Boys vs Girls

My new class is obsessed with "girls being icky" and "boys being gross" in a way that I have only ever seen in movies. I have spent the last month reading aloud Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to my students. The other day, as we were nearing the final pages of the book, J. raises his hand and asks, "Is Charlie a boy or a girl?" When I replied "a boy" the 12 boys in my class erupted into thunderous applause. Looking around the room, the girls were hanging their heads in mourning that Charlie was not on their (gender-divided) side. I wanted to say something comforting, like, "But it really doesn't matter does it?" or "But he likes girls too" but I wouldn't have been heard over the hoards of boys yelling, "Woooooo Charlie's a boy!!! Boys rule!!!!"

Atleast there's some hope: as the kids were clamoring to make girls and boys lines (which they know I object to) on the way to lunch yesterday P. suddenly announced, "There's no such thing as a boys and girls line!"