We asked our Educators Rising students whether they think schools need to do more to support boys and what kinds of school programs they think are important for boys.
Young men need life skills
I believe that there should be programs that support boys in school. When I was in the 9th grade, there was a program to help young men learn life skills that they may have not been familiar with, such as changing tires or tying a tie. That program was very beneficial, especially to young men at my school. I noticed that everyone was engaged and ready to learn more. Programs like that are what young men need everywhere.
Keiren Minter
Keiren Minter
12th grade | Watson Chapel High School
Pine Bluff, AR
Help with academics
Shae’Aunna Johnson
In my opinion, schools do need to do more to support males in their learning. For some reason the male students that I have been around lack writing, vocabulary, and creativity skills. Though this may be a result of factors outside the school setting, it would still be beneficial if schools offered more academic programs to assist male students who struggle with these things.
Many boys grow up already knowing if they’re going right into the workforce or if they’re going to try to pursue their dream career in sports. Yes, schools offer football, baseball, basketball, golf, fishing, and soccer in their athletics programs and engineering, welding, and other career programs for male students. These are great for people entering the workforce and wanting to play sports, but what about the boys that want to do something different?
Shae’Aunna Johnson
11th grade | Many High School
Many, LA
Encourage emotions
Boys and young men require a lot more support than they currently receive. Throughout my time in school, I have witnessed numerous boys mistreated and branded as troublemakers by grown people! Boys and young men need so much more assistance with their education.
Men have been pressured to “man up” for generations. They are encouraged to be tough, and any admission that they are not OK is viewed as a sign of weakness. It has its origins in childhood when we were taught that boys do not cry. Clubs could help boys and young men learn to express emotions they have been taught to suppress. It is difficult to say what kind of club is the best because every boy is unique, but all kinds of clubs are good.
Shelby Ballard
Overall, clubs and school support can help boys learn, but unless we change as a society and increase our support for young boys and young men, nothing will change. Nothing will change if we continue to belittle young men so that they believe their emotions are meaningless and their struggles are unimportant. This cycle will never end if we continue to see men as monsters and stereotype boys and young men to be the same.
Shelby Ballard
10th grade | Ebarb High School
Noble, LA
Make boys feel welcome
Torrey McClain
I think that certain clubs and classes should be more welcoming to boys. There seems to be a division between more female-dominated activities and those for boys. Some classes and clubs that could help boys if they were welcomed more into them are life skills classes (like sewing or cooking). Those skills are for everyone and are equally important to men as they are women.
Torrey McClain
12th grade | Palmer High School | Palmer, AK
This article appears in the April 2023 issue of Kappan, Vol. 104, No. 7, p. 68.
