No More Boys and Girls: Can Our Kids Go Gender Free?

Station:
BBC Two (GB)

Status:
Ended

Start:
2017-08-16

Rating:
10/10 from 1 users

Is the way we treat boys and girls the real reason we haven't achieved equality between men and women? In this bold, engaging and provocative experiment, Doctor Javid Abdelmoneim aims to find out whether stripping away the pink and blue will change the way this class of seven year-olds think.Taking over one Year 3 class from Lanesend primary school in the Isle of Wight, Doctor Javid aims to remove all differences in the way boys and girls are treated to see if, after six weeks of ‘gender neutral' treatment, he can even out the gaps in their achievement across a range of important psychological measures, from self-confidence to spatial awareness.

No More Boys and Girls: Can Our Kids Go Gender Free? Next Episode Air Date

TV Show Ended.

No More Boys and Girls: Can Our Kids Go Gender Free? Images

List of episodes

S1E1 - Episode 1

In this first episode, the class of seven year-olds are tested across a range of important psychological measures. Doctor Javid is shocked by the results, which are enough to convince class teacher Mr Andre to eradicate from the classroom anything that reinforces the idea that boys and girls are fundamentally different; from the books they read, to the way he speaks to them. The children meet a group of professionals who challenge their ideas about what jobs men and women can do, and later take part in a game designed to test their strength and their expectations of what they can achieve.

Meanwhile, Doctor Javid observes what happens to a group of adults unknowingly playing with babies who have had their clothes swapped with the opposite gender.

Air Date: 16 Aug 2017 15:00 (CDT)

S1E2 - Episode 2

In this concluding episode, Doctor Javid heads out of the classroom to try and tackle inequalities closer to home. He explores how the toys children play with in this pink and blue world shape the skills they develop. This time Doctor Javid decides to set the parents homework to remove gendered toys, reconsider the nicknames they use, and the way chores are shared. He sets the children tasks to make a picnic or build a fire to see whether the changes in their parents' behaviours have impacted the boys and girls choices. There is another significant change at school but not all the children are on board, and on the last day of term, Doctor Javid retests Mr Andre's class to see whether the changes have altered the way the boys and girls think. Will his experiment have worked?

Air Date: 23 Aug 2017 15:00 (CDT)