General admission bias in favor of male applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

Seems like Joseph Conrad”s “Heart of Darkness” would fit the bill. But Conrad has to be canceled because he was writing outside of his culture. I mean, he only learned English at the age of 21.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

Seems like Joseph Conrad”s “Heart of Darkness” would fit the bill. But Conrad has to be canceled because he was writing outside of his culture. I mean, he only learned English at the age of 21.

You imagined that. Heart of Darkness is still an AP Lit go to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

Seems like Joseph Conrad”s “Heart of Darkness” would fit the bill. But Conrad has to be canceled because he was writing outside of his culture. I mean, he only learned English at the age of 21.

Good to know.
You imagined that. Heart of Darkness is still an AP Lit go to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

I had read all the traditional texts in the canon as an English major, so could help my DC. But the English teachers at my DC’s high school were very quick to deduct points for DC not being aware of norms/issues related to minority culture. They were chomping at the bit to mark DC down.

Again, glad your DS learned something you were incapable of teaching, because I grok Holden Caufield, is more loan gunman than literate.

Sure sure sure that happened. Also, it's CHAMPING at the bit. Also, you have a major chip on your shoulder and seemed peeve your child had to learn something you couldn't teach him; empathy and expanding your worldview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

Seems like Joseph Conrad”s “Heart of Darkness” would fit the bill. But Conrad has to be canceled because he was writing outside of his culture. I mean, he only learned English at the age of 21.

You imagined that. Heart of Darkness is still an AP Lit go to.

No, it is not. Maybe in your school.

Conrad is just another cis-gender dead white male. He is not that great of an author anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

Don't speak for all boys, please. Most of the kids I know are not nearly as narrow in their views of what they want to read as their parents are and think their sons are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

Seems like Joseph Conrad”s “Heart of Darkness” would fit the bill. But Conrad has to be canceled because he was writing outside of his culture. I mean, he only learned English at the age of 21.

You imagined that. Heart of Darkness is still an AP Lit go to.

No, it is not. Maybe in your school.

Conrad is just another cis-gender dead white male. He is not that great of an author anyway.

NP: Can’t be both.

My kid also has it on the list of books. Your experience is not universal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

I had read all the traditional texts in the canon as an English major, so could help my DC. But the English teachers at my DC’s high school were very quick to deduct points for DC not being aware of norms/issues related to minority culture. They were chomping at the bit to mark DC down.

Again, glad your DS learned something you were incapable of teaching, because I grok Holden Caufield, is more loan gunman than literate.

Sure sure sure that happened. Also, it's CHAMPING at the bit. Also, you have a major chip on your shoulder and seemed peeve your child had to learn something you couldn't teach him; empathy and expanding your worldview.

The original, and proper use of the term is champing at the bit, and it also is surprisingly more widely used even though chomping at the bit may seem more familiar to the majority of our readers. Regardless, both are acceptable to use even if one is technically more correct. The English language is always changing. Otherwise we’d be speaking with Elizabethan accents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

I don't think reading lists are the issue. I recall doing AP English way back when, and for summer reading it was Tess of the D'urbevilles, Wuthering Heights, Emma, and The Plague. All awesome books.

But that's senior level high school. What I remember about school is recess. 10-10:15. 12-1. 2:30-2:45. That's when boys could be boys. Handball, Street hockey, baseball, basketball, Red Rover.

11 year old boys need an outlet for that energy. And that's how they socialize and figure things out.

Schools are obviously very girl-centric these days. It's not a surprise boys are having a hard time.

And it's sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

Calm down Klanner. Your kid can still be the next Bret Kavanaugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

I don't think reading lists are the issue. I recall doing AP English way back when, and for summer reading it was Tess of the D'urbevilles, Wuthering Heights, Emma, and The Plague. All awesome books.

But that's senior level high school. What I remember about school is recess. 10-10:15. 12-1. 2:30-2:45. That's when boys could be boys. Handball, Street hockey, baseball, basketball, Red Rover.

11 year old boys need an outlet for that energy. And that's how they socialize and figure things out.

Schools are obviously very girl-centric these days. It's not a surprise boys are having a hard time.

And it's sad.

They really aren’t. They’ve gotten more “boy centric” than ever. You are ignoring all the other accommodations schools have made to make class more comfortable and accessible to boys, as well as other students who learn differently. Our middle school has a recess where boys can run around, throw footballs, play basketball etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

I don't think reading lists are the issue. I recall doing AP English way back when, and for summer reading it was Tess of the D'urbevilles, Wuthering Heights, Emma, and The Plague. All awesome books.

But that's senior level high school. What I remember about school is recess. 10-10:15. 12-1. 2:30-2:45. That's when boys could be boys. Handball, Street hockey, baseball, basketball, Red Rover.

11 year old boys need an outlet for that energy. And that's how they socialize and figure things out.

Schools are obviously very girl-centric these days. It's not a surprise boys are having a hard time.

And it's sad.

