The modern trend in education is towards the co-ed school. Single-sex schools are in decline, and often regarded as archaic relics of a past time, unhealthily segregating boys and girls, Taliban-style.
But what strikes me as I watch schoolkids piling boisterously onto trains and buses is how uneven the physical development of boys and girls can be.
As they approach adolescence, schoolboys of 12 and 13 can still look like little boys – sometimes still quite small, not having yet had that spurt of growth. While girls embarking on the teenage years seem not only to be taller, but more poised, assured and self-confident. Boys and girls develop at a strikingly different pace. And boys seem slower to mature.
Adolescence
A new, sensational Netflix drama, “Adolescence” throws a more alarming light on the issue of mixed-sex schools in an age of internet porn, ubiquitous phones and the sexualisation of young people – as well as misogyny and the crisis in masculinity. And the chaos and turmoil of a mixed-sex school in the north of England where the swearing teachers exercise so little control.
The drama centres on a 13-year-old boy, Jamie, the son of a plumber, who is accused of killing a girl in his school. Jamie, brilliantly played by Owen Cooper, is just a child – slight of frame, and weeping like the child he still is. His ordinary, nice family are appalled when the police break into their home at dawn to arrest the lad.
But then the back story emerges: evidence of adolescents sending pornified pictures on their phones, young boys taunted for being “incels” – that is to say, obligatory virgins, (“involuntary celibates”) at the age of 13; yes, thirteen! And the misogynistic influence of a “manosphere” in which the mentors are the likes of the “influencer” Andrew Tate, aiming to get their revenge on women for feminism, or for humiliating men.
It’s questionable in more gender-balanced societies; and in any case, is it something that should obsess young teenage boys?”
It turns out that Jamie – aged 13, I repeat – has been mocked by the murder victim as an “incel”, or involuntary celibate.
Another pupil in this mixed-sex school explains to the police detective, (who happens to be his own father): “80% of women are attracted to 20% of men.” This means that the alpha-males of the species have their pick of sexual partners, while many more lesser males will be without the choice of a mate – and thus “incels”.
Theories
I have seen these theories in connection with certain demographics – in China, where the one-child policy has produced more males, since female babies were rejected or aborted, resulting in many men with little chance of finding a wife. But it’s questionable in more gender-balanced societies; and in any case, is it something that should obsess young teenage boys? Isn’t it normal to be a virgin at this age anyway?
It’s not that the mixed-sex school is to blame for this horrible situation: it’s more the material available on the internet and the so-called “manosphere” that boys are now accessing.
Yet in this distressing drama, boys and girls together at a vulnerable, confused phase of their development, certainly seems a factor – or maybe an opportunity to act on some of the poisonous material now available to mere kids.
Once upon a time…
It was bound to happen – the fable of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been re-made in a ‘woke’ movie version. Snow White is no longer named for the whiteness of her skin – oh, fie! – but because she was born in a snowstorm. The actress portraying her – Rachel Zegler – describes Prince Charming as “a stalker”, and says women should aim for leadership rather than true love.
Well, fables have always been updated to chime with the times. But it’s mean to have eliminated the dwarfs, replacing them with Computer Generated Images (CGI). Actors born with achondroplasia (sometimes called dwarfism) are protesting vehemently, and rightly so. They are entitled to be employed. And valued for themselves, not replaced by CGI fakes.
The late Mary Banotti, MEP and sometime contender for the Presidency, was a grand-niece of Michael Collins; among her papers she left original letters from the “Lost Leader” to his fiancée Kitty Kiernan. These will be gifted to the Cork Public Museum.
The writer Leon Ó Broin produced a lovely short book some years ago, “In Great Haste – The Letters of Michael Collins and Kitty Kiernan”, and it’s accessible in some libraries and of course in the National Library. It’s also available to buy on-line at anything between £54 and £152 (prices cited in sterling).
Kitty’s letters are anxious, but normal too – she often refers to dancing. And very religious. Michael is keen to reassure her that he is keeping up his faith practices with visits to Brompton Oratory and Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane (near London’s Strand). We have proof that he was telling the truth: British Intelligence followed his every step!
Of troubled boys and the ‘Manosphere’
The modern trend in education is towards the co-ed school. Single-sex schools are in decline, and often regarded as archaic relics of a past time, unhealthily segregating boys and girls, Taliban-style.
But what strikes me as I watch schoolkids piling boisterously onto trains and buses is how uneven the physical development of boys and girls can be.
