Connections and controversy draw a fine line between each other.  The idea of cliques in school’s have always been around, but people tend to not analyze about the divide between boys and girls when it comes to school settings. A poll was done by NBC that analyzed the difference in goals between Gen Z women and men aged 18 to 29 on their views about political, personal beliefs, and more. They wanted to see the divide between men and women as Gen Z moves into the world.

At Fraser, students are at the end of Gen Z. Students were polled to see if a similar pattern of thinking is found within the school. The questions were changed slightly however to analyze the divide between boys and girls within a school setting as opposed to focusing on politics.

Randomly selected boys and girls were asked a series of questions that evaluate the relationship between the two genders within a school setting. The goal was to see if the two groups of students had polarizing opinions on each other.

10 randomly selected students from both genders were asked to answer the five following questions:

-Do you have anxiety for the future?

-To get ahead in the life is it better to be a man or woman?

-In school, do teachers favor boys or girls?

-Do you feel a divide between boys and girls in the school socially?

-What is your biggest goal beyond high school?

Out of the students polled, 100% of the girls stated that they were worried for the future compared to only 10% of the guys. Also, the top three answers between everybody polled, male and female, when asked what their biggest goal beyond high school was college, success, and financial stability. When it came to whether or not students think teachers favor boys or girls, the two groups had opposite responses. All of the girls either said that teachers favor boys, or it depends on the teacher while the boys said that teachers favor girls, or it depends on the teacher.

The difference between the two is interesting to note because it highlights that both genders notice behavior projected towards the opposite gender. For example, senior Alexis Mulka commented on the behavior of one of her teachers.

“In one of my classes, there is a group of boys who are favored by the teacher, and I feel that it disrupts the learning of everyone in the class. She often has conversations with them outside of teaching, and it can be assumed that she has favorites because that specific group are the only people she knows off the top of her head,” Mulka said.

The interaction of students and teachers is an important role for understanding divides between genders in school, as most peer interaction happens within a classroom. History teacher, Mr. Socha, teaches a contemporary problems class. The class is based around discussing and debating modern problems. Within the class, they discuss controversial topics, like gun violence. Mr. Socha comments on the social interact that goes on within his class when they discuss topics like this.

“I don’t think it is necessarily a social divide between boys and girls.  Parents, peers, political affiliation, religion, etc… have a great influence on student opinions, not to mention social media.   The divide is not so much related to the topic but the way students interact with one another,” Mr. Socha said.

Connecting back to the poll, an interesting pattern was that majority of the girls claimed they felt a divide between boys and girls within the school while all, but one boy polled said no, they did not feel a divide between boys and girls within the school.

The pattern is interesting because it highlights the different perspectives of social groups within schools. Girls see a divide between guys more than guys do. Whether girls are just more noticeable to these differences or maybe care more, it is still captivating to see how each gender perceives dynamics within the classroom.

Outside of the classroom, students were claiming they felt more of a divide, but not necessarily between genders, but between other factors like politics and more polarizing social issues. Students recently have been more connected to politics because of current events. Students have been connecting and distancing themselves from people due to politics. The ties to gender though have not been a big effect in these actions however though. Two students commented on how politics have been becoming more integrated into the conversation at events where politics are not relevant.

“I remember a football game where the Stable [the student section] seemed quite divided in beliefs. I remember hearing about it and seeing pictures posted, it made me think about how something like politics can divide us in something so uniting like a high school football game,” Mulka said.

Senior, Nicolas Durnell, had a similar opinion about the event.

“There was football game where students held up Trump flags against a school with a large black population, and it felt almost racially charged. It made me uncomfortable that people in our school turned something political that did not need to be,” Durnell said.

While as a generation, there might be major differences between want the two genders expect out of life, at school, the dividing factors seem to lay in people’s political opinions. People have started picking friends based off of politics over other things. It speaks to the passion that is threaded into the generation but also can be a scary thing that people can become so polarized over things at such a young age.

Overall, the divide between genders is apparent in school, but not as prevalent as the divide created by more prominent social issues. Based off the poll, girls tend to notice the social interaction between girls and boys in schools more than the guys, but thankfully any divide that is there never seems to be a problem. However, students, regardless of gender, need to recognize empathy for others and become exposed to diverse ways of thinking so divides between groups can maintain limited as people grow into adulthood.

Sources:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/poll-gen-zs-gender-divide-reaches-politics-views-marriage-children-suc-rcna229255