Girls vs. Boys

Last week, my computer died in the middle of a lesson on movies (not the first time). I still had 25 minutes left of class, 62 restless students, and no back-up plan. After my first attempt at a game failed, a new idea popped into my mind - a debate*!

On one side of the blackboard I wrote "Girls are better than boys" and on the other side I wrote "Boys are better than girls." I then divided the class in half - girls to the girl side and boys to the boy side. I gave them 5 minutes to discuss among themselves the reasons why their gender is superior. When the time was up, the debate began - back and forth - each group stating one of their reasons. Each side could state only one reason per turn; if they could not think of a reason within 10 seconds, their turn was lost.

I was impressed at some of the arguments made. Here are some of the reasons given from both sides (keep in mind that these come from middle school students):

BOYS
- Boys can be half-naked (no shirt).
- God created man first.
- In Chinese history, men can have many wives, but women can't have many husbands.
- Girls have to worry about their weight, boys don't.
- HIStory, not HERstory.
- Jesus is a boy.
- Family name is father's name.
- In many stories, the man saves the woman.
- Boys have more RBC in blood (red blood cells) ~ Uhh, okay...I assume they just learned about this in biology! Either way, I thought it was way random and kinda funny.

And finally...
- Boys have sperm. ~ Funny story. I saw a group of boys looking at their science book - on the reproductive page and looking up something in an electronic dictionary. A few minutes later, one of them raises his hand and proudly and loudly annouces "Boys have sperm!" Oh man...haha.

GIRLS
- Girls can have babies.
- Girls can wear dresses, but boys can't.
- Mother Earth.

And the funny girl reason...
- When girls grow up, they have big breasts.

REBUTTALS
- God is a boy ------> God is a Girl!
- Boys and girls (boys is always first) --------> Ladies first
- Girls can cry ------> Boys don't cry

The lesson was extremely successful and the competition aspect had them excited to speak (not an easy feat)! Because of the success (and ease) of this lesson, I decided to continue it with my other classes. In all but one class, the girls dominated - though looking through my list, it seems as if the boys should have won - I guess I am a bit biased when it comes to scoring, haha.

Girl Power!


* Ashley had had a debate with her English Club students earlier in the week, and I figured if Junior 1 students could do it, then Junior 2s certainly could. I did however choose an easier topic - boys vs. girls - so that even my lower level students could participate.