Same Sex Versus Co-Ed School Debate

Same Sex Versus Co-Ed School Debate
by Lily Norris

There are a lot of reasons that co-ed schools are good.  They represent that diversity exists in our society today, the world is not full of all male or female.  According to recent studies done by St. Andrews College kids in co-ed schools participate more in class discussions.  As well as social reasons, there are many academic reasons. Most curriculum are developed for a dual gender community. A study done in Tel Aviv showed that there was great performance in a co-ed school with the same curriculum as a same sex school.  Co-ed schools are also essential for the brain's development.  Growing up without the opposite sex can be very harmful for the brain.  In life you will also be with or around the other gender.  If your brain if not developed like this since the beginning, then it will be more difficult to adjust as the brain stops slowly developing after our 20's. So co-ed schools are the obvious choice.

As stated earlier you will most likely not be in a single sex environment your entire life, seeing as the world isn't all male or all female.  Why should education be any different if most of it is preparing you to get a job and be able to survive?  It really shouldn't and though some same sex schools have a brother or sister school near them, it isn't the same as being in the same classroom and learning alongside the opposite gender.  "Collaboration between the sexes  in the classroom helps develop confidence in students and they excel at university as beyond as leaders," states The Benefits of Co-Education by St. Andrews College.  Without this type of interactions and collaborations students would not be able to become more confident and able to succeed.

Many will argue that with same sex schools the curriculum can be designed more efficiently for that classroom. But as many people know not all people of the same gender benefit the same amount from the same curriculum.  As the article Arguments for and Against Single Sex Schools says "Some argue that, the typical co-ed classroom demands verbal and sedentary or 'feminine' learning, girls have the clear advantage.  Opponents argue that using visual and kinetic or 'masculine' institutional methods and materials helps both boys and girls master abstract concepts."  I know that I personally learn better with the so-called "masculine" methods, so a single sex educational environment with the constant "feminine" teaching would be disruptive to my learning and not helpful.

There are many components to having a full education, one of which is having a healthy social life. To have a healthy social life it is very important to have a wide diversity of friends so you can grow as a person.  Diversity doesn't just mean race it means gender as well.  For many kids they see and meet the majority of their friends at school.  Without the chance to meet and interact with both genders they are missing out on learning and missing out on being able to grow and compare ideas. Just like how the article The Benefits of Co-Education written by St Andrew's College states, "working together in the classroom and on homework assignments provides boys and girls the opportunity to learn from each other intellectually as well as socially."  Students benefit from collaborating and interacting with the other gender so why separate and greatly decrease these vital interactions?

Many argue that being in a co-ed environment is distracting because the students often feel the need to show off to each other or get the other gender's attention.  Just like how the article Are Single Sex Schools Better than Co-Ed Schools says "The biggest issue in the single sex versus co-ed schools debate is the possibility of attraction and distraction in the classroom.  Many people say that if the other sex is in the classroom, the other will do nothing by ogle classmates and not pay attention to the teacher."  This statement is obviously false due to the fact that just because an other gender is near doesn't make learning impossible but can actually encourage students to want to do better.   And as another piece from the same article states "But what about the people attracted to the same sex? Or those not interested in dating anyone? Or those open to dating but not easily distracted in the classroom (which was my person experience) for these students and myself the co-ed classroom may be no worse at all."

Another very common argument is about how boys and girls brains are allegedly extremely different so different learning styles are needed as well as entirely different schools.  While boys and girls do learn differently like the article The Great Gender Debate: Should Boys and Girls Learn Separately? states "Many proponents of single sex education including staff at Riverview, site scientific evidence that boys and girls brains are hardwired differently."  That doesn't mean that a special curriculum can't support both genders equally.  As well as the fact that in another part of the article it states, "But according to Dr. Lise Eliot, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at the Chicago medical school for Rosalind Franklin University, these differences are very small statistically, and are not substantial enough to warrant separate lessons." So what is the point of single sex schooling?

In conclusion although this will still remain a very controversial topic, I believe that co-ed education is more beneficial than single sex education because in a co-ed environment students can interact and share ideas with the opposite gender.  Students will also be able to be better prepared for the co-ed world ahead of them.

St. Andrew's College.  "The Benefits of Co-education."
St. Andrew's College.  St. Andrew's College, 2015. Web. 3/22/2016

Morello, Rachel.  "The Great Gender Debate: Should Boys and Girls Learn Separately?"
State Impact.  The Trustees of Indiana University, May 29, 2015.  Web. 3/22/2016