Professor, ‘boys more distracted’

Hutchinson made the remarks on Wednesday while responding to questions from audience members at the 7th annual mediation symposium at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain. Citing his experience as a lecturer at the UWI Faculty of Medical Sciences, Hutchinson said the composition of the student body at the faculty has undergone a dramatic shift since 2001, when he began his academic career.

“When I first began teaching at Mt Hope, the body was distributed roughly among 70 percent males and 30 percent females at the faculty. Today, it’s the other way around where there is roughly 80 percent females to 20 percent males.

“I think the distractions of the modern world seem to be affecting boys more, meaning their ability to focus is compromised.

The question is why are they compromised compared to girls and I think that has to do with a combination of the socialisation they receive as well as the education system itself,” Hutchinson said.

“The education system in general has not kept pace with the way children are developing, especially boys.

A sociologist has argued that when women went out to work, their movement out of the house was a contributing factor to men becoming more distracted and engaging in more self-destructive activities.” Hutchinson said the need to find a sense of identity also prompted many young men to fall in league with criminal gangs or violent extremists.