Single-Sex Schools: A Good New Change in our Nation | Teen Ink

Single-Sex Schools: A Good New Change in our Nation

December 15, 2009
By latinagirl BRONZE, Evanston, Wyoming
latinagirl BRONZE, Evanston, Wyoming
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.-Martin Luther King Jr. "I have a dream" speech


Schools everywhere seem to fall apart from drugs, sex, alcohol, gangs and much more. Each day kids get put down for what they believe in, or what they want in their life. Common teenagers have to deal with peer pressure, social credits, and learning disabilities. Is there something that we need to change? Yes! Schools need to be segregated by their sex. Single-Sex Schools have more advantages with these problems than any other Co-Educational School around the nation. Having Single-Sex Schools will enhance our nation’s future generations.

Many schools have changed their school system to be Same-Sex for the benefit for their school. Examples like: Woodward Avenue Elementary from Deland, Florida, Foley Intermediate from Foley Alabama and Jefferson Middle School from Springfield, Illinois and many more are included. They all have a step towards new education and have proved too many officials that Single-Sex Schools make a difference according to National Association for Single-Sex Public Education.

Everywhere people do many studies of schools across the country; they have looked into this subject for years! Stetson University in Florida did a three year project comparing Single-Sex Schools and Co-Educational Schools. They assigned either Single-Sex or Co-Educational rearrangement to each fourth grader at Woodward Avenue Elementary and studied them. The students then did the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test), the results were astonishing

Boys in the Co-educational Class had 37% proficient in the class. Boys in Single-Sex Classes had 75% proficient in the class. Girls in Co-Educational Classes had 59% proficient in the class. Girls in Single-Sex Classes had 89% proficient in the class. Both girls and boys had an outstanding amount of growth in Single-Sex classes.

Girls and Boys are both made differently and have their own learning pace and learning issues. Dr. Leonard Sax has a MD. PhD, and wrote a book called “Why Gender Matters”, about how girls have different feelings and learning expectations. For example: boys (from Dr. Sax’s book) have less hearing comprehension than girls do. So when you speak to young boys you need to speak with a louder tone. And with girls, they have a more developed ear so if you spoke to them with a louder tone you could hurt their feelings because they think you’re mad at them. That is why we need Single-Sex Schools! We need the men to teach the boys and the women to teach the girls. Both genders know how to handle children of the same sex.

Some might say, “In all boy schools, boys learn to be more sexist!!”, maybe, but girls and boys get to overcome stereotypes like “Science is only for boys”, and “Art is only for girls”. Both schools have the opportunity to be educated on the different variety of careers. To make another point, some boys and girls feel inferior to each others. Maybe a girl feel inferior in gym, or a boy feels inferior to girls when they get all the intension in class. In a Single-Sex environment they don’t have to be inferior to the opposite sex, but feel the same with their own sex.

A college freshman study in 2005, was conducted for the Goodman Research Group of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The study questioned 1,000 Single-Sex high school graduates in their freshman year of college. In the survey, the student needed to reflect on their school experience, and sum up their readiness on becoming a college student.
The results were: “95% of recent girl’s school graduates said they were either very or extremely satisfied with their schools’ strong academic curriculum. 93% said they were very or extremely satisfied with how their schools prepared them for college… 99% felt more or equally prepared to interact with faculty compared with their peers who attended co-ed schools.” Quoted from an article by Linda J. Sax. She has a PhD in Higher Education and is Associate Director for the Higher Education Research Institute.

Not only do we want students to feel like they have learned in Single-Sex Schools but to feel like they belong in their environment. When a group of girls are together they share ideas and work together. A girl feels like they get called on more in class when they are in a Single-Sex school. Quoted by Dr. Rosemary, “Drawing from the research, one of the key arguments supporting single–sex programs is that they create an institutional and classroom climate in which female students can express themselves freely and frequently, and develop higher order thinking skills.”

At Evanston Middle School, they segregated sex in P.E. It helped the girls not humiliate themselves in front of someone they liked and eliminated how they felt inferior to the boy’s physical abilities that some girls couldn’t accomplish. We knew they did this because boys have a different body build than girls, which is good. But what if the school board segregated sex in science? Would the teachers have to change their teaching methods to teach boys or girls? I would like to change that with our school to prove why segregating sex isn’t so bad.

The information provided was basically the minimum amount of what I found out about Single-Sex Schooling being so important. We need to have Single-Sex education to fix the poor scores of kid’s average grades and put them up sky high! Single-Sex schools can help improve our nation’s generations to come.



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This article has 34 comments.


squiddo said...
on Sep. 22 2012 at 9:37 pm
I completely disagree. I am a female, and would never feel awkward and inferior to a male. This truly is sexism. I do not need someone speaking in a soft tone to me. In fact, I find male teachers much more adept at their jobs, and I learn more from them. As for socially, I do have female friends, but for the most part, majority of my friends are male. they're much more easier to communicate, rather than girls who ca  be just difficult to deal with. I'd die in an all girl school. I just dont fit in too weel with girls. Dont care about hair or makeup or really clothes, so guys are muc easier to be with.

. said...
on Aug. 31 2012 at 5:01 pm
I agree! Most of my friends are guys... they help me escape all the girl-drama!

on Aug. 9 2012 at 8:11 pm
Caleb.Andrews, London, Other
0 articles 0 photos 27 comments

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Multi vad, putini pricep.

