KNOW-IT-ALL boys are damaging girls' futures by putting them off computers at an early age, according to research carried out in Bolton primary schools.

Bossy boys often take over classroom computers and knock the girls' confidence by insisting they are right --#151; even when they are wrong!

But today, as the research was presented to the British Psychological Society's London conference, author Dr Helen Fitzpatrick said the problem had serious implications and called for action to be taken before girls' job prospects are permanently damaged.

Dr Fitzpatrick, who carried out the PhD research on seven and nine-year-old school pupils in various parts of Bolton, expected boys to dominate but was shocked by the extent.

She found single sex groups work well together on a series of computer games and other tasks based on the Snakes and Ladders game.

But as soon boys and girls are mixed together and put in front of a computer screen, boys of all ages take over completely --#151; and the girls let them get away with it.

Dr Fitzpatrick said: "They start working together but, as soon as there is a dispute or a problem, the boys take over. They just take control of the mouse and the keyboard.

"I heard some real corkers from the boys --#151; they'd say things like 'you're an idiot', or 'girls do not know anything about computers'.

"I don't know why the girls do not challenge them. Maybe they do not have the confidence because the boys are so positive about being right.

"But that kind of experience at that age can be very influential and it would be a shame if girls' miss out on technical careers because they see computers as a male preserve."

Confident

Alone, seven-year-old girls are quite confident about their abilities and only start having doubts when they are made to sit next to boys. By the time they are nine, they believe they are no good at computers.

Dr Fitzpatrick also found parents are more likely to encourage their sons to use computers and brothers tend to win any battles with their sisters over the use of home PCs.

This, and other attitudes in society, could be responsible for the boys' domination, but Dr Fitzpatrick does not believe single sex groups in the classroom are the only answer.

She said: "Maybe teachers could spend more time explaining to the boys how to negotiate rather than dominate and put the girls down."

Dr Fitzpatrick is now researching anti-social behaviour in children in Scotland and her former tutor, BIHE lecturer Margaret Hardman, presented her research to the conference.

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