They rate more poorly than girls in literacy. They are vastly over-represented in the detention rooms of schools and the gaols of society. More boys than girls suicide - and more in Australia than almost any country in the world. And of course, even from natural causes, men die younger. Of course, when one speaks of what is particular to boys in school, we often think first of sport.
Most boys love sport - no doubt.
Well, if softness means cowardice or self-indulgence, fair enough. If we have a Christian theology of sport, it must be so. I think that, on the whole, Blackfriars succeeds in creating within a boys' school, an atmosphere in which boys do feel supported, and in which they learn to support each other. The strong friendships which they form here frequently continue in an outstanding way in later life. Our retreats and Religious Education programmes particularly stress the lovableness of each person, his right to respect, his uniqueness as an image of God.