Why sitting next to girls in school is good for boys, even if they’re bossy – girls are academic role models and help with social skills
A parent complains that there are too many girls in their son’s class, and he doesn’t like sitting next to them. While it might be annoying for him, research shows it will be beneficial for him in the long run
There are more girls than boys in my son’s Year 4 class and the teacher splits the boys up, sitting them alternately with the girls, a Hong Kong parent writes. My son doesn’t like working with the girls because he says they’re bossy. Do teachers normally dictate seating like this?
I would suggest that despite your son’s feelings about being made to sit and work with girls, there are many advantages. It has long been recognised that girls have a positive influence on the work habits of boys when working alongside them. A recent study published in the journal School Effectiveness and School Improvement showed that boys perform better in school when there are more girls in the class. Girls, with their higher levels of maturity and concentration, act as good role models for their male counterparts, helping them to focus on the task at hand.
Boys frequently achieve less at school than girls at your son’s age, especially in fine motor skills, reading and writing. As well as helping boys to perform better academically, working with girls can help them develop social skills, as their female classmates generally have better listening and communication skills both in whole class sessions and small group activities.
Even taking all of the above into account, the actual outcome of various seating arrangements depends on the nature of each child. However, you can be assured that seating boys with girls is a common strategy used by teachers to create a calm and productive working environment, and often leads to fewer behavioural issues. Boys may complain initially when made to sit with the opposite sex, but in my experience this works well and is often approved of by the parents of boys in the class.
The advantages for girls are less clear, though. Boys are often more immature and boisterous at primary school, especially in the younger years, and their ability to concentrate and sit still for periods of time can be lower, which is distracting for others.