Single sex education in secondary school

  • Thread starter Thread starter robwar
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
R

robwar

Guest
This thread is about all boy/girls secondary (high school) education. There has been some secular education discussion about having either all boys or all girls classes in high school.
It seems like only Catholic schools still have single sex education. For my boys, we did have an option of a closer all boys school but choose a co-ed high school instead. I wanted to have a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of single sex education. Have you sent your children to a single sex HS? Have you attended one yourself? What were your experiences in that type of environment? Were you happy? Does it make sense that there is co-ed elementary education but the sexes are separated in HS? What do you think about this? I know that there are strong feelings over this and some have had good as well as bad experiences so lets keep the discussion civil as well as honest. I hope to here from those who either went to a single sex HS or choose to send their children there and why. Let the discussion begin!
(I wanted to say same sex but thought that it had too much negative implications)
 
I spent two years at an all-girl’s hs and two years at a co-ed hs
Pros- no distractions. More confidence in class. Focusing on material instead of flirting. Not wasting time on hair/makeup.
Cons- I had a sort of dramatic, drama-filled class, which the inclusion of boys might have tempered a bit. (this probably varies by class and by school)

My brother attends an all-boy’s hs, where the only con is that the entire campus smells like a locker room.

PS) There are secular single-sex high schools. One in my area is Marbouro (can’t spell) which is pretty popular with the rich and famous.
 
The best class in 4 years of all co-ed classes was the one single-sex class.
 
I spent my high school years at an all boys school. While there was a bit of bullying or peer pressure, that you will find at any school, there was also quite a bit of comrodery, a brotherhood. Without girls to fawn over, boys were more likely to focus in class (sometimes). Also, as a nerd myself, it made it easier to grow socially since I didn’t have to worry about girls during school hours. There was an all girls school across the street, where I went after school, and could work on my “girl skills” with old female friends and friends of my guy friends.
 
single sex for me - I requested that my parents send me to one, and both my children went to single sex schools.
 
Falco said:
single sex for me - I requested that my parents send me to one, and both my children went to single sex schools.
Click to expand...
Actually, this is a fairly sound approach, and in keeping with Catholic teaching.

Here’s Pope Pius XI of blessed memory, on the topic (dated 1929):

"Surely, equally false and harmful to Christian education is that method
of instructing youth, which is commonly called “coeducation.” Both the
sexes have been established by God’s wisdom for this purpose, that in
the family and in society they may complement each other, and may aptly
join in anyone thing; for this reason there is a distinction of body and of
soul by which they differ from each other, which accordingly must be
maintained in education and in instruction, or, rather ought to be fostered
by proper distinction and separation, in keeping with age and circumstances.
Such precepts in accord with the precepts of Christian prudence
are to be observed at the proper time and opportunely not only in all
schools, especially through the disturbed years of youth, upon which the
manner of living for almost all future life entirely depends, but also in gymnastic games
and exercises, in which special care must be taken for the Christian modesty of girls,
inasmuch as it is especially unbecoming for them to expose themselves, and to exhibit
themselves before the eyes of all."
 
I was hoping for more replies and thanks to all who did. We looked carefully between the choice of all-boys school and co-ed and decided on the smaller co-ed. We are glad we did.
While there are some studies that seems to support single-sex education, what the studies don’t seem to capture was some of our concerns. Single-sex schools just seem way too competitive in its dynamics, a number of the sports teams seems to hard to get on and up to the varsity level. As one poster pointed out, the boy’s school smelled like a locker room but from a number of people I have talked to, there seems to be a lot of locker room behavior as well. This also is true of the all-girls school and I’ve know more people to pull their daughters out do to social problems between girls than send them there and be totally happy. We wanted our boys to have a well rounded HS experience which included varsity sports and interactions which does include girls. I am nor sure about the thinking of putting your child in a single sex school for 4 years when they have been in co-ed up to that. Hormons hit in 6th-8th grade and i only know of one school that offer a single sex Jr. HS. Thanks again to all who shared and posted.
 
robwar said:
This thread is about all boy/girls secondary (high school) education. There has been some secular education discussion about having either all boys or all girls classes in high school.
It seems like only Catholic schools still have single sex education. For my boys, we did have an option of a closer all boys school but choose a co-ed high school instead. I wanted to have a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of single sex education. Have you sent your children to a single sex HS? Have you attended one yourself? What were your experiences in that type of environment? Were you happy? Does it make sense that there is co-ed elementary education but the sexes are separated in HS? What do you think about this? I know that there are strong feelings over this and some have had good as well as bad experiences so lets keep the discussion civil as well as honest. I hope to here from those who either went to a single sex HS or choose to send their children there and why. Let the discussion begin!
(I wanted to say same sex but thought that it had too much negative implications)
Click to expand...
We went with a Jesuit boys’ high school (college prep). Both my sons loved it. There was plenty of contact with girls b/c the girls’ school is across the parking lot, and the boys are welcome over there at lunch (as long as they behave themselves!). There are also a few shared classes such as Latin, but not that many overall.

