A 13-strong group of boys’ schools are pulling their collective resources together in a bid to improve the outcomes of young men in New Zealand. Mike Thorpe reports.
The first rumblings of a new brains trust of boys’ schools came when the Herald broke a story about a South Island-wide First XV rugby competition. The proposal would see only single-sex boys’ schools involved – and that raised the ire of their co-ed counterparts.
The group behind the new rugby order didn’t deny there had been detailed talks about it – in fact, they were happy to point out that rugby was just the tip of the iceberg. The plan is to collaborate across other sports, as well as arts, culture and education.
“If I were to be honest, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation if there wasn’t talk of a First XV competition,” says Steve Hart, Principal at St Thomas of Canterbury College in Christchurch.
“So, if rugby is the vehicle that gives us an opportunity to be a voice for change in the place of boys’ education - okay, that’s the way it is, that’s fine.”
The 13 schools are spread from Nelson and Marlborough, down to Invercargill.
When and how it all plays out is yet to be finalised.
The “why” is much more certain – as far as they’re concerned, anyway. That is to “raise achievement and strengthen engagement” with their students. They also “hope to foster connection, belonging, and pride” among young men.
The genesis of this alliance was on the other side of the world.
It was a new report released in the United Kingdom that first caught Hart’s eye. He felt that he could foresee similar things happening back home.
The British report, entitled "Lost Boys: State of the nation", commissioned by the Centre for Social Justice, highlighted a demographic it said was “genuinely and increasingly disadvantaged” and referred to a “crisis in masculinity”.
The cohort in question was “boys and young men – especially those who are poor”.
Among the most alarming statistics, which came after the Covid-19 pandemic, was a 40% rise in the number of males aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training. By comparison, the rise was just 7% for females.
The report said the proportion of young men failing to move from education to employment or training has been growing steadily for 30 years.
“Do you sit there and wait to see some of those things occurring in our country? Or do we actually start to get people that are involved in boys’ education and do something about it?” Hart asks.
Upon reading the report, Hart was adamant the South Island’s boys’ schools could “do something about it” if they worked together. It’s not the first time they’ve closed ranks.
“New Zealand has this really strong boys’ schools association. That group has resisted a lot of the nonsense that’s gone on in education,” Christchurch Boys’ High School headmaster Nic Hill says.
“Education has become about not letting kids fail, not letting kids face a challenge. And, in the name of well-being, we’ve made our kids worse off.”
Hill oversees a roll of around 1400 boys at one of the South Island’s most prestigious schools. He has been headmaster there for more than a decade, and he sees a real need for schools like his within the current social and educational landscape.
“This is a great moment for boys’ schools. I can’t think of a more important moment simply because of the challenges men are facing,” Hill says.
“Men are suffering, and we need to be brave about our messaging.”
The UK report points out the decline in outcomes for males comes at a time when their female counterparts are ascending.
“Boys and young men are in crisis. Whilst the last hundred years have been marked by great leaps forward in outcomes and rights for women, in this generation, it is boys who are being left behind. And by some margin,” the report reads.
“It’s not about boys versus girls,” Hart says.
“Because actually I think we want both genders doing really, really well and thriving.”
Dr Kris Taylor is a psychology researcher and workshop facilitator with a PhD in psychology. He agrees it is not a “zero-sum” equation. That is, the success of one gender does not come at the expense of another.
“If we look at the issues that boys struggle with, these have little to do with progress of women, and a lot more to do with the ways that traditional norms of masculinity have put young men in a box and limited their prospects in terms of their futures,” Taylor says.
“For example, young men are often discouraged from entering fields that are coded as feminine, especially the so-called “helping professions” like nursing, teaching, psychology, counselling and aged care – as well as the arts and academia.”
Taylor is working on his master’s degree in counselling, working predominantly with young men. He has worked alongside some of the South Island boys’ schools that are involved in this collaboration.
Asked if there is a “masculinity crisis” as the report suggested, Taylor says there is, but not in the way people might think.
“That whole idea of masculinity in crisis and men as the backbone of society who are being undermined goes back to the 1900s,” Taylor says.
“One of the key points of crisis is a sense of understanding your own internal feelings, your emotions, your sense of belonging, your connection to other people, because boys and young men are often not encouraged to explore those things.”
He describes that as being “baked into the very concept of masculinity”, particularly in New Zealand.