Absolutely agree! Well written! I speak from personal experience when I say that gender relationships are the cause of most of the problems in schools in modern America (even things like bullying and abusing drugs).

on Jul. 18 2012 at 11:34 pm
smilebright BRONZE, Las Vegas, Nevada
1 article 0 photos 53 comments

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"Your only in trouble if you get caught"- Aladdin

please see my comment above to learn u have a good point

on Jul. 18 2012 at 11:34 pm
smilebright BRONZE, Las Vegas, Nevada
1 article 0 photos 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Your only in trouble if you get caught"- Aladdin

please see my comment above to learn u have a good point

on Jul. 18 2012 at 11:32 pm
smilebright BRONZE, Las Vegas, Nevada
1 article 0 photos 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Your only in trouble if you get caught"- Aladdin

mikey123 home schooled kids arent stunted... just bored enough to bang there head against the wall until they cant learn...and lonily enough to want to die

on Jul. 18 2012 at 11:25 pm
smilebright BRONZE, Las Vegas, Nevada
1 article 0 photos 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Your only in trouble if you get caught"- Aladdin

this is a well written argument but i spent the last year at an all girls school... girls are mean esspecially when there not poseing in frount of girls. everyone was compeating to look the best and quickily formed tight nit clicks dissing any outsider... and no boys just means you can date another girl which caused so much drama there... so it sucked worse then regular high school

on Jul. 18 2012 at 3:37 pm
ClarinetPower SILVER, Macomb, Michigan
5 articles 0 photos 40 comments
This sounds like a good solution for some, but not a good idea for others. It's not accurate to to write an article which states that this is better for everyone. I am a girl who gets all As, and am going to an IB school (look it up if you don't know what that is). If I was taken away from the co-ed school environment, I am sure I would not be doing as well as I am today.

on Jul. 18 2012 at 2:40 pm
VandalSpirit DIAMOND, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
51 articles 9 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of Gods great love, we are not consumed. His compassion never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I personally found this a very convincing and motivating article. It's very obvious that you did your research and probably even talked to people you know in single-sex schools. Well-written, well thought out :)

on Jul. 7 2012 at 1:38 pm
SmirkingSkull, New York, New York
0 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Sucking up to me won't spare you from my wrath." - Naomi Kimishima
"In the long run we are all dead"- Kenyes

Yeah, this will totally work! Why have girls and boys working and learning to be with each other when it isn't really like that in real like...OH WAIT! It ISN'T like that. Co-ed schools were put into place for a reason...in the 70's. Get with the decade.  

Mikey123 said...
on Jun. 4 2012 at 5:04 pm
Sorry, this was meant as a reply to the below comment, not the writer of this article.

Mikey123 said...
on Jun. 4 2012 at 5:03 pm
You're probably one of those people who also think that homeschooled children are emotionally and socially stunted. You need to broaden your horizons and learn some facts.

Mikey123 said...
on Jun. 4 2012 at 5:02 pm
You're probably one of those people who also think that homeschooled children are emotionally and socially stunted. You need to broaden your horizons and learn some facts.

on May. 13 2012 at 10:23 pm
SophiaCross SILVER, Plattsburgh, New York
7 articles 3 photos 89 comments

Favorite Quote:
To love, to be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and vulgar disparity of the life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”

This is a well-written article but I feel that the basis is wrong. The real world won't seperate men and women in order for them to feel 'less inferior', so children should be prepared to handle those situations for later on in life. It is also unwise to cut them off from half of the worlds population. That's 50% of people with whom they will have no communication skills.

on May. 13 2012 at 3:05 pm
AcrossTheUniverse BRONZE, Hondo, Texas
2 articles 0 photos 60 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Go confidentally in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've always imagined." -Thoreau

Some girls in my single-gender school do not find working without boys intellectually stimulating enough to motivate them to excel. Say if a boy performed better in science then one of my friends would try to perform better next time. *intension* or *attention*?

on May. 13 2012 at 2:57 pm
AcrossTheUniverse BRONZE, Hondo, Texas
2 articles 0 photos 60 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Go confidentally in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've always imagined." -Thoreau

THANK YOU! This comes form the kid who had to go to an all-girls private school since sixth grade. I'm not saying I don't appreciate the quality of education: trust me I'm not saying that all! However, practically all of my friends are girls I know from school. I have one guy friend (who incidentially attends the single-gender boys school across the street) but we don't talk much. It will be awkward when I reach college and find myself in a new social setting.

on May. 13 2012 at 2:46 pm
AcrossTheUniverse BRONZE, Hondo, Texas
2 articles 0 photos 60 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Go confidentally in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've always imagined." -Thoreau

You propose an interesting compromise...

on Mar. 30 2012 at 8:06 pm
Indigomoon BRONZE, White-Fish Bay, Wisconsin
1 article 10 photos 5 comments
*dont beleive noone has Never embarresed themselves.

on Mar. 30 2012 at 8:05 pm
Indigomoon BRONZE, White-Fish Bay, Wisconsin
1 article 10 photos 5 comments
Why can't we all just be in the same school, high school and school in general, won't last forever, you don't need to pay attention to drama, and anyway what about people who don't fit these steriotypes? like lesbians, pansexuals,gays,straights,bi sexuals,ect....  people are dramatic, and sometimes they are not, its called life. We need to socialize with everyone. I hang out with guys girls everyone and anyone who is nice to me it doesnt matter what gender they come from as long as they are good people hang out with them? why not? and as for embarresing your self and grades, people who are motivated get good grades not because they are sarrounded by males or females. As well as no ones perfect I highly beleive no one in the world has NEVER embarresed themselves, stuff happens, then we lauph and move on. It's Life.

on Mar. 30 2012 at 7:57 pm
Indigomoon BRONZE, White-Fish Bay, Wisconsin
1 article 10 photos 5 comments
I agree it wont change anything if it is same sex