As they approach adolescence, schoolboys of 12 and 13 can still look like little boys – sometimes still quite small, not having yet had that spurt of growth. While girls embarking on the teenage years seem not only to be taller, but more poised, assured and self-confident. Boys and girls develop at a strikingly different pace. And boys seem slower to mature.
Adolescence
A new, sensational Netflix drama, “Adolescence” throws a more alarming light on the issue of mixed-sex schools in an age of internet porn, ubiquitous phones and the sexualisation of young people – as well as misogyny and the crisis in masculinity. And the chaos and turmoil of a mixed-sex school in the north of England where the swearing teachers exercise so little control.
The drama centres on a 13-year-old boy, Jamie, the son of a plumber, who is accused of killing a girl in his school. Jamie, brilliantly played by Owen Cooper, is just a child – slight of frame, and weeping like the child he still is. His ordinary, nice family are appalled when the police break into their home at dawn to arrest the lad.
But then the back story emerges: evidence of adolescents sending pornified pictures on their phones, young boys taunted for being “incels” – that is to say, obligatory virgins, (“involuntary celibates”) at the age of 13; yes, thirteen! And the misogynistic influence of a “manosphere” in which the mentors are the likes of the “influencer” Andrew Tate, aiming to get their revenge on women for feminism, or for humiliating men.
It turns out that Jamie – aged 13, I repeat – has been mocked by the murder victim as an “incel”, or involuntary celibate.
Another pupil in this mixed-sex school explains to the police detective, (who happens to be his own father): “80% of women are attracted to 20% of men.” This means that the alpha-males of the species have their pick of sexual partners, while many more lesser males will be without the choice of a mate – and thus “incels”.
Theories
I have seen these theories in connection with certain demographics – in China, where the one-child policy has produced more males, since female babies were rejected or aborted, resulting in many men with little chance of finding a wife. But it’s questionable in more gender-balanced societies; and in any case, is it something that should obsess young teenage boys? Isn’t it normal to be a virgin at this age anyway?
It’s not that the mixed-sex school is to blame for this horrible situation: it’s more the material available on the internet and the so-called “manosphere” that boys are now accessing.
Yet in this distressing drama, boys and girls together at a vulnerable, confused phase of their development, certainly seems a factor – or maybe an opportunity to act on some of the poisonous material now available to mere kids.
Once upon a time…
It was bound to happen – the fable of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been re-made in a ‘woke’ movie version. Snow White is no longer named for the whiteness of her skin – oh, fie! – but because she was born in a snowstorm. The actress portraying her – Rachel Zegler – describes Prince Charming as “a stalker”, and says women should aim for leadership rather than true love.
Well, fables have always been updated to chime with the times. But it’s mean to have eliminated the dwarfs, replacing them with Computer Generated Images (CGI). Actors born with achondroplasia (sometimes called dwarfism) are protesting vehemently, and rightly so. They are entitled to be employed. And valued for themselves, not replaced by CGI fakes.
The late Mary Banotti, MEP and sometime contender for the Presidency, was a grand-niece of Michael Collins; among her papers she left original letters from the “Lost Leader” to his fiancée Kitty Kiernan. These will be gifted to the Cork Public Museum.
The writer Leon Ó Broin produced a lovely short book some years ago, “In Great Haste – The Letters of Michael Collins and Kitty Kiernan”, and it’s accessible in some libraries and of course in the National Library. It’s also available to buy on-line at anything between £54 and £152 (prices cited in sterling).
Kitty’s letters are anxious, but normal too – she often refers to dancing. And very religious. Michael is keen to reassure her that he is keeping up his faith practices with visits to Brompton Oratory and Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane (near London’s Strand). We have proof that he was telling the truth: British Intelligence followed his every step!
New Bishop Chairman: No special path for Germany in reforms
Bishop Coll: young Catholics seek ‘doctrinal solidity, not adaptability’
Late Bishop Willie Walsh honoured with plaza on first anniversary
Dr Slim urges humanitarian shift as Trócaire warns of climate impact
Top TOPICS
Unsurprisingly, quite a few Lent related items featured in the media last week. The News
When I was in college, back in the days when the earth’s crust was still
Dear Editor, Garry O’Sullivan makes valuable points concerning the accountability of deceased clerical sexual abusers
Bishop Niall Coll’s recent remarks mark a significant moment in the lead-up to the upcoming