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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We used to teach men that discipline was necessary for a quality life and successful career. Now people complain of it being “anti-male” to discipline boys rightfully for erratic behavior. I do think more boys would benefit from an all male environment, since girls are socialized to be more disciplined and still than men.[/quote]

Counterpoint, for generations we kept women out of academics when they are far capable both there and in any thing that requires time management and executive function. The guys will experience discipline in their gigs driving for Amazon and Doordash.
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As this comment illustrates, many people don't care about boys at all.  That's the real problem.[/quote]

Not really, truth is this is nothing new, kids who can't get it together have always been expendable. [/quote]

Until we’re talking about your kid, who can’t possibly be expandable, because you’ve done an awesome job as a parent. Or can’t have difficulty finding a partner to start a family because again you’ve proofed their life for any kind of setback.

The point is males seem to have difficulty enrolling in higher education and getting degrees, regardless of what their grandfathers did. I think it’s worth looking on the causes instead of just chucking it to video games and being lazy.

We want people in our society to be successful regardless of gender, not settle some score.[/quote]

Instead of looking at their grandfathers, look at their grandparents. In that calculation your going to see about as many if not more kids today completing college. If women have displaced some men, that's what competition looks like.[/quote]

I think this hits at it.

College attendance is way up across the board compared to 2-3 generations ago. Most middle class and wealthier parents expect their kids to go to a 4 year college and freak out if they don't want to or refuse to. But truthfully the kids are smarter than the adults on this one -- not everyone is cut out for college or the kinds of careers college prepares you for. There should be no shame in going into a trade or working entry level work until you can maybe move into middle management or start a small business. For boys or girls. That's a normal career path. We should stop shutting down kid who want to pursue it.

But I think women have to fight more for respect in the workforce and so for them, a degree is a useful way of "proving" they are capable. So even in fields like retail or childcare that traditionally hire more women, there is greater benefit to women to have some kind of degree in terms of moving up and earning more as their career progresses. It is crazy how much these fields have become obsessed with credentials for management positions. In childcare even many entry level positions are now pushing for educational credentials. I'd actually like to see this reversed because I think it's ultimately bad for women. There should be more career paths for women straight out of high school.

But you don't see the same thing in male-dominated fields like construction or the trades. And trade schools exist explicitly to help people gain entry to these fields while bypassing college. You don't see the same systems for women. Some women do take advantage of these career paths and are moving into male-dominated trades (just as some men are moving into fields like teaching and nursing) but they face discrimination in these environments, unfortunately. We need to do a better job as a society of not gendering jobs. It hurts everyone. Women should be able to become plumbers and men should be able to become school teachers and it shouldn't even be an issue. People have different strengths and it does not break down along gender lines the way so many seem to think.

As long as men are entering the workforce and earning enough to support themselves and contribute to a family budget (no reason in 2024 for them to be able to support a family on one salary but they need to make enough and have a stable enough job to make family finances work however that is worked out between a couple) I don't think it matters if boys are going to college. If you truly believe in the dignity of work and value the contributions of all kinds jobs then this really isn't a problem.

So many of the comments on this thread amount to "I would like us to reconfigure academic career paths to make them easier and more appealing to my kid with a specific learning style [who in this case is a boy]" but really we as parents need to accept that kids like this, whether boys or girls, don't all want or need to go to college and that should be fine. We are buying into elitist attitudes about worth that aren't necessary and it holds all our kids back.[/quote]

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