They really aren’t. They’ve gotten more “boy centric” than ever. You are ignoring all the other accommodations schools have made to make class more comfortable and accessible to boys, as well as other students who learn differently. Our middle school has a recess where boys can run around, throw footballs, play basketball etc

lol what a load of utter bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

I don't think reading lists are the issue. I recall doing AP English way back when, and for summer reading it was Tess of the D'urbevilles, Wuthering Heights, Emma, and The Plague. All awesome books.

But that's senior level high school. What I remember about school is recess. 10-10:15. 12-1. 2:30-2:45. That's when boys could be boys. Handball, Street hockey, baseball, basketball, Red Rover.

11 year old boys need an outlet for that energy. And that's how they socialize and figure things out.

Schools are obviously very girl-centric these days. It's not a surprise boys are having a hard time.

And it's sad.

They really aren’t. They’ve gotten more “boy centric” than ever. You are ignoring all the other accommodations schools have made to make class more comfortable and accessible to boys, as well as other students who learn differently. Our middle school has a recess where boys can run around, throw footballs, play basketball etc

lol what a load of utter bs.

You’re lying to yourself.

My DD likes a quieter classroom so she can focus, but to accommodate wiggly boys the teachers allow kids to walk around, listen to music quietly, chat with a desk partner. Jokes and goofing around are tolerated. None of that was allowed back in the “good old days” that the PP referenced above. Kids have block schedule so they can do homework during class. They have multiple days to complete homework. In fact, homework has often being entirely discontinued to accommodate (some) boys. Book reports have been changed to video reports to accommodate boys whose interests may be tech based over writing. The crowded halls are filled with boys running, throwing things, swinging their backpacks, hitting each other and so on. Which also wasn’t tolerated in the “good old days.” Boys were expected to contain themselves. I could go on! It’s no wonder colleges are filled with girls. They keep their head down, do their work and pull their share of weight, and beyond.

[Anonymous]

Male educational underperformance is actually a global phenomenon

https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/what-about-boys-addressing-educational-underachievement-boys-and-men-during-and-beyond

The feminist/progressive agenda dominating English curricula these days doesn’t help drive male interest in those areas, however

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what I did when they threw out the canon the year my son started high school. Instead of “Catcher in the Rye”, they substituted “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a queer, coming-of-age novel set in El Paso. They threw out Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hawthorne and other authors. Then they had trigger warnings in the syllabus. So I ended up hiring a female, Black PhD Literature candidate to tutor my son. She was able to give him the perspective he needed to get good grades on his papers. Best thing I ever did.

Outrageous. Maybe we can all hire our own personal DEI coaches just to be able to function in this postmodern hellscape.

I felt I was beating them at their own game.

Simpler explanation, she knew how to read and write, and actually taught your DC something, but good for him.

Who would you have hired to give him the correct perspective to write well about rich, morally corrupt people from the jazz age; poor Southerners and intellectually disabled people; Puritans and adulterers? (ie., the characters in Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hawthorne works). I mean, it seems every bit of lit from the anon asks your child to relate to a group of people far removed from his experience, but you only have issues with queer folks from texas?

Boys do not want to read about whining victims of any kind at all. Boys want to read about overcoming a great challenge - and by great challenge they do NOT mean "someone said something mean that hurt my feelings".

I don't think reading lists are the issue. I recall doing AP English way back when, and for summer reading it was Tess of the D'urbevilles, Wuthering Heights, Emma, and The Plague. All awesome books.

But that's senior level high school. What I remember about school is recess. 10-10:15. 12-1. 2:30-2:45. That's when boys could be boys. Handball, Street hockey, baseball, basketball, Red Rover.

11 year old boys need an outlet for that energy. And that's how they socialize and figure things out.

Schools are obviously very girl-centric these days. It's not a surprise boys are having a hard time.

And it's sad.

They really aren’t. They’ve gotten more “boy centric” than ever. You are ignoring all the other accommodations schools have made to make class more comfortable and accessible to boys, as well as other students who learn differently. Our middle school has a recess where boys can run around, throw footballs, play basketball etc

lol what a load of utter bs.

You’re lying to yourself.

My DD likes a quieter classroom so she can focus, but to accommodate wiggly boys the teachers allow kids to walk around, listen to music quietly, chat with a desk partner. Jokes and goofing around are tolerated. None of that was allowed back in the “good old days” that the PP referenced above. Kids have block schedule so they can do homework during class. They have multiple days to complete homework. In fact, homework has often being entirely discontinued to accommodate (some) boys. Book reports have been changed to video reports to accommodate boys whose interests may be tech based over writing. The crowded halls are filled with boys running, throwing things, swinging their backpacks, hitting each other and so on. Which also wasn’t tolerated in the “good old days.” Boys were expected to contain themselves. I could go on! It’s no wonder colleges are filled with girls. They keep their head down, do their work and pull their share of weight, and beyond.

+1 My high school DD has had a teacher apologize to her privately for the way a particular group of rowdy boys runs rough-shod over the class. There doesn’t seem to be much she can do about it.