Hanging out with girls can make you smarter--if you're a preschool boy

1. Posted by Muldfeld on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

No offense, but you wrote, "while some research has indicated that there can be benefits to education boys and girls separately during the upper grades..." I think you mean, "there can be benefits to educatING boys and girls..."

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2. Posted by Dban on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I truely believe this study, a bunch of boys together at a young age will probably cause a tonne of fights and distress, while a better guy:girl ratio will create more charisma and make the boy less aggressive

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3. Posted by fredsantos on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I find this scientific study very interesting. I also agree that young little guys will benefit a lot more if they socialize more with young little girls. They certainly become less aggressive and more emotionally balanced, with better manners. I am totally against boys-only or girls-only schools. Can anybody explain why these one-sex schools still exist?

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4. Posted by furthertothat on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

Makes perfect sense since girls mature earlier than boys. Not a sexist comment. Just a biological fact.

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5. Posted by DaycareOwner## on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I own a daycare and I have seen the differences between the girls and boys. I have yet to see otherwise. The girls are more verbal and stay in one place more. They play with one toy for extended periods of time. The boys are more locamotive. They tend to wander around choosing different activities every 15 minutes. These behaviours were of their own choice during free play. Depending on the relationships and influences between the friendships, they will venture in the the opposing gender's tendencies. I agree with the findings stated in this article.

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6. Posted by tmerasetriputra on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I find this article very disturbing and it can send out the wrong message at a time when we should be trying everything possible to make boys and girls live together in harmony at every age. Wouldn't it make more sense to let boys and girls be together and modify the curriculum, to suite both, and also teach children about living with compassion towards each other regardless of any differences?? How troubling it is to suggest boys do better without each others company at any age.

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7. Posted by Steph on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I completely agree. My brother is the youngest sibling in my family. All his other siblings are girls, 3 girls. He is by far the smartest person I know. He is looking to be a computer engineer, his robot won the World Championships and he is very athletic. So I completely agree with this finding since my brother is living proof that it works.

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8. Posted by Brian H on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I guess it was fortunate that my next-door neighbor kids were girls from ages 2-4. It goes a long way to explaining my life-long brilliance.

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9. Posted by CBMJ on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

always knew behind every 'boy' was a good 'girl'

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10. Posted by Judette L on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I am a mother of 3 and I completely agree with the findings .My youngest is a boy and I always marvel at his development and he is only 3 years. He has 3 stepsisters at his dad's home and 2 sisters at home with mom. What a lucky guy I cant wait to see him all grown up.

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11. Posted by nick.maglieri on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I wonder if it makes them more feminin as well.

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12. Posted by jesheats on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

In the preschool which my daughter and son attended, the children were well mixed, and both of them had many friends of the opposite sex (who were invited for playdates, birthday parties, etc.). I don't know if it helped them academically, but it certainly was valuable socially.

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13. Posted by nick.maglieri on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

Father of 1 boy, good to know!!

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14. Posted by fredsantos on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I have heard comments about young little guys adopting girlie attitudes just because they spent too much time socializing with girls. In fact these people are afraid that these little guys can become gay in the future if they socialize too much with girls. What do you think about this? Please someone respond to this comment.

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15. Posted by Brian H on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

SJ; Where do you think all the smarter researchers to find solutions to those problems are going to come from? Not from the pool of dimbulb 4-year-old jocks! ;) :D

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16. Posted by NiKKi on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

At the primary school it was my observation too that boys who had sisters were doing the best, while those who had no sisters and did not attend daycare before the school were the most lost ones.

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17. Posted by nick.maglieri on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

acansantos, mine was a joke. I grew up with an older sister and it helped me in my development. I think it just helps the boys with a social development.

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18. Posted by starvingactr... on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

Well Muldfeld,let's not omit the error".....that preschool-aged boys who are attend preschool programs....."(sheesh) Girls tend to talk a lot more than boys.I have three boys and two girls and in each case the girls talked a lot more, which in turn would encourage the boys to role play and verbalize.On the flip -side the girls get to engage in rough-play with the boys,wrestling,sports ,running,etc.It is just natural that each sex would have something positive to offer the other.