That’s an element that has also been identified by this collection of boys’ schools. Connection and belonging are at the heart of their kaupapa.
“At the moment, I think for young men, it’s finding their place in the world, where do they fit?” Shirley Boys’ High School headmaster Tim Grocott says.
Experts have long talked about boys not knowing their identity and “not knowing who they are”, Hill says.
“That identity crisis for men, being told who they shouldn’t be, but not knowing who they should be. It’s got bigger and bigger, especially with the rise of the internet,” he says.
Access to social media platforms has provided the opportunity for disillusioned young men to consider opinions that many consider to be unhealthy – and unhelpful.
“There’s research just out - this is UK, US, Australian data - 66% of young men are engaging with male influencers, the likes of Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson,” Hill says.
“Those men are feeling more positive as a result of that. They’re also feeling more positive about men. They’re also suffering worse mental health, more likely to undertake risk-taking behaviour, and they have a traditional and often negative view of women.”
“We’re trying really hard to steer the boys away from that sort of ideology because if they think that that’s going to be their place in the world and they can act and behave and conduct themselves like that sort of stuff, it’s not going to work and it’s not helpful for men in general,” Grocott says.
Taylor is training high school teachers to better understand and intervene in the influence of these online figures. He says understanding the appeal of these influencers is the first step.
“If you imagine that you’re a 15-year-old boy, you’re anxious about growing up and being successful and you’re not sure what kind of person you want to be and you’re not sure what being a man means – these influencers give you a very simplistic tick-box style blueprint for their idea about what being a successful man looks like,” Taylor says.
“That revolves around making lots of money, being lean and muscular and getting women to do what you want. They sort of sell these ideas to boys and there’s no denying underneath all of this is economics.”
He says he has spoken to “lots of boys who have been very critical of those influencers” for trying to sell them supplements or courses.
Hill believes young New Zealand men are no different to those studied in the UK report, which states “young men are increasingly drawn to right-wing political movements”.
Taylor agrees.
“There’s some research that shows that young men are increasingly moving towards the right-wing position politically and girls and young women are moving towards the left. But for me, I think that that’s a product again of these messages about how to be successful, what success looks like,” Taylor says.
Academic success is easier to identify. The NZQA numbers show that over the last 10 years across NCEA and University Entrance, girls are achieving at a higher level than boys.
From Year 11 to Year 13, the attainment rates of girls are roughly between 4% and 7% better than boys.
“I think we are doing some really good work in boys’ education, but it’s like anything, if you keep doing the same thing, you keep getting the same results,” Hart says.
Hart says his school has seen success rates rocket as a result of building strong relationships with their students.
“Boys are very, very relational. When you get that right, you get the results. Particularly with the Māori and Pasifika students,” Hart says.
“Our University Entrance results have moved from 50% pass rate up to 75% pass rate. Which is right up there across the country.”
Stretching the length of the South Island, the collaboration includes Nelson College, Marlborough Boys’ College, Christchurch Boys’ High School, Christ’s College, St Thomas of Canterbury College, Shirley Boys’ High School, St Bede’s College, Timaru Boys’ High School, Waitaki Boys’ High School, King’s High School, Otago Boys’ High School, John McGlashan College and Southland Boys’ High School.
Their representation is not only geographically broad. They are a mix of private and public schools, faith-based, high and lower deciles as well as ethnically diverse.
They hope their association might also benefit other schools.
“Actually lead boys’ education in general, whether that be in boys’ schools or co-ed schools,” Hart says.
“How can we collectively lift boys’ achievement and education not just within our schools, but across the country?” Christ’s College headmaster Joe Eccleton asks.
“When you’re looking at some of the statistics, particularly around numeracy and literacy, particularly for boys, it’s not where it should be,” he adds.
Shirley Boys’ Grocott believes it’s a two-pronged approach to lift results in the classroom and to turn out good young men.
“I think that it’s around the curriculum that we teach. That the content is actually something that’s helpful for boys. It isn’t just something that comes off the shelf. It helps boys understand their place in the world,” Grocott says.
“The other side of it is really around our values. Making sure that at assemblies, at whole-school events, we’re celebrating the culture and the values of the school.”
Eccleton is responsible for delivering the most expensive secondary school education in New Zealand, but some lessons are priceless.
“If Christ’s College and other boys’ schools can be a place that gives these young men a sense of belonging and a sense of connection and community, then I think that’s just fantastic.”
Mike Thorpe is a senior journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.
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