Poor white boys failing in school (UK)

Poor white boys score are doing worse at school than deprived black, Chinese and Asian classmates in England according to a new report on boys’ education. Three-quarters of white boys from the poorest families fail to achieve five good GCSEs – a significantly worse performance than poor children from other ethnic groups – according to the latest analysis. The news echoes a 2010 report on the underachievement of five year olds by the BBC revealing 75% of poorest white boys in England are not achieving a good level of development in our schools. Coalition MPs claim that they will take action. Andrew Griffiths, Conservative MP for Burton and Uttoxeter, said the results represented “a shocking indictment of Labour’s record on education”. “Labour neglected children from deprived backgrounds,” he claimed. “The Coalition Government’s pupil premium will help address the problem directly, with additional funds following children from deprived backgrounds.” Though it is worth noting that while the Coalition Government’s new equalities strategy highlights action for black boys in education there is no action for white boys in particular – the worse performing groups - or boys in general, who perform worse that girls at every stage of education.

EMALE Issue 94 (January 2011)

In this month's issue:

new testicular cancer check shower hanger

the men next door by Farid Farid

Effective Ways of Engaging Men - men’s health promotion training

• Cairns Feb 2 Novotel Cairns Oasis Resort 122 Lake Street Cairns
• Brisbane Feb 4 Diana Plaza Hotel, 12 Annerley Rd, Woolloongabba
• Bundaberg Feb 7 Sugar Country Motor Inn, 220 Bourbong St Bundaberg
• Whyalla March 2 Uni SA Whyalla Campus, Nicolson Ave, Whyalla Norrie
• Adelaide March 4 Franklin Central Apartments, 36 Franklin Street Adelaide
• Devonport Feb 14, Burnie Feb 15, Hobart Feb 17

Working with men affected by violence - training program

• Sydney March 18 Forum Room 1, Hyde Park Inn, 271 Elizabeth Street, Sydney

Cancer in Australia 2010: an overview

Cancer rates increase for NSW men

News from men’s health SERVICES: Welcome to a new partner

healthy men at work

future events

• National Men's Health Gathering 2011 September 19 - 22 2011 Perth Pan Pacific Hotel

news briefs

• Movember raises record amount
• HealthEngine
• The Blokes Book launched in Tasmania
• Government boosts mental health campaigns for men.

The Men Next Door

Down the road from where I work a man committed suicide recently. This is not a particularly unusual event, given the unfortunately high rates of suicide in this country, except in the same location a couple of months earlier another man gave up on his life in a most gruesome manner. Both of these men, an Iraqi and a Fijian, decided that their bleak chances of a decent, let alone a prosperous, life in Australia with the basic tenets of safety and security were completely diminished. Villawood Detention Centre, where these losses of life took place, is an ominous political site where death and life have co-existed in a fragile bind for many years under the watchful eye of private security companies running the prison-industrial complex.