LAGGING BEHIND?: Students of the Mangshi No.1 Primary School of Yunnan Province play games on June 1, 2009, the International Children's Day (LIN YIGUANG)

Pony, a 10-month-old boy, lost his first confrontation in life to a girl of the same age. The two babies' mothers met in a shopping mall recently and decided to let the two children play with each other. They put the babies down together on the floor. As soon as her feet were on the floor, the baby girl waddled toward Pony, stretching out her little hands to grab him. The boy, not yet strong enough to walk, cried at the aggressive girl.

That surprised Pony's mother, a magazine editor who thought boys were stronger than girls. She soon learned that her son would face more challenges down the road from girls after reading a book titled Rescue the Boys, which was published in January 2010. The book's authors posit that today's Chinese boys are falling behind girls in many ways, and boys as a group have entered into educational, physical, psychological and social crises.

The book was authored by Sun Yunxiao, a research fellow and Deputy Director of the China Youth and Children Research Center, Li Wendao and Zhao Xia, who both hold doctoral degrees in children's psychology. The authors gathered data over one-and-a-half years to support their conclusions.

Chinese parents usually have great expectations for their children, and believe that education is the key to success. "Do not lose at the starting line" is a catch phrase that they often use to urge their children to get ahead from the beginning. But many parents are disappointed to learn that their sons lag behind girls at the very start of the academic race.

"Primary schools are dominated by girls, who are bright, docile, resourceful and glib. They excel academically and are adored by teachers. Student leaders are predominantly girls," Sun found.

On the day they enter primary school, boys lag two years behind girls in reading and writing abilities, Sun said. Parents whose sons do poorly in primary school might hope they will catch up as they develop. Unfortunately, the book brings discouraging news on that account.

Boys are losing ground to girls in high school, too, the book finds. For instance, in the annual national university entrance examination from 1999 to 2008, the percentage of boys getting the highest scores dropped from 66.2 percent to 39.7 percent.

Girls even maintain their leading positions in universities, the book finds. A survey of the class of 2003 in 34 universities demonstrated that the proportion of girls in the top most 25 percent was significantly higher than that of boys, while in the lowest 25 percent, there were fewer girls than boys. Among the national scholarship awards winners from 2006 to 2008, girls significantly outnumbered boys.

The book found that the crisis goes beyond academic performance. Chinese boys' speed, endurance, strength and lung capacity have decreased. Compared with Chinese girls, boys are also more vulnerable to psychological disorders such as dyslexia, attention deficit disorder and autism. Boys are also more likely to become addicted to the Internet and drugs and to commit crimes.

What is wrong

The crisis is not a phenomenon unique to China. In 1998, Harvard psychologist William Pollack wrote about a crisis among boys in his book Real Boys. Time magazine noted that statistics show "an alarming decline in the performance of America's boys—in some respects, a virtual free fall." In China, like in other countries, families, schools and popular culture also give rise to the problem, Sun said.

The main problem is a crisis in education, the book states. The modern education system resembles a mass production line, which overlooks gender differences. Boys, who are innately more adventurous and physically active, get bored when they are required to sit quietly for prolonged periods in classrooms. They are often classified as bad students because they have disciplinary problems.

Boys and girls have distinct learning styles. Girls are more suited to classroom instruction, while boys learn better through practice. The test-oriented examination system overly emphasizes reading, writing and reciting, which puts boys at a natural disadvantage.

In addition, boys lack male models in primary and junior middle schools. In China's national compulsory education system, female teachers outnumber their male counterparts, according to a 2008 national education report. In cities, 79 percent of elementary teachers are female.

The book says that male teachers serve as a positive influence on male students. It cites the example of a boy who did not have his first male teacher until the fifth grade. The boy's mother observed that he became more positive under the tutelage of a male teacher.

Traditional Chinese culture values boys more than girls. Modern boys receive more care than ones from previous generations. The book argues that excessive love can make boys less independent, weaker and less able to cope with frustration.

In the book, the authors suggest that schools should respect gender differences, make education programs more dynamic and appealing to boys and adjust the evaluation system to measure student performance more accurately.