America's schools being feminized?

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Are schools taking behavioral suspensions too far?

America's schools being feminized?

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," January 14, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BOB BECKEL, CO-HOST: You may have heard about a 6-year-old boy suspended from school in Silver Spring, Maryland, for pointing his finger and saying, "Pow!" Pretty draconian punishment for a kid who is just being a kid.

Linda Chavez who was the labor secretary nominee and is also the mother of three boys, she thinks these kinds of reactions aren't helping kids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA CHAVEZ, FORMER LABOR SECRETARY NOMINEE: Part of the problem is we've sort of feminized schools. Little boys, their normal behavior is outside the realm of what a lot of schools want to see. And, frankly, I think it's really a problem because what you're doing is you're teaching the wrong lesson, you're teaching that simple child's play is somehow aggressive.

And also I think there is a problem that we somehow think we can socialize children into being different beings than they are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECKEL: This was the period of -- days after Newtown. But still, nonetheless, she's got a very good point. Same thing with making, playing athletic events. It has to be a tie, because you don't want somebody to win. What do you think?

ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: I think she's right, 100 percent. What's defining America? She said we are feminizing the schools. There is no winner. There's no loser. There's no gender. I'm not sure -- cultural slide in America starts at the school level and continues throughout.

KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, CO-HOST: I agree.

BECKEL: OK, Dana.

DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Remember last week, I was talking about my friend who her kid goes to an elementary school in Washington, D.C. And they got the letter over Thanksgiving saying they weren't going to do Thanksgiving anymore because it was hurtful to the Native Americans.

And so, one thing they were going to do is halting any cowboys and Indians play on the playground. Nobody was allowed to do that anymore.

The other thing I want to say is I believe that if it was a little girl who had made that gesture and said, "Pow", she would not been suspended. They have a zero tolerance policy but I don't know if it's equal.

GUILFOYLE: Gender discrimination.

BECKEL: Did anybody go "Pow!" to you?

ANDREA TANTAROS, CO-HOST: You do it all the time.

I completely agree with you. There was a report, I think it was in 1990, that said that women were short changed, particularly young girls in school, so there was an overcompensation with little girls. Now you see little girls graduating disproportionately from college, they're getting higher test scores. Little boys are being diagnosed with the learning disorders, like ADD, more in boys.

So, I think it's the young boys -- you're right, Bob -- that are getting left behind. But just in society, it's being catered to women. Women are the ones who are buying products. The movies, we go from Charleston Heston to Seth Rogen. The whole culture is being feminized in my opinion.

BECKEL: What do you think?

GUILFOYLE: I totally agree. I see it in schools and I see it in Ronan's classes. Let boys be boys. They want to play rough, don't try to overmedicate them and turn them in to girls. They're boys. There are differences in genders, embrace them, celebrate them. Don't try and --

(CROSSTALK)

TANTAROS: Be androgynous.

BOLLING: I don't know if you watched the Golden Globe last night. If you watch the red carpet leading up to it, I don't think there is a man left in Hollywood. Every one of those guys is feminized.

TANTAROS: It's totally true. Jonah Hill, really? We went from Bruce Willis to Jonah Hill?

BECKEL: Who the hell is Jonah Hill?

TANTAROS: Exactly.

PERINO: You know what you need to watch if you want to see real mean. The American Country Music Awards.

(CROSSTALK)

BECKEL: There you go.

GUILFOYLE: I'm ready, Bob. I'm ready, Bob.

BECKEL: One More Thing is up next.

GUILFOYLE: Thank you, gentleman.

BECKEL: You're welcome!

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