by Caitlin P. Stein
All mothers want the best for their children. Mothers want their children to find happiness and be successful in all they do. We live in a world where it is increasingly more difficult to find a place for boys to find happiness and success. Boys are naturally rambunctious, loud, and mischievous. They wrestle, punch, and shoot things with their finger-guns. Boys are nothing but trouble, right?
Mothers across America are joining ranks in support of the Men’s Rights Movement. We, mothers, have found our sons in an environment where they are excluded from participation in society. Males hang by a thread in academic, career, and family environments while being the brunt of the joke or the subject of intolerance. Mothers are joining hands with the participants of the Men’s Rights Movement in an effort to protect our sons from false accusations, to enforce the equality that our law demands and to provide an advocate to boys.
When a male reaches their pubescent stage of life their thoughts and imagination start to run wild. They are experiencing life through a new pair of glasses. Unfortunately, this stage of life is also when they are most impressionable and self-aware. What happens when “girls rule and boys drool” stops being a grade school joke and starts to become a real way of thinking?
Welcome to being a boy in America. Your family life class will teach you how to not sexually assault and harass women. Your media will teach you that men are laughable or evil. Your society will force you to take the blame for your brethren’s actions against women.
Since the establishment of the Women’s Equity in Education Act, boys have taken a backseat in the classroom. Today’s classrooms are created unequally first and foremost due to a large number of female teachers in the public school system. According to the National Center for Education, 77% of teachers were female as of the 2015-2016 school year. Male dropout rates are higher, enrollment and graduation is lower. In 2016, college enrollment for males as at 67% with graduation rates between 39% and 43% (depending on degree attainment), where women’s enrollment has continued to rise and is now at 72% with a 61%-57% degree attainment rate.
What do these statistics tell us? The statistical data itself identifies a gap between males and females in the educational community. If we continue on the current educational path, boys will continue to fall behind as females are assisted with direct engagement, preferential learning and teaching methods, and a plethora of government-backed resources used to ensure their success.
There are currently numerous programs which focus on bringing women into the STEM fields. These programs assist with tuition, expenses, and job placement. A similar system should be set in place for men entering the childhood education field. The same government backing and funding that are available to females should also be available to males. Unfortunately, leading political groups are not willing to allow programs to cater to only boys. A private group in Washington, D.C. implemented a school for minority males due to high rates of school dropout. In Detroit, a boy’s school was created for the same reason. Both schools were closed shortly after their creation due to Title IX suits which claimed gender discrimination. Our current laws protect female only endeavors while barring male only endeavors.
It’s important for society to realize the inequality that has been created between males and females as a result of the initial fight for equality. If we are really seeking equality for males and females, there should be no laws or programs in place and established by the government for a single group. In addition, Title IX should not be used only for the protection of females. Title IX was created for all people no matter their gender. Mothers of boys, consider for a moment, where will your boy be in 10, 20, or 30 years if the tides continue to turn towards the protection and placement of females. Will he graduate high school? Will he go to college? Will he obtain a job that will allow him to support himself? Those options are slowly being taken away from boys as more effort is pushed into female success. Our boys are being forgotten and left behind in a mass wave of female power.
Dr. Caitlin P. Stein, DPA graduated with her Doctorate in Public Administration in 2017 and supervises the legal team with a locally owned finance company. She is a mother of two boys, happily married, and a freelance writer in between.
Caitlin.stein8@gmail.com