I remember grammar school being hell for me. The girls could do no wrong and the teachers had very little patience for the boys. Even as a 12 year old, I could see something was wrong.
.
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When I was in Grade 1, it was obvious to me that something was wrong as per the accountability agenda of the school. [However, with a class of 37 students, there were no real discipline problems (100% of the students were legitimate and the mothers stayed at home).]
One boy would talk out of turn, even repeatedly (in the 1960s, “repeatedly” meant anything over once). Whenever HE did (perhaps once a month), the female teacher ordered him to the front where she ceremoniously told him to present her with the palm of his right hand. She struck it about five times with her wooden ruler. He cried and then returned to his desk.
After each monthly or so incident, each of us students just concluded the fact that he deserved what he got. Period.
In contrast, there was a girl who sat right in front of me in the row in which I sat (the offending boy sat right to my left in the next row). WHEN she spoke out of turn, even three times so, SHE NEVER was ordered to the front and given the same treatment. As a six-year-old, that was notable to me.
As students, we never discussed such things, ever, not at school nor at home. We just accepted the verdict of the authority.
I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again, “What we need for girls are programs of ACCOUNTABILITY EQUITY and for boys (although not in this case–the boy did deserve what he got), we need programs of PROTECTION EQUITY.
How do you deal with a problem like... when he is "just being a boy"? So, were the American nuns any different?
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