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19. Posted by bEN on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

GO girl. I would perform better academically if more girls taught me. I can't seem to refuse to any girl's request. And, would probably jump off a bridge if a girl ask me nicely. Damn girls, they have all of their power over me. Anyways, happy Canada Day

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20. Posted by knowitall on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

hahaha this is funny i have a 3 year old that i cant get to stop kising girls in his daycare, so he has learned so much its not even funny but really since he started and started kissing them he has become more of a talker and he started to understand things more quickly if it isnt obvious by kissing them and also i am sure by the time in his teens that maybe it would be better for him not to go to a school with a lot of girls since god knows what he will be doing with them by then LOL

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21. Posted by kenbesler on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

Arlen Moller seems to be a first class advocate for peer-orienta-tion, i.e. the belief that children grow up better among a body of their peers than among their primary caregivers. Such a belief is the foundation to what is witnessed today: youth are alienated from the adult population. A daycare is the perfect catalyst for peer-orientation. This is not to say that children do not need to learn to socialize with other children. Children need to learn to socialize more with adults who can set the standard for mature relationships. Children just don't make good role models for children. Further cognitive and motor skills are best developed in playful activities conducted with adults: you may remember bak-ing cookies with grandma or having father listen to you read a sim-ple bedtime story and discussing it with you after. The proof is in your memories. Ask yourself, 'Which memories are fonder: the ones that I've experienced with my primary caregivers or those with my peers?'

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22. Posted by brissawipf on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

i think is is true my older boy used to be haywired, untill we met a friend and her daughter,i think the influence of a little girl in a boys life is good and viceversa, i guess just like adults do

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23. Posted by jesheats on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I am quite sure no one needs to worry about "natural" gender-related personality characteristics being lost due to association of boys and girls; I've certainly never seen it and this is against all modern psychological research. What association in pre-school can do is ameliorate the excessive (learned) tendencies of both sexes: encouraging more social and intellectual activity for boys, and physical assertiveness for girls. We are what we are genetically, but it is too easy to be steered into bad channels by the forces of social conformity. Social interactions which oppose that "herd" mentality can only be helpful.

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24. Posted by metalmousepad on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

ok i understand that little girl are less aggressive then boys but we should be allowning your children (i have no children)playing with other kids doesn't matter what sex .Has along as they make friends with children their own age groupe and show communication with other children. that makes learning fun for them and show that they can work well in groupe which help them when they get older. So tell your children it's ok to play with girls and boys. comfort when boys tease them for playing with girls but in the long run they be getting better communication skills but don't trun them away from playing with boys because of aggressive cause i tell you some girls can be just as aggressive as boys itdoesn't matter.

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25. Posted by joe123 on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

This study makes no sense. May i ask you how did you know that the boys got smarter? What were you measuring? Does boys becoming more feminine makes them smarter? I think we should let boys act as boys and girls as girls. One thing is certain, trying to change the way the human being functions normally and their reponse to their natural hormones leads to unstable individuals later on in their life. It's wrong to impose and measure pre-schoolers according to biased standards to define "smart." Spending 4 years writing a paper of 90 pages for a PhD does mean you know anything. Sorry.

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26. Posted by mctool123 on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I can see this as true. males tend to develop the social aspect of their lives poorly considered to women - for example, sharing thoughts or feelings is easier for a female and, at times, damn near impossible for a guy. I think this even works later in life - I've placed more female friends in my life and my social ability is up

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27. Posted by Nkem I on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

I like this. Will try it out for my little boy.

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28. Posted by Jazz on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

Acansantos, you raise an interesting point. After discusing the issue with gay people, I don't believe being gay is something you catch from your environment. The article basically says boys who hang out with girls in their pre-school years end up being smarter, perhaps - this is only my hypothesis - both groups behave and think differently, especially when relationships are concerned. Boys are then exposed to two different mind schemes, which can be compared to learning two languages or being exposed to two different cultures in a certain way. It forces them to think more. This being said, being smart and being gay are two very different things. Further study may be needed to figure out if there's any link between social environment and sexual orientation.

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29. Posted by dan_24_80 on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

damn,,, I'm the oldest and only have one brother... I became a chemical engineer and he is a lawyer... Imagine what we could have become if we had an older sister

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30. Posted by sheekshadevisinha on Sat, Jun 28, 2008

furthertothat: It is true that women mature faster than men but the latter remain young a lot longer than the former. A 40 year old man can procreate and feel young to marry a 25 yr old woman, but a 30 yr old woman if past procreation age and already a foot on the grave. And that's a fact.

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