Madam, - I must take issue with your annual coverage of the results of the Junior and Leaving Certification examinations. I write as a teacher at an all-girls secondary school and as the mother of a boy in primary school.
On the front page of your edition of September 14th this year, above a photograph of girls queuing for a disco, you announce "Junior Certificate Results: girls outperform boys". I bristled.
I turned to page 4, hoping for a fairer headline, to find a lovely photograph of a teenage boy hugging a friend, obviously delighted with his results. The whole atmosphere created by this image was ruined by the proclamation at the side of this picture: "Girls still outshining boys in Junior Cert exam". My blood boiled.
Further down the page, you published a chart of results with the heading: "Gender gap: how girls outperformed boys". Your paper's comments on the Leaving Certificate results this year were in a similarly one-sided vein.
This type of reporting might be more understandable and acceptable were we living several decades ago, when women had to fight hard for their basic rights, for respect and for the opportunity to advance in their chosen careers and to be appreciated for their efforts and achievements. In those dark times, women needed and deserved constant praise and encouragement, in order to build their self-esteem and to make them believe in their ability to achieve as well as men.
However, things have gone too far and have swung the other way and it is now the boys who are having their self-esteem and sense of achievement eroded by frequent negative comparisons with girls. At a time when the role of men is no longer clearly defined and many young men are unsure of their status, both within the family and in society in general, this trend is particularly dangerous.
Having no clear guidelines as to their role in society in the 21st century and the contribution they can make on the one hand, and seeing their achievements derided on the other, is not conducive to confidence-building. Lack of self-esteem can lead to feelings of loneliness, hopelessness, depression and worse.
The "gender gap" was mentioned several times in the article by Áine Kerr on page 4. The irony of it all is that this is precisely the reason why a certain proportion of boys may not achieve similar grades to those of girls of the same age. Boys mature at a different rate from girls, both physically and mentally. Compare a 12-year-old girl with a 12-year-old boy and the difference is obvious. However, the boys catch up later. It is most unfair to try to make them feel inadequate during their growing years. A comparison of results based on gender is inequitable, unhelpful and quite unnecessary.
What message is this kind of reporting giving to our boys, our future adult men? Are they to understand, from articles such as these, that there is no use in working hard, in doing their best at school, because they are constantly being told (and in big headlines) that girls do better? This is a very dangerous message to send out to young, impressionable and vulnerable boys. Their joy in their hard-earned and well-deserved achievement in the Leaving and Junior Certificate exams should not be diminished by such partial reporting.
There should also be a balance in reporting the level of achievement. The focus seems to be on those candidates who achieve A in all subjects. Of course, this is a wonderful achievement and deserving of praise. However, a teenager (boy or girl) who attains a "D" grade in an exam, never having passed before, has as much cause for celebration as someone who attains an "A" grade and, indeed, perhaps greater cause, if the latter has always been an "A" student. Such students must not be overlooked.
It is time to put an end to bias and to odious comparisons. Let us instead celebrate the wonderful achievements of all our children, regardless of gender, ability or position on the grade scale. This is the very least they deserve.
- Yours, etc,
FIONUALA CHRISTODOULIDE, Oide Meánscoile, Páirc na Coille, An Charraig Dhubh, Co Átha Cliath.