e with the truth, far too removed from the boundaries of common sense, and far too negative about boys to be properly playing any role in the education of children (Sommers 51). Feminists have been telling our culture for years that girls are falling behind in school, theyre being repressed in society, and losing out to boys in every aspect of life. All around them, boys find themselves being condemned on the basis of sex, while girls are receiving official sympathy for being a "historically under-served population." At the same time, boys are obviously aware that girls are outpacing them. Boys believe that teachers prefer girls, are more interested in teaching girls, and think that girls are smarter than boys. Yet boys are being told that society is based on a patriarchy in which men are unfairly and unequally "in control of the country, businesses, schools and...family"(Sommers 58). If girl advocates are ignored and the relative conditions of both boys and girls are considered fairly, it is boys, not girls who are suffering academically.Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that girls are far from being in crisis. In fact, girls get better grades. They have higher educational goals. They follow a more rigorous academic program and participate more in the Advanced Placement program (Sommers 24). Nancy Leffert, a child psychologist at the Search Institute in Minneapolis, reported the results of a very large survey that she and her colleagues recently completed of more than 99,000 sixth through twelfth-graders. The kids were asked about their "developmental assets." The Search Institute has identified forty critical assets ("building blocks for healthy development"). Half of these are external, for example, a supportive family, adult role models. The other half are internal, for example a motivation to achieve, sense of purpose in life, interpersonal confidence. Leffert found that girls were ahead of boys in thirty...
