My daughter has been upset about school and doesn’t want to go anymore. Apart from experiencing exclusion by some girls, I also discovered that a major worry for her was the time she had to attend the library each week. The male Librarian was quite confident apparently about highlighting mistakes made by the children or humiliating them for being a little late at times. When this occurred the Librarian would chant ‘they don’t make girls they way they used to’ OR ‘they don’t make boys the way they used to’! He would then get the whole class to repeat and chant whilst swinging their arm with a closed first in front of themselves. The repetitive humiliation she felt became too much (she also has an autism diagnosis).
Apparently the class were always coached to laugh along about it but my daughter claims that many children felt uncomfortable and felt pressured to join in. Nobody really understands what the comments are about either since they are only 8-9 years old. My greatest concern is the fact that these children would have to be wondering what he is talking about and possibly referring back to older stereotypes of girls and boys (weak/dominating). I’m sure that this kind of coaching will no doubt affect the way the children stereotype each other in the playground. Violence and bullying amongst genders starts early!
As adults WE are responsible for changing how we use sexist language whilst teaching our children in schools!
Concerned Parent!