level, there is better access to transport and public amenities - libraries (with access to computers), museums, parks, youth clubs. There are always pockets of deprivation in large towns and cities, particularly with regard to housing, but, generally, there are compensating factors.

White disadvantage tends to be generational and leads to cycles of deprivation and a feeling passed down that education is a waste of time. This is particularly so when there are few, mostly low paid, local employment opportunities. In such circumstances, it is difficult to create an environment where young people feel motivated to learn.

Young people whose parents were born elsewhere, where things like education (which are taken for granted by the resident UK population), have to be paid for, are often brought up to take full advantage of the educational opportunities that are available to them. They have a better understanding of what education can do for them, greater respect for teachers and greater aspirations with regard to employment.

I think another issue is our class system, in which people who have regional dialects and non-standard grammar, are stereotyped, ignored and overlooked. Although this is changing it still does happen occasionally - the villain or ne'er do well in a drama often has a cockney accent for instance.

Casdon Sun 24-Aug-25 13:22:37

I donโ€™t think itโ€™s a new phenomenon. When I was at school in the seventies there were streams, and the lowest stream then was full of boys who didnโ€™t pay attention in class, and under-achieved. Perhaps the biggest difference was that they all left school at 16, and were employed as factory workers, labourers or apprentices rather than becoming NEETs, as they do now so often?

butterandjam Sun 24-Aug-25 14:07:54

Kandinsky

*15.3% Of total intake into the combined UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020 were ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities*

So 85% white.

And youโ€™re asking me for evidence?

Just refuting your earlier statement that the only people who join the army are white working class boys.

"We have to keep white working class boys down as theyโ€™re the only ones who join the army"

woodenspoon Sun 24-Aug-25 14:27:27

You also have to look at role models for these boys. So many are from single parent families or families reliant on benefits in areas where work is frowned upon. Who are their role models? Celebrities, footballers, people who drive fast cars with no visible job to support their lifestyle. Education is not important to these boys and never will be. They want to leave school as fast as they can. Art, history, geography etc are of no interest to these boys. Sport sport sport is all they care about, predominantly football.

JohnnyMo Sun 24-Aug-25 14:28:40

JohnnyMo Sun 24-Aug-25 12:01:22
๐—”๐˜€ ๐—œ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—ฌ ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ, ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜€๐˜๐˜‚๐—ณ๐—ณ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ.
growstuff Sun 24-Aug-25 12:06:51
๐—œ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ป'๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜'๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ.

As I pointed out earlier :
JohnnyMo Sun 24-Aug-25 09:31:46

๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—น๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐˜€ ๐˜๐˜†๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป'๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ. ๐—”๐—น๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—น๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป'๐˜€ ๐—˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ผ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—–๐˜‚๐—ฝ.

๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—”๐— ๐—˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€, ๐—•๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐—›๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ต (๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—œ'๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜๐—น๐˜† ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ต๐˜€) ๐˜€๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜†. ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต "๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ" ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฝ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ (๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜ƒ) ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜†๐˜€.

I can if you want give more examples DEI initiative
www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Action%20Plan%20to%20Improve%20Equity%20of%20Access%20and%20Inclusion%20for%20Black%2C%20Asian%20and%20Minority%20Ethnic%20Entrants%20to%20Clinical%20Psychology%20Training.pdf

Or look here
www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/c/careers/
and count how many white men you see.

JohnnyMo Sun 24-Aug-25 14:35:11

Out of interest does anyone know what happened to the Flag Flying Thread this was spawned off ?

Galaxy Sun 24-Aug-25 14:36:30

It was taken down at request of the op I think.

escaped Sun 24-Aug-25 14:46:40

I donโ€™t think itโ€™s a new phenomenon.
I agree, check out the NCDS surveys from 1958 onwards, especially ^ Born to fail^, published in 1973. Stacks of information there.

Jaxjacky Sun 24-Aug-25 14:58:38

Galaxy

It was taken down at request of the op I think.

Some responses were causing the OP distress.

growstuff Sun 24-Aug-25 15:18:12

JohnnyMo This really isn't true. White working class girls also underachieve. The difference is that they weren't ever expected to have jobs. They also tend to conform more to school ideals, so don't get into so much trouble at school.

I don't understand your obsession with sport. Even now, women's sport isn't in the same place as men's. All that's happening is that they are becoming more equal. They're not taking anything away from men.

It was rare for any group (except those with SEND) to have direct support in schools, although I know there are some vague initiatives to encourage certain groups.

You appear to be one of those men who are finding it difficult to accept that men have historically been at an advantage and are having to accept some equality.

I was a secondary school teacher for 30 years and I saw many underachieving working class children boys and girls. I also saw underachieving children of different ethnic backgrounds, although their parents tended to have more respect for schools and teachers and they were usually stricter with their children.

