Discrimination Against Girls

Re “Schools Badly Shortchange Girls, Researchers Report,” Feb. 12:

Thank you for excellent coverage of an enormously important study. However, Alice McKee’s conclusion that construction of the glass ceiling “ . . . starts in preschool” is a pivotal error that will weaken all AAUW attempts to deal with the problem of gender discrimination in the executive suite.

Does she really think the attitudes a little girl experiences at home are significantly different from those she finds at school? Does she really think boys treat girls at school much differently from the way they treat girls at home?

The omnipresent cultural values found in our homes are only mirrored by our schools. Children bring it with them, and teachers surely bring it with them. They were tarred with the same brush. My cousin is a dairy farmer who refers to his daughters as heifers (cute for cow). This is not lost on either his daughters or his sons.

My neighbor, in her 40s, says that when she visits her mother they eat whatever is on hand. But, when her brother visits, her mother goes out and buys his favorite food.

Sorry, Ms. McKee, gender discrimination, like all discrimination, starts at home--on their first day.

TOM THOMPSON

Balboa