The Chronicle Autumn Term 2017

11 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

My brother is at a boys’ school and he’s completely freaked out by girls.

A Head of a girls’ school wrote in the Oxford Times recently that girls find it harder to contribute to class discussion in a co-ed school. This is not typical of my experience at Teddies. I would say that, in general, girls tend to be more focused – a group of boys can disrupt a lesson. But teachers and fellow pupils are always ready to jump on inappropriate behaviour.

Girls definitely have equal access to leadership positions at Teddies and they are respected. A younger pupil would have equal respect for female and male Prefects. My brother is at another co-ed boarding and day school where pupils are really pushed hard – too hard.

There are differences

between boys and girls. Boys like joking around and they don’t realise that it can be hurtful. They need to learn that girls can be more sensitive, and girls need to learn that boys aren’t always being serious about what they say.

Boys can be mean. In groups, they can feel intimidating. But friends of mine who are boys are equally intimidated by groups of girls. The important thing is that our understanding grows. It’s much healthier to tackle this at an early age. One boy in my Shell year talked to girls really inappropriately at the beginning of term but the community addressed it. Older pupils and prefects talked to the boy and explained that this sort of behaviour doesn’t go down well at Teddies. Pupils are connected - via sibling relationships, friendship groups, sports teams and activities. They look after each other.