Benefits of Co-ed Schools By: Lilian Delcid

I’d like to start this blog entry by introducing a friend of mine, her name is Ashley, and I decided to interview her because she has experience with going to both a co-ed and single-sex school. So, the first thing I asked her was about her personal experience with going to single-sex and co-ed schools, “Well, I went to a co-ed elementary school, so going to an all girls middle school was a little weird, and, honestly, I sort of miss being friends with guys,” she went on to say that being in a co-ed school was much better. When I asked her what her favorite part of a same-sex school was she replied, “I guess it’s kind of normal for me now, so coming up with a favorite is difficult.” In the end, she seemed to enjoy going to a co-ed school better, and I’ve found evidence that co-ed schooling could help her in the real world, stops enforcing stereotypes, and help people have friends of both genders.

So, where else to start than to talk about how these hypothetical children are going to fare in the real world. First, let's talk about the children in same-sex schools, they may be faring well now, with friends and peers of the same sex, but they move on, grow up, and go off to the real world. What now? They´ve had limited interaction with members of the opposite sex, so they might not know how to react, or how to interact with them. Now, think about the children that went to a co-ed school: they have friends of both genders, they´ve grown up around all different kinds of people, male and female. So when they grow up and go to college, go get a job, they are more comfortable, like they belong. According to the principal of De La Salle, Peggy St. John, ¨It affords them the opportunity to feel comfortable collaborating with members of the opposite sex in academics, extracurricular activities, athletics and cocurricular organizations. We offer diversity in cultural, spiritual, gender and economic areas. Co-ed offers many facets to the school experience.¨(Braden-Perry, 1) This school's morals, and goals are all based around how the world is co-ed, and all schools should be based around that.

But, there’s more to it than that, much more. Like social life. All of these kids have the chance to make friends in all of these schools. That much is true, but some people get along better with students of the opposite gender. And with single-sex schools, the ability to make friends with children of the opposite gender becomes more limited, and less friends means less people that you can lean on when things get rough. And, according to a survey taken by students, “72 percent of students say they easily make friends of the opposite sex.” Now, obviously, this shows that most students can easily make friends with the opposite gender, and if they don’t, then it’s not like there aren’t any students of the same sex in your school.

Alright, so I’ve listed the practical, like real life encounters and social life, but what about stereotypes for both genders. Same-sex schools reinforce these stereotypes, keeps people saying the girls and boys should be one specific way. In the end, boys and girls spending more time apart can only reinforce these stereotypes, or, to quote, “The more time that male and female students spend apart, the more the stereotypes about the sexes are reinforced.” So, as you can see, most same-sex schools are doing more harm to our society as a whole than it is helping.

But, like all opinions, people will disagree with me, unfortunately. One of those arguments says that there will be more competition between genders in a co-ed school, which would distract them. And to them I say: Distracted from what? Competition can cause people to do better, make them strive to do the best they can do. If anything, competition can help students.

Then there’s the argument that in single-sex schools people get better grades. Now, that does seem like a legit reason, but most single-sex schools are private schools, which are now being compared to public co-ed schools, and usually private schools pick the best students. So, comparing a public school to a private school is unfair.

Single-sex schools don’t benefit students at all, and co-ed schools benefit equality among peers. We need to make sure that students are exposed to the opposite sex, and when they go to co-ed schools you are preparing for the real world. Co-ed schools need to be encouraged more as a whole, because they help students more than harm them. There is a lot of focus put on single-sex schools, and if that could be reversed, then we could support the kinds of schools that actually benefit the students.