Girls experience soft discipline while boys get intense discipline

The argument

School is a place where children and adults are supposed to focus on learning new skills. Instead, they are distracted by the unfair treatment between different groups of students, and one of these unfair groupings is boys versus girls. Where a school's response to identical conduct depends on which group the student belongs to, the disparity itself becomes part of what is being taught. Unfortunately, school is unfair when it comes to gender and how one is treated over the other. The pattern proponents describe runs in one direction. Boys and girls are treated differently in school: boys are seen as rambunctious and troublesome, they go to detention more often, and they are the first to be kicked out of class. One reason for this is that boys are seen as "insensitive" and must therefore receive tougher discipline — the assumption being that a milder response would not register with them, so the punishment is escalated before any individual boy has given a reason for it. Girls are read through the opposite stereotype. They are seen as more sensitive than boys; they cry easier and avoid taking physical risks like boys. When girls get in trouble, they get more patience and have a lot of grace, and they are given excuses for their bad behavior rather than consequences for it. Because the excuse is supplied by the stereotype rather than by anything the girl has actually done, it is available to her whether or not it fits her case. The consequence is that two students who do the same thing meet two different systems, and the difference lies not in the conduct but in what each is presumed to be. Discipline handed out on that basis disadvantages whichever group is presumed to need the harsher version. In the school system, boys are at a disadvantage when it comes to being disciplined fairly.

Context

Men and women have been mentally compartmentalized separately for millenniums. Patriarchal societies outweigh the matriarchal ones. Charles Darwin believed that men were naturally superior to women because of biology. Some countries have lessened the belief in a patriarchy because of women’s rights activism. But there is still separation and biases. The school system, especially elementary and high school, separates genders by behavior, grades, and physical activity.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Girls are punished equal to boys. As children grow up, they are treated as equals regardless of gender. In college, professors don’t care whether one is a boy or girl. At the end of the day, the student needs to study and pass tests without favoritism. In high school and middle school, girls have more pressure on them than boys. Girls have the expectation of being tame and manageable. Because of the expectation to be perfect, girls aren’t allowed to be laid back, goofy, or fun. Being the “perfect” student isn’t a realistic concept. Academically, girls feel pressure of getting good grades. They are believed to be the ones who cause the most change in the world. Girls will become doctors, mothers, and teachers. Because they want to get good grades, girls have more anxiety and stress.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Boys and girls are treated the same in college. [Rejecting P2] Girls get the same amount of punishment as boys. [Rejecting P3] Girls have more pressure on them to succeed than boys.