The Economist article from two years ago is called Sex and the Single Black Woman. Here is the opening paragraph:
"IMAGINE that the world consists of 20 men and 20 women, all of them heterosexual and in search of a mate. Since the numbers are even, everyone can find a partner. But what happens if you take away one man? You might not think this would make much difference. You would be wrong, argues Tim Harford, a British economist, in a book called The Logic of Life. With 20 women pursuing 19 men, one woman faces the prospect of spinsterhood. So she ups her game. Perhaps she dresses more seductively. Perhaps she makes an extra effort to be obliging. Somehow or other, she “steals” a man from one of her fellow women. That newly single woman then ups her game, too, to steal a man from someone else. A chain reaction ensues. Before long, every woman has to try harder, and every man can relax a little."
Interesting article but my thought was...what if there were 19 adult males and 20 adult females? I don't as easily picture the guys upping their game...I picture guys inventing video games or beer or sports or wandering off into the woods. Or working together with the other males to make rules about who has access to females. That sounds familiar.
Does this relate to the topic at hand? I think the OP brought up that some families go about solving the same problem in different ways based on their values and assets. I think the problem is that most schoolsystems aren't set up to meet the academic or social emotional needs of the kids at the tippy top. Some families respond by accepting the rules and going for the most visible brass ring while others question the whole system and try through advocacy to use what's availible to try and build a new solution.
Shrugs
Grinity
