Boys underachieving at school will be a problem when and if school becomes anything more than a prison that strives to turn children into status symbols or slaves for powerful men.

And historically education has been extremely male-focused; in fact, there is still unconscious discrimination in most education systems (including our own.) The fact that girls are now doing better says something about girls, and about boys, but it's not a problem of sexism in the system.

The problem really isn't the wariness, it's the demonisation of people who have these problems.

I can't agree more. Society's unwillingness to take responsibility for rapists and child abusers, and the preferred tactic of separating them from humanity, is useless to the victims and it's useless to solving the problem. Until we accept that they are part of society, and society can do something to change them, we won't see any real change. It's very frustrating, because as soon as society admits they can do something to change the "others", they have to admit that they are partially responsible, and that's not going to happen any time soon.

And I do think that is related to the patriarchy, because men don't want to take responsibility for the actions of other men; not that women don't participate in society's abdication of responsibility en masse, because they do.

I feel sorry for men who teach primary school and kindergarten, though.