Douglas Todd: Should boys be held back a year in school — by default?

The gender gap between boys and girls in kindergarten to Grade 12 is undeniable.

Study after study has shown girls are outperforming boys, except perhaps in math, where males have a shrinking, razor-thin advantage. Other than that, pick your startling statistic.

Boys are now twice as likely as girls to say “school is a waste of time,” according to a survey by the OECD, a club of 38 countries. Another from the U.S. shows boys are three times more likely than girls to be expelled from school. The disturbing list extends into higher education.

Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men, said it is “the strangest and most profound change of the century.”

But it’s hard to get a lot of contemporary educators to acknowledge it, let alone do anything about the threats to half the student body. B.C’s Ministry of Education and the B.C. Teachers Federation are among those showing scant interest.