"Most Angry Students Are Male" - Huh?!
In this past section they mention that they use the pronoun "him" as most angry and aggressive students are male.
First of all, that is wrong - I don't know who wrote this article, but if I had to wager a guess, I would say that easily 70% of the angry/problem students I have had in the past few years have been women.
Secondly, this is an unecessary sexist observation and, even if it were true - which I don't believe is the case - it is certainly not something I would slap into a document for educators.
Oh - and the comment that there are fewer cheaters in career colleges? Uh - cite? Where did this tibit of info come from?
Again - who is writing this stuff?
Hi ANTOINETTE,
There is certainly a difference between being discontent and angry. Great point made.
Patricia Scales
I think you may have hit upon a distinction that needs to be made here: just because someone is discontent does not make them angry. I feel that women may be unfairly diagnosed as hostile when they are just open about their feelings of discontent. The author, on the other hand, may be referring to what he interprets as direct confrontation in an unnecessarily threatening fashion. Without more clarification from the author, however, we will never know. Which is yet another reason why the comments need to be edited out.
Well, I too agree. We need to be looking at the overall picture. Some courses are geared more toward women thus the class is made up of mostly working moms that have a full load and are stressed out. For some we just need to let them unload (listen)for others they just want to see how far they can push you. Last term was my first teaching and I felt that I had angry students for just that reason. They wanted their moneys worth and were more than happy to call you out on anything they could find.
Additionally, my experience has been that career colleges also have a higher percentage of female students. So, while I have definitely had far more angry female student than male, but perhaps that's simply because I've had fare more female students period.
Hi Sandra,
Inner-city schools can be challening. Most of these students know that they can pretty much get what they want by putting up a fuss. They had to almost always fight their way through for everything. I too have witnessed over my 22-year tenure that most of your angry students are bad attitude women.
Patricia
I also found in my years of teaching that female students are more angry than men. I also find that working in an inter-city school, this generation has learned that the more vocal you are the more likely you are to get your way. This behavior is witnessed at our school, they feel that the louder they are and the more they carry on, someone will give into them to keep them quiet.
I, like the rest of the contributors agree that a majority of my angry students are female. However if we look at the issue of violence in the workplace or school we find those individuals who act out to the furthest extreme are 100% male. I think women vocalize their discontent earlier and more often then males giving us an opportunity to intervene sooner. In addition females seem to communicate their emotions more frequently then males on both sides of the equation whether that be anger/discontent or pleasure/happiness.
I agree with you, in part. I have also observed that a signigicant proportion of female students are angry. Fifty percent female? Probably not but, I do question the empirical statement suggested. I think we have to recognize that career schools have a significant proportion of "first generation" college students. Many of these students, "traditional" as well as "nontraditional," operate with a somewhat different value system that can make it difficult to manage such classrooms as an instructor.
I agree with you, in part. I have also observed that a signigicant proportion of female students are angry. Fifty percent female? Probably not but, I do question the empirical statement suggested. I think we have to recognize that career schools have a significant proportion of "first generation" college students. Many of these students, "traditional" as well as "nontraditional," operate with a somewhat different value system that can make it difficult to manage such classrooms as an instructor.
Hi Nancy,
Documenting situations can be a saving grace because there are some students that will pursue legal actions.
Patricia
Hi David
This just shows how careful you need to be with what you say and document in situations of disagreement. There has become a very fine line between keeping students accountable and having them claim unfair treatment which could lead to lawsuits. I think these situations should be played out aheard of time with instructors and administrators, and there should be agreed upon basis for dismissal.
Regards
Nancy
Hi David,
Based on my 22 years of teaching, I have found women to be more angry than men.
Patricia
Hi David!
I agree with you to a point. Let me put this in perspective, I teach in a school where female students outnumber males 3:1, and I am a male instructor who is at least 1 generation+ removed from most of my students. Based on those numbers, naturally more anger management issues are going to be from women. It is indeed sexist to say that males or females dominate the emotion of anger. If I honestly analyze the history of real anger management issues over the past 12 years at this school and 30 years in other classrooms, overall....it's pretty even.
Hi Jesse,
I've noticed this as well, in my opinion it is just human nature to write this way. My experience has been dealing with more angry female students.
Patricia
It is a very brash statement to attribute something to males so directly without stating the origin. What I find most interesting is that as I have gone through these classes they have made a dramatic attempt to keep the situations gender neutral, as everyone is very sensitive about these things nowadays. Perhaps the author was speaking from their personal experience. But regardless, this is a rather bold statement.
Just curious, as I have noticed this more and more. Recently when viewing articles on Yahoo!/MSN/Google news sites I have noticed that as the authors gender changes so do their pronouns. That is if its an article written by a female talking about dealing with manager the default manager would be a she, and visa versa. Am I reading to much into a few articles or has anyone else noticed this?
Hi Kathy,
You should have ended this type of behavior with this student from the beginning. Remember, do not let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch.
Patricia
I agree with you, David, 100 percent. My two most difficult students so far have both been women. I had one female student that from the moment I walked into the class until the end she was angry and complained constantly. It became very challenging to remain upbeat.
David, I agree, I have had more problems with angry females, and I was astonished at such a sexist statement. Personal experience is one thing, but to make a broad conclusion like that needs to have some documentation.
Well, David I agree with you also. Most of my "angry" students have been female. Rarely have I dealt with issues from males. I read this and could not believe they actually let someone write that down, much less as you said in a document for educators!!
