Thursday, July 28, 2011

Single-Sex Schools


                Nowadays, education is the first thing that all parents wish for their children to get. Because people want to teach their children, schools have been founded. There are two types of schools; single-sex schools and mixed schools. Many people send their children to single-sex schools while most of them send their children to mixed schools. Even though boys and girls benefit from being taught in one school, it is better to be taught separately for three reasons; women especially benefit from being taught with their own sex, the distraction that will happen with the two genders and the problems that occur in the mixed schools.
            The initial reason is girls get benefits from being taught separately. There is a research that demonstrates that girls in schools are more creative than when they are with boys in the same class. Furthermore, girls being together participate in class more than if they are with boys because sometimes they are afraid of boys to laugh at them if they make mistakes. In addition, when girls study with their own gender, they are more likely to develop themselves. Moreover, children from age 7 to 15 years cooperate with students who are from their own sex. Therefore, it is easier to provide a good environment for each gender which is also better for teachers to deal with one gender of students. However, many people argue that the separation of boys from girls in schools has an impact on the students. By being together, they can get benefits from each other. Thus, when they will be in a group, for instance, they will integrate their ideas to one creative idea which is resulted from both of boys’ and girls’ thoughts. Nevertheless, because boys have different interests from girls, it is hard to cooperate most of the time. So, it is much better to separate them than mix them.   
            The second reason is the distractions that will happen between boys and girls when they reach a certain age. It is a natural thing that boys attract girls; also, girls attract boys. In the adolescence age, students’ sexual emotions start to develop and that will make a distraction for their education because all boys and girls think about attracting the other gender. “Too much time can be spent attempting to impress or even sexually harassing each other (particularly boys toward girls).” (Jones, 2000) Therefore, this will not let the boys concentrate on their study. Moreover, the temperature will play another role in the class. Researches determine that girls are more active in the classroom if the class’ temperature is warm; whereas, boys are more active in the classroom if the class’ temperature is cold. In other words, men’s bodies burn huge amounts of calories than women. Thus, men require a cold atmosphere to work. There will be a distraction between boys and girls in the classroom because each gender wants the class’ temperature according to his or her body to concentrate on the class. Many people assert that students when they are being taught together reveal their own abilities in their study because it will be a sex competition between students in order to convince the other that their gender is the best. As a result, this way will produce sensitivities, which lead to other problems between students to their rival from the opposite gender. To prevent the problems that will occur, each gender should be taught with their own sex.
             The last reason is the problems that occur in the mixed schools. The mixed schools especially the schools that have students from 15 to 18 years old have a common problem that is students have sex in schools because of their instincts. Therefore, there are a lot of pregnancy cases that result from the mixed school. After that, these girls will have social problems with their family. “Among teens aged 15-17 who have never had sexual intercourse, 94 percent said that concern about pregnancy influenced their decision to wait. Similar numbers said that concern about HIV/AIDS (92%), other STDs (92%) and feeling ‘too young’ (91%) contributed to their choice” (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005). On the other hand, some people argue that single-sex schools have problems greater than the problems that could occur in mixed schools where a lot of gays and lesbian couple will be found. However, this problem starts basically from students’ houses because it results from emotional gaps or missing something in their lives. In addition, there are a few students who are gays or lesbians compared to the mixed schools cases. For this reason, the single-sex school is better than mixed schools from this aspect.
            To sum up, single-sex schools are better than mixed schools for students for various reasons why the students should be taught separately instead of together. First of all, the benefits those girls can gain from being with their own sex in same classroom. Because most girls are shy, they will be more active and confident if they are with their sex. The second reason is the distraction that will occur in the classroom between two genders. Boy and girls are influenced by each other, so they will distract each other from focusing in the class; especially boys. Also, the classroom’s temperature distracts boys and girls from concentrating during the class because of the configuration of the men’s bodies, which burn more calories than women’s bodies. For the reason, it is better to separate them in order to prepare a good environment for both genders. The last reason is the problems that can be found in the mixed schools. The big problem is the pregnancy case. Finally, both schools have benefits, but single-sex schools are more beneficial for student than mixed schools.




Reference List
      1- Jones, E. (2009, November). Single-Sex Schools. Retrieved from
2-    Kaiser Family Foundation & Seventeen. (2005). SexSmarts: Virginity and the First Time.

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