Schools segregated by sexes

I figured I'd go from this tangent in another thread to a new thread.

So yeah, what do you think the pros and cons of segregating schools by sexes would be, and why?

EDIT: On a sidenote, I would like to throw in my two cents. I am not sure one way or another which is better, but I do think one advantage of single sex schools is that you can better avoid gender issues. Sure, separate means you cannot tell if they are equal, but you cannot tell whether the current approach is equal either so the point is moot. In issues of bullying, for example, both sexism and accusations thereof play a role in how it is handled; having the students all be of the same sex could make a dent in that.

I recall reading a Troper Tales anecdote (not sure for which trope) about a girl pushing a guy onto the rock hard pavement, skinning his knee, and everybody laughing, and yet when he fought back by pushing her (into the relatively softer grass) he was the one who got in trouble, and was taken to the principal's office for a lecture on being nice to girls.

I would like to think unisex schools would be less prone to that kind of crap, and maybe have something a little closer to a sense of justice in schools, which in turn would develop kids into being better people than they would be otherwise. A slight improvement would be better than having no improvement at all...

edited 18th Mar '11 1:25:01 PM by neoYTPism

Umm, I'll assume the other thread will be locked.

I have a question. Do you mean these schools segregate the sexes in the same school?

I don't have enough available data to judge one way or the other, all I've ever heard is anecdotal evidence for/against segregation. I can't see it having enough effect mark wise to be worth the loss of social interaction with the opposite sex.

I attend a secondary school that was formerly entirely male. Now, it is entirely male until Sixth Form, at which point female students come into this school from others.

I can say that I do not particularly care for sex segregation. I am not qualified to say, and think it is a lot of bother for barely any gain, if there is any gain at all.

edited 16th Mar '11 1:31:13 PM by AllanAssiduity

At what age? There are substantial benefits at university level, at least, but it's hard to say whether that's due to self-selection or inherent to a same-sex learning environment.

There may be performance benefits at the university level, but I think that as far as the whole "being prepared for the real world aspect" of universities it's probably one of the worst things you can do.

Diversity is a great thing to have in schools, and by cutting out half the population you're shooting yourself in the foot.

Plus my folks met at college.

Which schools? All schools? The implications of splitting up elementary and high school students are a bit different.

It's somewhat better in elementary school, but still unwise for mandatory public school. If people want to send their kids to private schools which do this, fine. But I wouldn't make it the standard.

I think having genders combined promotes more respect for the gender. You see that the other gender can be just as smart, but also can make stupid mistakes, and thus the other gender is human. I don't have any real basis to back this up, but that's my view on things.

My little cousin(he was in 7th grade at the time) went to an all boys public charter school, and from what I heard they ended up wanting to be with girls even more because they didn't have any at the school. I think that segregating by sex doesn't really do much, because at some point they're going to have to deal with the opposite sex, and this won't prepare them.

I think it's asinine. I say just say no to institutionalized cock-blocking.

Plus I'm against segregation of any kind.

I seem to remember reading that girls perform better academically in single-sex schools, and boys do better in mixed-sex schools. So either way, someone's suffering.

I went to an all-boys secondary school; naturally enough, being called gay as the worst thing that could happen to you. My sister went to an all-girls school, and says that the lesbians always tried to draw attention to themselves by making out for extended periods of time in public during break times.

I never saw any issues arising with gender. OK, I'm a pathetic loser who's never had a girlfriend, but that's because of my own issues. The other lads in my school never had any trouble with girls, and even disregarding the blatant bragging, most of them had girlfriends. So in my experience, integrating the sexes doesn't help generate respect for each other; they'll find that out outside school.

Single-sex schools does make sex education a lot easier.

"I seem to remember reading that girls perform better academically in single-sex schools, and boys do better in mixed-sex schools." - Vampire Buddha

Could you cite it, though? Even if you do recall reading it, the source might have been unreliable, or since-discredited or something.

I wouldn't be too surprised, though, if guys have a little more incentive to perform better to have good grades to look smart to girls. I guess it would make sense.

I think it's better to have same sex schools, mostly because it will mean you will interact with people of a wider variety. Any type of segregation is bad for that reason, although that does bring up the intelligence segregation, but that's more of because it's a school, and thus distributes intelligence and knowledge.

Kinda.

Same sex schools have a tendency to promote much stronger gender roles, and lead to a significant lack of interaction with the opposite sex. This does not lead to healthy ideas, or social skills.

I don't think the slightly better school results make up for this.

And what of my point about avoiding the issues arising from having males and females in the same schools? Are you saying that does not make up for it either?

edited 18th Mar '11 1:23:50 PM by neoYTPism

Sure you avoid the need for interaction between the sexes in classrooms for 13 Years. Unless it's a boarding school, they'll still need to deal with the opposite sex outside of school, and once schools over there's this little thing called...

The Real World.

Which is kind of the goal of school, to prepare you for this challenge.

Because, people, you know, never deal with the opposite sex outside of school.

^ I didn't much outside a very small number of family friends and cousins.

@Jace Much, but that's not the same as not dealing with them at all.

^ I wouldn't be very well off if I didn't go to co-ed schools.

Never mind.

edited 18th Mar '11 1:54:09 PM by KCK

Sarcasm?

@Joe Who, me? No, I just didn't think about the question throughly.

Now I'm throughly confused as well. As a character from the source of my name would say: "Oh well, what the hell."

But back on topic: Segregating kids by sex is a great way to hinder their ability to cope with the post-scholastic world, no matter how you slice it.

If little Suzy scores another three points on each of her math tests, it won't make her any more successful as a person. If she knows how to talk to boys instead of seeing them as something kept behind a wall and forbiden, that might yeild some abilites relevant to her success.