Eloethan Sun 24-Aug-25 15:22:40

re the Flag Flying thread - I should think the response which suggested to the OP that things will get much worse unless something is done about the hotel/migrant problem wasn't exactly helpful to someone who was feeling very vulnerable.

I think we can see where you are coming from Johnny Mo, especially with your comments re encouraging girls to engage in all sorts of sports, and Black Lives Matter - "mostly lies and half truths" - really?

JohnnyMo Sun 24-Aug-25 15:50:17

๐˜Œ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ 24-๐˜ˆ๐˜ถ๐˜จ-25 15:22:40
๐™„ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™  ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™˜๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™จ๐™š๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™๐™š๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™›๐™ง๐™ค๐™ข ๐™…๐™ค๐™๐™ฃ๐™ฃ๐™ฎ ๐™ˆ๐™ค, ๐™š๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™˜๐™ž๐™–๐™ก๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™ง๐™š ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง๐™–๐™œ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ง๐™ก๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™–๐™œ๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™จ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™จ, ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐˜ฝ๐™ก๐™–๐™˜๐™  ๐™‡๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š๐™จ ๐™ˆ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง - "๐™ข๐™ค๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™ก๐™ž๐™š๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™๐™–๐™ก๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™๐™จ" - ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™ก๐™ก๐™ฎ?

Some of the bits I know about BHM (rather than BLM) :

"The "Black" Roman Emperor is Septimius Severus and ruled from 193 to 211 AD. " His father was Roman, his mother was the daughter of a local chief from what is now Libya. So he was probably a bit darker that the average Roman but hardly a black African.

The life and times of Mary Jane Seacole rather than Florence Nightingale. Yes both nursed in the Crimea but that is where the similarities end. FN kept record, invented the pie-chart and changed government policy and nursing practice.

JohnnyMo Sun 24-Aug-25 16:21:49

growstuff Sun 24-Aug-25 15:18:12

๐™…๐™ค๐™๐™ฃ๐™ฃ๐™ฎ๐™ˆ๐™ค ๐™๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™ก๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฃ'๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ช๐™š. ๐™’๐™๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™˜๐™ก๐™–๐™จ๐™จ ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ง๐™ก๐™จ ๐™–๐™ก๐™จ๐™ค ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™–๐™˜๐™๐™ž๐™š๐™ซ๐™š. ๐™๐™๐™š ๐™™๐™ž๐™›๐™›๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™ฌ๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™ฃ'๐™ฉ ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง ๐™š๐™ญ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™๐™–๐™ซ๐™š ๐™Ÿ๐™ค๐™—๐™จ.

I have said working class girls also under-achieve, as do Afro-Caribbean boys . But there are now initiative encouraging them to do what were historically men's job.

There is no initiative to encouraging boys into social care or even teaching. Where there are skill shortages at the moment.

๐™๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™–๐™ก๐™จ๐™ค ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™ข ๐™ข๐™ค๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก ๐™ž๐™™๐™š๐™–๐™ก๐™จ, ๐™จ๐™ค ๐™™๐™ค๐™ฃ'๐™ฉ ๐™œ๐™š๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™จ๐™ค ๐™ข๐™ช๐™˜๐™ ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ช๐™—๐™ก๐™š ๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก.

Which could be in part due to feminisation of education, making it harder for them to fit in.

๐™„ ๐™™๐™ค๐™ฃ'๐™ฉ ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ค๐™—๐™จ๐™š๐™จ๐™จ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ. ๐™€๐™ซ๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฌ, ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ'๐™จ ๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฃ'๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™จ๐™–๐™ข๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™–๐™˜๐™š ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ'๐™จ. ๐˜ผ๐™ก๐™ก ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ'๐™จ ๐™๐™–๐™ฅ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™—๐™š๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ข๐™ค๐™ง๐™š ๐™š๐™ฆ๐™ช๐™–๐™ก. ๐™๐™๐™š๐™ฎ'๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฎ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™–๐™ฌ๐™–๐™ฎ ๐™›๐™ง๐™ค๐™ข ๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ.

Professional sport is part of the entertainment industry.

When the men's Euros are on then it is about nationalism and beating the Germans. Not about get boys playing football. No one is saying to boys get off the computer and play sport.

๐™„๐™ฉ ๐™ฌ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ง๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฎ ๐™œ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฅ ... ๐™–๐™ก๐™ฉ๐™๐™ค๐™ช๐™œ๐™ ๐™„ ๐™ ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฌ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง๐™š ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™จ๐™ค๐™ข๐™š ๐™ซ๐™–๐™œ๐™ช๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง๐™–๐™œ๐™š ๐™˜๐™š๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™œ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฅ๐™จ.

It is not that rare and every group except white working class boys.

