April 2011
Featured in this insight: Education, Children & young people
New study suggests behaviour of UK schoolgirls has worsened: A survey of teachers, heads and other school staff in the UK suggests that girls’ behaviour in the classroom has deteriorated in the last two years.
A secondary school teacher who was involved in the study commented: "Boys are more physically aggressive and usually to other pupils, with girls it is more name calling, less fighting."
Bullying, spreading rumours, making snide looks and comments were seen to be the biggest problems amongst girls, with one teacher saying: "Girls spread rumours and fall-outs last a long time. Boys tend to sort it out fairly quickly."
Of the 859 members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, 44% believed the conduct of girls has worsened, compared to 43% for boys.
In total however, a majority of 68% claimed that the boys’ behaviour was harder to deal with.
Commenting on the report, a spokesman for the Department for Education said: "Teachers can't teach effectively and pupils can't learn if discipline is poor or there is continual low-level disruption... That's why we're giving teachers tough new powers and underlining their clear authority to crackdown on badly-behaved pupils."
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