In the intervening years the educational achievement of boys has continued to fall behind that of girls. White boys from disadvantaged backgrounds perform worse than either their female equivalents or boys in other ethnic groups (with the exception of poor African-Caribbean young people). Only 18 per cent of poor White boys get five or more GCSE A to C grades, compared with the average for all White boys of 50 per cent.
The reasons? They don't see the point of schooling. They are not persuaded that it will lead to a better job or life. Their parents don't bother.
Their mates would diss them for trying too hard. They are absorbed by a culture that, in its music, magazines and movies, glamourises crime or at least getting by through hustling or blagging. Some ethnic groups have better cultural insulation: poor White and African-Caribbean boys are now being undone by sharing a common British cultural background.
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