Hunters and Gatherers in the Classroom
Abstract
At the young age, schoolchildren are very segregated by sex and gender stereotypes still define the norms of their looking and behavior. This requires interference from the community and educators. The male role of hunters and female of gatherers seems to be subjected by the course of history, but if to think more deeply, parents raise these associations in their children by themselves. Popularity in school does not necessarily mean an educational success or exceptional leadership skills. It is very difficult for both ‘hunters’ and ‘gatherers’ to maintain their status or to win the place among the popular ones.
Hunters and Gatherers in the Classroom
Lawrence Cohen, a clinical psychologist, wrote her essay Hunters and Gatherers in the Classroom in far 1997, however the topic still remains urgent at the present time. People are used to relate problems at school with mostly educational achievements and misfortunes, but there is a more deep-rooted issue that drives misunderstanding between schoolchildren. At the young age, they are very segregated by sex and gender stereotypes still define the norms of their looking and behavior. This requires interference from the community and educators.
Cohen brings up very interesting subject of parental involvement in the thriving of this gender inequality. Indeed, the male role of hunters and female of gatherers seems to be subjected by the course of history, but if to think more deeply, parents raise these associations in their children by themselves. Their effort to bring up a girl as a little princess who has rights to show all her emotions and desires, and a boy as a little hero who is not allowed to show his attachments and feelings add to the long-lasting problem of gender differences and inequality. However, the author misses the influence of character of a child. In some cases, children, regardless of their sex, are capable of choosing their line of behavior and may sometimes object to their parents’ expectations.
Another issue that impresses a lot is the fact that popularity in school does not necessarily mean an educational success or exceptional leadership skills. One would never think about this, unless he or she reads this essay. It surprises a lot that the most popular boy and girl at school usually are the leaders of some school sport team and cheerleaders respectively. Moreover, they may have no academic achievement, but possess unique communication and relationship skills for a girl, and strength and bravery for a boy. Others, who do not live up to expectations about ideal man and woman, are considered to be less popular. It is interesting that such role dispersion still exists regardless of technological development that no longer requires physical strength, but brain.
Moreover, when one talks about popularity at school, the first thing that comes to mind is that it is very good to be popular. However, thanks to Cohen, readers get to know about numerous negative effects that it brings to the lives of both most and least popular. It is very difficult for both ‘hunters’ and ‘gatherers’ to maintain their status or to win the place among the popular ones. Children are exposed to a number of challenges such as trust, competition and social cruelty that are very difficult burden for the psychology of youth. I tend to think that there is no winning option for either popular or less popular children, as these groups both suffer from ‘side-effects.’ The essay made me think about popularity and its damaging effect to friendship and other kinds of relationships. It is quite common that those who were popular at school find themselves less admired by the college audience if they happen to go to college at all. Friends of such people cannot be fully trusted as many just want to be a friend of the most popular boy or girl in school, or wait for the best opportunity to win their place.
The sexualization of female popularity and cross-sex friendship are other subjects of discussion. Young girls tend to write every sign of attention from boys as a signal that they are getting popular, that does not always end up well for their self-esteem. The friendship between the sexes on the early stages of development could be very beneficial for both boys and girls, but it also encounter lots of challenges such as bullying or teasing. It obviously requires some kind of educators or community interference. In my opinion, it is very beneficial that some schools set up some extracurricular activities that provide both sexes with an opportunity to play or do something together regardless of their developing ‘gender stereotypes.’ Some schools introduced common farming activities that serve for uniting genders, while others launched special programs that intend to shift the main attention from the beauty and strength to the brain and skills (Cohen).
Works Cited
Cohen, Lawrence. Hunters and Gatherers in the Classroom. Independent School Magazine, 1997. http://www.nais.org/Magazines-Newsletters/ISMagazine/Pages/Hunters-and-Gatherers-in-the-Classroom.aspx
