In most western nations, boys do not do as well as girls in all school types (from preschool to university). This is known as the boy problem.
If we want gender equality in education, this has to be addressed. This website puts together various resources for parents, schools, and teachers to help boys succeed at the same level as girls.
The main issues
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Boys do not do as well as girls starting in preschool all the way to university
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Boys and young men do not participate as much as girls in optional parts of education (such as university and A-levels in the UK)
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Boys do not enjoy school as much as girls and they do not do their homework as well as girls
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Boys are prone to specific cognitive and mental health problems, including stuttering, dyslexia, color blindness, ADHD, and ASD.
Links to initiatives for boys in the UK
Given that boys fall behind girls in some many aspects, it is somewhat surprising to see that there only seem to be one secular (i.e., not religion based) UK initiative directly focusing on helping vulnerable boys. Note that there are maybe not that many specifically for vulberable girls only either (link).
Name |
Location |
Description |
Essex |
Social work for vulnerable boys without father |
| Special thanks should go to the UK Literacy Trust, which has written a good report about boys and reading, and they have various resources for engaging boys with reading, such as "Boy meets world" and generally their search option for work on boys. |
Of course, there are some religious initiatives (e.g., Boys Brigade) that focus on boys and other initiatives that focus on children in general (including secular ones such as Save The Children and religious ones like Children’s Society). If you know of more initiatives focusing on working with boys specifically please contact me: stoet@gmx.com
Books for teachers
When it comes to resources on how to deal with the boy problem, books for teachers are easy to find on websites such as Waterstones or other well known providers. Just enter "boys education" and you will find a host of them.
In the UK, one of the most prolific writers is Gary Wilson, who has his own website on this topic.