Not more important – just different: concerns of middle school female and male students

The purpose of this study was to identify the specific needs of middle school females in order to develop a curriculum for an after school female program. This program would enhance the growth of female students ages eleven to fourteen. After school meetings were held weekly for three months with female students in Orchard Valley Middle School. Attendance at these meetings ranged from eight to twenty girls. From these meetings, concerns pertinent to female students were identified. A survey was developed to determine the focus of middle school student concerns. The hypothesis being that males and females in middle school would be concerned about different things. The survey was reviewed and adjusted by approximately 26 male and female students and a middle school guidance counselor. It was then administered to 342 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders within the school. 53 survey returns were randomly selected from each grade level and sex. Results were manually tabulated. The major finding was that middle school students, male and female, are concerned about the same things: grades, future, friends, and death. However, as males progress through middle school they become less concerned, and as females progress through middle school they become more concerned