The education system is designed to create equal academic opportunities for everyone, despite race, religion, social status and gender; however, some people argue that school is constructed in a way that allows females to succeed more so than males. Has the system failed in organizing a learning structure that promotes academic achievement for both genders?

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a disorder which prohibits an individual from maintaining focus over a long period of time. A leading characteristic of ADD is hyperactivity. Fort Carson MEDDAC reports that only 50% of girls are hyperactive as opposed to 80% of boys.

During a school day, students are expected to sit through class periods of, at the bare minimum, 45 minutes. At Athens Drive, individuals must endure 88 minutes of one specific class topic in a single sitting. Therefore, students are expected to hold their attention span for almost an hour and a half while reading, listening, learning, working individually and collaborating with peers.

Some might assume that based upon the expectations of high school, the education system is designed solely for girls. On the contrary, school is what the individual makes of it. Boys have just as much of a chance at succeeding that girls do.

The factors motivating girls and boys do differ, and these focus issues contribute to learning capabilities. Yet, the factors are not set forth by the school system; the factors are innate but can be simply altered.

Educational psychologists found that girls hold a higher standard in pleasing their instructors, and therefore aim to get high grades. Boys, on the other hand, will motivate themselves to study if the specific material sparks an interest in them (E.T. Higgins).

The school system does not decide what specific material to teach in an effort to interest or disinterest students. The system designates what material the teachers should instruct students on because that material is what they believe is essential to academic success.

Valedictorians are not only girls. College scholarship awards are given to not only girls, but boys as well. Boys continually prove that they have the capability to exceed in school; boys have the capability to academically surpass girls just as girls have the opportunity to outperform boys.

It is offensive to not only the school board, but every teacher and faculty member in the schools to go as far as to say that school is designed more so for girls than it is for boys. Teachers spend each day distributing their knowledge to each student in the classroom. They would never give extra resources to girls because “school is made more for them.”

Accusing schools of unequal gender opportunities would accuse teachers of not doing their jobs correctly. Teachers give up their time, five days a week, eight hours a day, to help build the future members of our society. The future members of our society are built equally, females and males alike.

Boys have just as much as an opportunity to intellectually grow and prosper in school as girls do. Despite the gender, it is up to each particular student to motivate himself/herself to succeed in school.