I thought this concept was made unconstitutional by Brown versus Board of Education which dealt with the segragation of blacks? http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/front/1403958 ------------- May 9, 2002, 12:26AM Same-sex schools get support Paige: Federal government working to ease regulations By MELANIE MARKLEY Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle The U.S. Department of Education is rewriting federal regulations to make establishing all-boy and all-girl public schools easier, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige said Wednesday. -------------
they weren't able to make any good arguments for separate but equal along racial lines...that might be different along gender lines.
I'm OK with the single-sex schools as long as they are restricted to optional, magnet or alternative programs. It might help kids with behavior problems and eliminate distractions. But I don't want to ever see a kid's district school be single-sex. The argument that boys and girls learn differently disturbs me in this case. Yes, there is some difference between thought processes and natural abilities when you compare boys as a group to girls as a group. But there is a LOT of overlap. It's not like the brains work in fundamentally different ways (at least until you take the male home and watch what he does with the TV remote control ). I think a class geared toward "the way girls think" would be bad for the substantial portion of the class who would rather think the way boys do. Also, if you don't learn to live with the opposite sex in school, and deal with them on an everyday basis, how easy will it be later in life? The best thing is for boys and girls to grow up seeing each other as human beings - the rest shouldn't be a big deal. I just don't want to see our society slipping back into the old rigid gender roles, which do no good for anyone.
I totally agree with you...might as well start assimilating with people different from you at an early age. But someone might be able to effectively argue that having both sexes together distracts kids from learning. I agree with you, however, that there are social skills that people learn in school as well that are important...not that they're specifically taught...but they're learned from being with all these kids at once!
Some would say that primary and secondary schools are geared more and more towards "the way girls think" and boys are suffering as a result.
Timing -- there are many people who think the opposite is true as well. Middle school is a particularly precarious time for girls, and in a co-ed classroom boys tend to get more attention from teachers than girls. This often causes less academically inclined girls to give up on school altogether. I don't think same-sex schools are the answer for everyone, but I do think they're helpful for teens who are at risk of dropping out or failing classes.
Best solution: All Home-Economics schools for girls so they can learn cookin' and cleanin'. All Bodybuilding schools for guys so they can learn how to be macho. Problem solved.
Mrs. JB, What about the boys/girls who are discriminated against? There are plenty of schools better than the Citadel, but it was forced to let in women. This disturbance/publicity probably lowered the ability of atleast one male student even though it helps our society as a whole. I am generally opposed to laws that segregate along the lines of sex, race, physically challenged, religion, etc.. Single sex schools is one of the issues were I am undecided if the merit outweighs the harm. There are differences in women and men that may or may not be big enough to merit separatre schools. I also don't like double standards unless there is a solid reason.
Joe Joe -- I'm not really sure what you're asking me here. It sounds like you were unhappy that the Citadel had to let in women, but in general you dislike same-sex schools. Am I reading you correctly? I don't have any definitive answers on this issue (otherwise I'd be hanging out in a Washington think tank and not some bulletin board ). My own personal stance is that same-sex schools are not necessary for the majority of the population, but that a small group of children may benefit from them.
Me not good with words. I was trying to say that same sex schools help some, but some will also be hurt by not being allowed into a school that could help them just because they're the wrong sex. The same sex school helped atleast one student (I'm guessing here), but because it discriminated against women it was wrong. All I'm trying to say is that you can't help someone if you're discrimanting against others based on race, sex, etc at the same time. Even though the Citadel may have helped some men that work well in a single sex environment, it was still wrong for discriminating. I'm not completely one way or the other on this issue so I may contradict, repeat myself here at times. I also find it hard to believe that schools will be equal. Teachers play a huge role in education. I knew a girl that went to my high school for two years because we had a great teacher that she wanted to learn under. If a great teacher ends up at a single sex school, you'll have discrimination unless there is a counterpart in the same subject.
i went to an all boys school for 9 years and coed for the 2 last years. man i liked my first school better. i was better academically, just paid more attention. the guys from the 2 schools were as different as day and night.
