The New Underclass

Are White, working-class boys a href=”http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/15/nboys15.xml”the new underclass/a? (Thanks Mercurior):br /br /blockquoteWhite working-class boys have become the new “underclass”, a report by Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, warns today.br /br /Boys from low-income white families are bottom of the heap in school performance, trailing behind every other major ethnic group.br /br /The report argues that family breakdown, parental breakdown and peer pressure that it is not “cool to study” are the key factors in the collapse in educational achievements. It also cites drug and alcohol abuse by parents./blockquotebr /br /Where do boys get the idea that it is “not cool” to study?