Male role models crucial in schools – Phillips
LEADER OF the Opposition Dr Peter Phillips yesterday fielded questions from young men and women at the Camperdown High School in Kingston about what can be done to place the academic performances of boys on par with that of girls.
Phillips was participating in the Student Motivation and Empowerment Programme, which is the brainchild of the Kingston and St Andrew Homecoming Foundation.
While not discounting the roles of females, Phillips pointed out that it would turn out well if boys were separated from girls up to a certain point throughout the learning process.
“I went to an all-boys school, and one good thing about going to an all-boys school is that it sparks a special interest in the mystery of the other sex. Evidence shows that girls are quick in the earlier years – before age 14. Boys in that setting often times get intimidated by the brilliance of girls, and some people never make it past the phase of intimidation. What that leads to is males competing only in things they can naturally compete in, so they will want to fight or play sports.”
Phillips continued: “They then end up not mastering the other aspects of their humanity. There is something to be said about separating the streams until a certain point. This is no disrespect to anyone, but what is happening is that males are leaving the classroom, and part of what has happened to our young men is the absence of male role models. We need to make a deliberate effort in the country to have both parents living in the same household with their children.”
INSTRUCTOR’S ADVICE
He shared a personal story of how a male instructor aided him in learning to put a positive spin on to a negative scenario.
“One day I was playing cricket and took a catch that really wasn’t a catch. What really happened was that the ball hit me in my chest, and I was frightened, so I grabbed it. The sports master said, ‘Good catch, boy’. I just smiled. Suppose there were female teachers rushing over to say poor thing’, I, maybe, would have turned out a different person.”