<p>I just returned from the National Honor Society induction ceremony for S1 and noted that of the 75 students being inducted only 16 were boys. Is this normal or does S1 have an unusually unbalanced class from an academic perspective?</p>
<p>I asked my S about this as well as the inductees at his ceremony were 1/3 boys and 2/3 girls. His theory is that most of the guys don’t bother doing the paperwork. His speculation is that boys are more likely to think that NHS is stupid, uncool or just not worth cramming into already busy schedules. </p>
<p>I would like to know what the gender split is in the invitations to join. I also wonder if all of the parents of the boys who don’t fill out the paperwork are aware that their sons were invited.</p>
<p>Do they have to wear a tie for the induction? </p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>As an NHS sponsor, I would love to see more boys inducted but only have a handful. I am sure some guys do believe NHS is stupid, and while it will not be a deal breaker or maker for college, it can help a student develop what is needed for getting into school. I have kids who give me a resume with their activities and service. Other kids ask if they can tutor as underclassmen so they meet the service requirement (and leadership – because it takes a leader to ask if they can participate). Lots of others participate in blood drives, school clean ups, etc.</p>
<p>Some kids do not want to do the paperwork (It’s two sheets). Others do not believe it’s cool to be a guy and have a brain – this is something my son says all the time.</p>
<p>And I do not require ties. Only clothing.</p>
<p>It’s normal because in general, boys’ gpas are lower than girls, and fewer boys are college bound.</p>
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<p>I tried! We compromised on a new, long sleeve, dark colored oxford. </p>
<p>Then I made the mistake of asking about a tux for the prom. “Mother! I’m not going to wear a tux!” Then a ball gown, perhaps? That got lots of vigorous eye rolling. </p>
<p>Turns out (according to S), that most of the boys wear the same dark suits and ties that they wore to homecoming. Or if they are my S they wear the same black cotton pants, a black corduroy blazer, a white oxford plus a black and white tie that gives him the overall appearance of a pirate on a job interview. </p>
<p>I’m just the mother! My standards have been lowered to, as momreads put it so well, “only clothing.”</p>
<p>momreads, My son loves NHS and I am so grateful to the teachers who run it. Thank you for doing it for your students.</p>
<p>My guess is that it’s the paperwork. We made Son do it and now he doesn’t have enough community service hours to stay in! After he finished his Eagle Project, he was sort of on community service overload. He has hundreds of hours through out his HS career, just not in the months where he needs them for NHS.</p>
<p>Notice how the top grade getters are girls these days? More girls qualify on gpa I’m sure. </p>
<p>I wish it hadn’t been a couples only event for prom/homecoming in my day. Son went with a group of friends- some were couples. He wore a colored dress shirt and tie with his black pants and shoes he had for Orchestra concerts. Still doesn’t own a blazer, sports coat or suit. Too tall for any of his dad’s. He finally took some dress shirts and ties for posssible summer job interviews spring break of junior year in college (I think he said they’re required for the job fair)- saved me some ironing as his HS size was same as H’s and I had donated them to H. Wearing a tie in HS was dependent on H’s availability- sports banquets sometimes became no tie when it couldn’t get done, not sure if NHS was also (I do remember sports meets trumping second/third time around for annual academic inductions of various sorts).</p>
<p>This was true at my younger D’s induction last week, as well. While I haven’t actually gone back to count, I would put the girls at somewhere between 2/3 or 3/4 of the group.</p>
<p>A couple years ago, at my local high school, of the 25 or so new members only 2 or 3 were boys. Other years haven’t been quite so unbalanced, but girls definitely outnumber boys.</p>
<p>At our school it was mostly girls but many (boys and girls) saw it as resume-padding and not worth joining. If you have other good ECs there’s no need to dilute yourself.</p>
<p>At my S’s NHS induction ceremony I noticed a significant imbalance, so started counting. It was roughly 2/3 girls to 1/3 boys.</p>
<p>For the current senior class at D’s high school, NHS is 58% female, 42% male. It’s not a particularly time consuming activity and the service hours are easily achieved, so I don’t think boys are just avoiding the paperwork/hassle. I do know of a couple smart boys who couldn’t get the necessary teacher votes because of some less than stellar behavior over the years, but that wouldn’t make a significant change in the percentages.</p>
<p>Resume padding? I mean, I can see if a student is already busy. I think it’s important to be realistic with one’s committments. But I think of resume padding as listing things that you belong to but really don’t participate in. Of course, I could be wrong about what “resume padding” really means. </p>
<p>My son just got inducted and I’ve been really impressed with the volunteer work they’ve done over the past two weeks. S has done 10 hours of tutoring to get kids ready for Texas standardized testing and he really enjoyed it. Plus he’s excited about some other projects they have coming up. I guess for him it was a good fit and he did have time for it. </p>
<p>Another demographic I noticed was an over-representation of theater and/or music kids. I don’t know why that would be.</p>
<p>momreads- once you have been inducted, are you in until further notice? D has the big medal from induction in 9th grade, but some years her grades have been as low as 3.4. Is she still in, or do you have to reapply every year?</p>
<p>Funny, According to my son, I’m the only parent of my son’s freinds who’s even discussed this with them. I think it kind of annoys him that I bring it up. He’s ambivalent. I think girls, in general, are more eager to please and organized about this stuff and the guys just don’t think about it so much.</p>
<p>It’s not just the NHS, but also the honor roll, yearbook and newspaper, student government and other activities except for sports), spelling and geography bees, writing and art competitions, theater and choral groups – there are more girls than boys in just about all of these. This is a trend that has been going on for years.</p>
<p>At our school its the other activities required, not the GPA, that is the problem. I know several boys at our school who received the NHS invitation (based on their GPA) but didn’t bother applying because they were intimidated by the list of activities they were expected to provide. Most of them play sports and get good grades, but thats about it. No club offices, tutoring, school government, community service etc… That stuff is just not cool to do for many boys. (now if playing Guitar Hero or Halo could be listed as an activity…)</p>
<p>^^
You’re right about that, claremarie. Sadly, there is one area where boys are overrepresented, and thats the high school drop out rate.</p>
<p>I think the question of whether our public schools are adequately serving boys is a legitimate one. Its been described as the feminization of our educational system, and I would agree with that observation.</p>
<p>PayFor…I couldn’t agree more! (and I’ve got stories, too long to post, to support my opinion.)</p>