Last week, the American Association of University Women (aauw) released a new study on gender equity in education that claims the “boys crisis” in U.S. schools is a myth. The aauw authors assert that this crisis was simply invented by those who are uncomfortable with the advances of girls and women.

An organization whose mission is to advance equity for women and girls in education making such claims is hardly surprising. But is it true that today’s feminized education is not hurting boys?

The study reports that since the 1970s, educational achievement for both sexes has improved or stayed the same. By focusing on advances of both sexes while ignoring the areas where boys are having trouble, however, the report ignores the reality—which is supported by a multitude of evidence—that boys are not fine. It also perpetuates the myth that girls are victimized.

The report also seeks to draw attention away from the very real problems of boys by highlighting the impact of race/ethnicity and family income on test scores, indicating that this is where the real crisis lies.

“But,” as author Kathleen Parker writes, “those findings don’t justify the conclusion that boys aren’t in trouble.” She continues:

According to Judith Kleinfeld, psychology professor at the University of Alaska–Fairbanks and director of the Boys Project, illiteracy rates among high school boys are higher than among girls; the reading gap for boys is larger at all ages and increases with age; boys receive lower marks from grade school through college.Boys excel, meanwhile, at drug and alcohol abuse, addiction to computer games, delinquency, emotional disturbances, suicide, conduct disorders and a variety of other psychiatric disorders.[T]he aauw authors’ purpose seems clear—to divert attention from the “boy problem” lest any more attention be siphoned from programs built around the alleged girl crisis.Much can be inferred from the defensive tone of the study and from the people the authors chose to attack. One target was Christina Hoff Sommers, the cool-headed philosopher and American Enterprise Institute scholar who wrote The War Against Boys, which the aauw authors describe as “incendiary.”

In The War Against Boys, Sommers deflates the modern myth that society is somehow “short-changing” girls. According to Sommers, it’s boys who are actually subjected to society’s fiercest discrimination. Sommers attacks several well-known feminists in her work. Her foremost target is Carol Gilligan, author of Making Connections, a book about how adolescent girls are victims of a male-dominated society. Gilligan compares a girl’s life to a river flowing into the sea of Western culture “in danger of drowning or disappearing.” According to Sommers, Ms. Gilligan’s sweeping accusations against men in 1990 quickly attracted many powerful allies. This helped set off an outcry over what some feminists refer to as a “girl crisis.”

But as Sommers points out, all these “findings” were based on bogus data and biased research. The media didn’t help matters either, helping to hype the “short-changed” girls myth through hundreds of news reports.

Following the heels of hype, in 1994 Congress passed the Gender Equity in Education Act. This bill categorized girls as an underserved population, placing them on par with minority groups that consider themselves discriminated against. All of these developments reformed public education in the United States, giving girls more opportunities to “catch up.”

According to Sommers, though, it’s boys who are behind. “Contrary to the story told by Gilligan and her followers, by the early 1990s American girls were flourishing in unprecedented ways,” Sommers writes.

Today, girls earn better grades than boys throughout high school and dominate in student government, honor societies, debating clubs and on school newspapers. They read more books, are more studious and more likely to study overseas. They also outperform boys on tests of artistic and musical ability. And they graduate from college at much higher rates.

Conversely, boys are behind girls in reading and writing skills. Boys are more likely to be held back or suspended from school. More boys drop out. More boys are on Ritalin, and more get involved in crime, alcohol and drugs.

These are facts that the feminists prefer to ignore.

In reference to the aauw study, Dan K. Thomasson writes for Scripps Howard News Service,

Like boxers, education theorists spend a great deal of their time jabbing and counterpunching one another with tests and studies to build support for their opinions …. In the process, much of what is just plain common sense disappears in a welter of statistics that appear irrefutable, if obvious, but completely miss the point. Boys do catch up, given half a chance. Girls certainly can be superlative mathematicians (my daughter is one) and parental support is obviously vitally important to academic progress. Children of families who can afford books and other educational tools are bound to do better. How startling is that?

Thomasson goes on to point out where a fundamental problem in the education system lies (emphasis mine):

The public school system from the first to the ninth grades has been the overwhelming domain of women for a variety of reasons. This matriarchal society subconsciously has created an atmosphere, set an agenda and established the standards that clearly favor girls, at least in the early stages.

But this matriarchal society does not just have a negative impact on boys academically.

In her book, Sommers’s most stinging indictment comes against feminists who aim to destroy what she calls “conventional maleness.” “The belief that boys are being wrongly ‘masculinized’ is inspiring a movement to ‘construct boyhood’ in ways that will render boys less competitive, more emotionally expressive, more nurturing—more, in short, like girls. Gloria Steinem summarizes the views of many in the boys-should-be-changed camp when she says, ‘We need to raise boys like we raise girls’” (op. cit.).

As a result, on the one hand, some boys are becoming more effeminate in a liberal-influenced educational system that looks upon masculinity as potentially dangerous. On the other hand, perhaps in reaction to the feminist movement, you have an increasing number of boys becoming more warped, rebellious and prone to commit violent acts.

Both of these movements are perverted extremes—and a fulfillment of Bible prophecy! God offers solutions to both problems, if we will just turn to the Bible for answers. In this much-maligned and misunderstood book, God tells us how to raise boys properly.

Isaiah 3 graphically portrays just how bad it will get before the Messiah returns. “For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem [referring to end-time Israel—primarily the American and British peoples] and from Judah [the Jews] … [t]he mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator” (verses 1-3). Because of our sins, God is removing strong male leadership from our midst!

A century ago, the father’s role was clearly defined, unlike today. He used to be right at the center of family life. He was the head of the family, the primary caregiver, breadwinner, protector, moral educator and law-enforcer.

Today, assuming the father is still at home, you would be hard-pressed to find a family where dad fulfilled even two of those responsibilities. Men have relinquished their duties in the home and have therefore been taken down a notch at a time—to the point where boys grow up unsure of what role they are to fulfill, if any.

There are others, of course, who are at the opposite extreme, believing the man’s role is far superior to a woman’s. Isaiah spoke of this modern-day phenomenon too. “And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them” (verse 4). God is not talking about adolescents becoming congressmen. What He means is that our adult leaders will act like children.

Notice what kind of children: “And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable” (verse 5). He’s talking about spoiled, undisciplined, selfish, disobedient and angry children who never really grow up! Rebellious children simply become rebellious adults.

Isaiah prophesied of both these perverted extremes! Notice verse 12: “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Here, the leading men referred to in verses 2 and 3 are not even mentioned. We’re left with a society, according to Isaiah 3, where rebellious children oppress and women dominate.

In a world where men have abdicated their God-given role as the loving head of the home and where popular culture seeks to lure children into every imaginable perversion, it’s no wonder our boys are in trouble! Unless we get back to the Bible’s wisdom, men will continue to be taken down a notch and boys will grow up unsure about their role in the family.

Jesus Christ was our perfect example of a real man. Study His life, and you will find that physically, He was a man of impressive strength and endurance. He was a learned man who took His education seriously as a youngster. By the time His ministry began, He had developed into perhaps the finest and most persuasive speaker in mankind’s history. He also had a commanding presence. Together with the steel-like traits of vibrant health, intelligence, decisive leadership, righteous indignation and the power of persuasion, Jesus also had the many velvet qualities that helped Him lead a life of balance. He was humble. He was compassionate. He was the epitome of true masculinity.