๐™”๐™ค๐™ช ๐™–๐™ฅ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™–๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™—๐™š ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ค๐™จ๐™š ๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™ฌ๐™๐™ค ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™›๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ž๐™ฉ ๐™™๐™ž๐™›๐™›๐™ž๐™˜๐™ช๐™ก๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™–๐™˜๐™˜๐™š๐™ฅ๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™๐™–๐™ซ๐™š ๐™๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ž๐™˜๐™–๐™ก๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™—๐™š๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™–๐™™๐™ซ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™œ๐™š ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™๐™–๐™ซ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™–๐™˜๐™˜๐™š๐™ฅ๐™ฉ ๐™จ๐™ค๐™ข๐™š ๐™š๐™ฆ๐™ช๐™–๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ.

But saying white men have had a historic advantage so none need help now is wrong.

valdavi Sun 24-Aug-25 16:42:01

JohnnyMo

While I agree it is nothing to do directly with other cultures, the issues as I see it is all other groups in a similar situation get targeted support.

Plenty of encouragement for girls to do jobs typically seen as men's work. Also encouragement for girls to do sport we have just had the women's Euro now the Rugby World Cup.

Same with the BAME communities, Black History month (from what I've seen mostly lies and half truths) so they can fell good about their history. Search "black scholarship" to see how many racially biased scholarships there are often at top ranking Universities against the one (Bradford Univ) for white working class boys.

So what are white boys offered. Being told from an early age their masculinity is Toxic, their history is exploitive. They have white privilege their wealth was stollen ...

All their teachers are probably women, who see them as a problem to be managed while the girls in the class are taught.

I don't think this is the only issue, I would echo Wyllow's experience that ethnic minority families traditionally value schooling more. This is a good thing for everyone in the schools they attend, I think.
I do have some sympathy though.The various schemes for ethnic minority and female young people, & the desire to have a diverse workplace with not too many white men is something my university educated son & his friends often point out. I think we've achieved a lot & broken down a lot of barriers & it was a very worthwhile excercise, but I don't know how much longer it can be justified as the children of the doctors, pharmacists, solicitors Wyllow mentions are now entering university / management training & it's crazy that they may have an advantage over white boys with unemployed parents when opportunities come up.

Casdon Sun 24-Aug-25 16:47:11

There definitely are a number of initiatives to encourage boys into teaching JohnnyMo?
I think itโ€™s much harder to recruit young people into social care, whether male or female, itโ€™s never been an attractive career option for the young because they just donโ€™t have the life experience, or social antennae required generally speaking.

paddyann54 Sun 24-Aug-25 17:22:04

Oh dear Johnny the pie chart was invented by William Playfair..Scottish businessman,engineer and writer in 1801 Used by FN but definately not invented by her.You usually get asked for facts on this siteโ€ฆmaybe check before you post!

Elrel Sun 24-Aug-25 17:23:57

A pupil in a large inner city comp asked me โ€˜How come that Vietnamese boy came here 2 years years ago, couldnโ€™t speak English, but just got the best A level results in the school?โ€™
I asked a Vietnamese friend in her 20s who had arrived, a โ€˜boat personโ€™ a couple of years earlier.
She answered โ€˜If you are Vietnamese you realise that no one is going to do anything for you. You have to do it for yourself.โ€™

Elrel Sun 24-Aug-25 17:33:46

Galaxy, Jaxjacky - I am not surprised that the unfortunate OP was caused distress by some comments. She had been open about her situation and feelings and asked for advice. Instead she inadvertently stirred up a nest of political tub-thumping.

Greyduster Sun 24-Aug-25 17:37:28

Children of any ethnicity will only benefit from education if their parents are invested in it. If you are an underachieving child whose parents were also underachievers at school, you are likely to be in a spiral of decline. These parents are not sufficiently willing or able to nourish their childrenโ€™s aspirations. This may be because they themselves struggled within the education system and donโ€™t see the benefits of it for their children - they go to school because they have to - or for reasons of health or the sheer dead weight of trying to keep their heads above water. They may be one parent families. There are too many homes where parents donโ€™t read to or with their children because they may struggle to read themselves and there is no culture of it within the family. I know for a fact that schools are trying desperately to stop these children falling through the net, but they struggle for resources and for staff.

David49 Sun 24-Aug-25 18:12:18

Casdon

There definitely are a number of initiatives to encourage boys into teaching JohnnyMo?
I think itโ€™s much harder to recruit young people into social care, whether male or female, itโ€™s never been an attractive career option for the young because they just donโ€™t have the life experience, or social antennae required generally speaking.

You are not going to increase male recruit treatment into teaching until the discipline issue is addressed, why would any graduate want a job where few had any respect for you. At least the police can enforce the rules if needed teachers are helpless