Regarding “‘I Just Feel Lost.’ Young Men Abandon College” (Page One, Sept. 7): I worked in all-boys schools for 31 years, the last 21 as headmaster, and I have seen this trend evolve over time. What began as a well-intentioned and now quite successful endeavor to bring access to education and professional opportunities to a wider class of women has had unintended consequences.

The schools of the late 1980s became less friendly and then intolerant of male characteristics and behavior. The traditional male qualities of being...

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Regarding “‘I Just Feel Lost.’ Young Men Abandon College” (Page One, Sept. 7): I worked in all-boys schools for 31 years, the last 21 as headmaster, and I have seen this trend evolve over time. What began as a well-intentioned and now quite successful endeavor to bring access to education and professional opportunities to a wider class of women has had unintended consequences.

The schools of the late 1980s became less friendly and then intolerant of male characteristics and behavior. The traditional male qualities of being loud, taking risks and causing classroom interruptions, combined with the simple struggle of sitting still, began to ruin the classroom environment for girls. So, we began “feminizing” the school experience, with comportment and compliance as the new goals.

Boys failed miserably at this, and trips to the principal’s office (for punishment) and the school nurse’s office (for medication) became the norm. Boys began to dread and then hate school and no longer aspired to higher education. We have unintentionally killed off the species. Only directionless and numb boys are left. You plant potatoes, you get potatoes.

Paul M. Krieger

Fairview, N.C.