Reply to Is MCPS systemically Biased against Boys?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was dumbfounded when I volunteered in my kids' MCPS classroom that teachers reward students who can sit still on the classroom rug as early as K. All the boys fidgeted, all the girls got the rewards. As they got older, there were various extracurricular enrichment geared toward girls - not just Girls on the Run but also arts programs where boys were not permitted to join. It blew my mind that public schools could discriminate against one gender. I asked the art teacher at our MCPS elementary school, who held afterschool art classes that were only open to girls, why - she said boys rarely signed up because they were too busy with sports.

I have 2 boys, one of whom loves sports and the other who is totally indifferent. An afterschool art class or casual running club would have been a godsend especially as they got ready for the social pressures around middle school. It should be illegal to offer preferential activities that discriminate by gender.[/quote]

Like any other program in community, including religious and ethnic groups, Girls on the Run can rent use of MCPS facilities. Do you complain when Korean Sunday Schools are held in our middle schools? [/quote]

+1 bashing Girls on the Run is absolutely ridiculous and those that do lose all credibility. When it comes to sports there is no dearth of programs for boys. FFS in MCPS TWO of the sports played mostly by girls are focused on cheering on the boys' teams. GTFOOH.[/quote]

In 6th grade there are no MCPS sports yet, but Girls on the Run is advertised by our MS, with no equivalent program for boys. I understand that there are reasons behind this, but it's still a fact. (That is kind of upsetting to my son - he's no very sporty though does swimming and would love to run/jog - I'm hoping he'll enjoy cross-country next year.)[/quote]

Good for MCPS. That's the age when many girls drop out of sports. Boys also drop out but not in such large numbers. I assure you there are plenty of sports programs available in your community for boys in 6th grade. I hear that your son would love to run, guess what, a lot of girls would love to play sports that are not available to them either. Stop bashing a program that is doing a lot of good.[/quote]

I'm a NP. I'm not sure that anyone is bashing Girls on the Run; just pointing out that the equivalent program for boys might night exist at every school. You approve the point but referring to "sports programs available in the community for boys" which are not the same as after school programs available in the actual school building and, therefore more accessible than community programs that occur in the evenings and on weekends. [/quote]

People are absolutely bashing it. On poster said it "pissed them off," another thought it was disappointing that the program existed only for girls and compared it to "Caucasians on the run," at least one wanted to force them to accept boys or stop advertising at schools.

If people wanted to support boys, they'd build up the programs supporting boys, instead they're focusing on tearing down programs for girls. I think that speaks a lot to where their actual priorities are.[/quote]
+1 this

Some of y'all are selfish a-holes
[/quote]

On the other hand, the question was is the system biased against boys. If you are telling people they should start their own programs to support boys, doesn't that suggest there is a problem?[/quote]

PP, but not the one you're directly responding to, but no, I don't. Girls on the Run exists because parents and people in the community saw a need for it and built it. Let Me Run exists because the parents saw a need for it and built it. They're both equally able to access school resources and equally dependent on parents stepping up to make sure that the program is there. There's a discrepancy between how many locations each program has,[b] (Let Me Run has 11 sites in Montgomery County, Girls on the Run has 66),  :mrgreen: [/b]but that's down to how many parents volunteer. If fewer parents see a need for a program for boys, how does that suggest a problem?[/quote]

Where are the 11 sites for let me run program in Montgomery county? I only see Kensington choice, 1 location in the county.

I have both a boy and a girl. In our elementary school, girl cam join on the Run at 3rd grade, and there is no other sports or similar activity for boy in our elementary school. [/quote]

Kensington is the location it gives for Montgomery County, but if you click it goes through to this (https://montgomerycounty.letmerun.org/teams) which has 11 teams, not counting schools that have separate 3 and 4th/5th teams twice. There are also lots of sports activities for boys in Montgomery County, so I'm not sure what you mean. Girls on the Run isn't paid for by the school or anything, they use school facilities, like a lot of sports teams. There's plenty of sports out there for 3rd grade boys.[/quote]

NP. Thank you for clarifying. I don't understand all of the outrage about Girls on the Run and think the PPs have misunderstood the schools' actual role with it. MCPS is not providing coaches or directly facilitating Girls on the Run, they are simply allowing the families that volunteer to lead a group to rent MCPS facilities. If PPs want their sons to join a running group, then set up a Let Me Run group in your neighborhood. That's what the Girls on the Run Participants did. And if PPs aren't interested in running, there are plenty of other volunteer-run, recreational-level sports available in the county. 
[/quote]

Part of the problem is this - at our ES, the coaches for Girls on the Run are teachers from our ES.

Versus for other after-school activities where private companies bring in outside teachers or coaches for soccer or foreign language, etc.

Girls on the Run uses teachers from the school.  [/quote]

They are VOLUNTEERS. They are not on the books for MCPS from 7:30 to 8:15 (or whatever). During that timeframe, before they are "on the books" for MCPS, they are just community members who are volunteering for a parent-run initiative.

It would be different if they were compensated by MCPS for that time, but they are not. [/quote]

Okay.  Why are you yelling at me?

Just pointing out that because it’s teachers, the program feels like it is more associated with the school.  Versus an after school program that brings in coaches from outside the school.

So, basically the girls have this opportunity to hang out with / run with / spend time with / build community with their female teachers outside of school whereas the boys do not.  [/quote]

If you want that for your son, set up a Let Me Run team at your son's school and invite teachers to participate. If some schools have GoTR coaches/volunteers who are teachers, it is because a parent got organized, set up a chapter, and invited them.

I'm baffled by the idea that boys are somehow marginalized just because parents of girls volunteered to set something up. There's no structural inequality in terms of whether you birth a boy or a girl. If you have a boy, and you want him to have this opportunity, be the one to set it up. [/quote]

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