ABSTRACT

Male violence is a social problem and it’s a problem that schools should be doing more about. Men’s association with violence is backed up by solid data: a huge meta-analysis on male aggression, conducted by John Archer, of the University of Lancashire in 2004, found that “men are vastly overrepresented in the most dangerous forms of physical aggression”. Cordelia Fine calls into question the long-held assumption that testosterone is responsible for greater tendency towards risky behaviours such as violence. Social expectations of male violence manifest themselves in a myriad of subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Violence in schools is dealt with reactively. In spite of the startling statistics that surround male violence, violence is something that is still only discussed after the fact. School leaders need to initiate a systematic programme of study, facilitated and led by teachers in a position of responsibility, which makes boys aware of the violence that they are being conditioned for.