I fully support splitting the genders at high school. It removes a lot of the drama from the classroom and the campus. Not all of it, of course, but having girls around is just a huge distraction for young men of those ages. And of course, I prefer that the boys’ high school or college prep also have a much higher proportion of male teachers to female teachers. Every healthy male role model they have is a plus in their lives. Coaches, retreat leaders, teachers, Jesuit priests and brothers all had an influence on my “baby men.”

👍
 
Consider the child. I don’t think that there is a right answer that applies to absolutely every family or every child.

In high school all of my friends were guys, except one. Its not that I had issues with girls or didn’t know how to relate to them, but I didn’t have anything in common with the girls my age. I liked skateboarding with the guys, I liked the same music they did, I loved video games, I liked their books, movies, and TV shows, and I loved football. Not exactly the typical teen girl. I would have felt lonely, anxious, and isolated if I had been thrown in to a school with all girls. Boys weren’t a distraction for me in high school, I dated a bit but I wasn’t “boy crazy”. These were my closest friends, the people I leaned on and grew with, and the people that I still call and meet up with when I go back to my home state to visit.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
We went with a Jesuit boys’ high school (college prep). Both my sons loved it. There was plenty of contact with girls b/c the girls’ school is across the parking lot, and the boys are welcome over there at lunch (as long as they behave themselves!). There are also a few shared classes such as Latin, but not that many overall.

I fully support splitting the genders at high school. It removes a lot of the drama from the classroom and the campus. Not all of it, of course, but having girls around is just a huge distraction for young men of those ages. And of course, I prefer that the boys’ high school or college prep also have a much higher proportion of male teachers to female teachers. Every healthy male role model they have is a plus in their lives. Coaches, retreat leaders, teachers, Jesuit priests and brothers all had an influence on my “baby men.”

👍
Click to expand...
One of the Catholic high schools in our diocese is like this (well, I guess two schools, really. :p) The boys’ school and girls’ school are down the street from each other and there are some classes and social activities done together (such as dances), but for the most part academics are separate. I think it’s a nice approach.

In our area there is one public school district that is experimenting with single sex schooling (large district, multiple high schools). I am not sure how it is doing, but I am glad that they are willing to try! I have also seen some public schools turn to having school uniforms, which I think also makes for much fewer distractions in the classroom (I’m saying this as a former public school teacher. ;))
 
I think that there are good points and bad points to single sex Catholic high schools. I sent my daughter to an all girl Catholic school and my daughter has stated many times that she would not send her own daughter to an all girl school. She was successful there and was class vice-president but she missed having the balance of both male and female in her everyday environment. As someone pointed out girls can create a lot of drama! Another problem that we noticed was the usually high number of lesbian students who had no problem in checking out the freshman students as fresh “meat”. In a Catholic school this was surprising but it does happen and the school ignored it.
An all girl school can offer extra opportunites for leadership however, coed schools can do the same. I think the ideal would be to have a coed school that offered some classes that were single sex and let the parents and school administration decide what those classes would be.
 
I think some of this depends on the personality of the child. I did my best in college were I was the only girl in a class of boys. I hate drama and don’t get along with women easily. I am very much a tom boy and I don’t enjoy a lot of girly things. I am the girl that guys mainly saw as a friend with little to no romantic interest.

On the flip side, I think it would have been good for my sister. She attracted a lot of attention from boys, and not the good kind. She never dressed inappropriately, mainly dresses and they were never shorter than her knees. I think she would have done a lot better in school without the drama of boys following her around like ducklings.
 
Demetra2 said:
I think that there are good points and bad points to single sex Catholic high schools. I sent my daughter to an all girl Catholic school and my daughter has stated many times that she would not send her own daughter to an all girl school. She was successful there and was class vice-president but she missed having the balance of both male and female in her everyday environment. As someone pointed out girls can create a lot of drama!** Another problem that we noticed was the usually high number of lesbian students who had no problem in checking out the freshman students as fresh “meat”. In a Catholic school this was surprising but it does happen and the school ignored it. **
An all girl school can offer extra opportunites for leadership however, coed schools can do the same. I think the ideal would be to have a coed school that offered some classes that were single sex and let the parents and school administration decide what those classes would be.
Click to expand...
This is true, unfortunately.

I would have to think long and hard about sending a daughter to an all-girls’ school because of this factor, and the drama. The boys’ schools don’t seem to have those particular problems.
 
Demetra2 said:
I think that there are good points and bad points to single sex Catholic high schools. I sent my daughter to an all girl Catholic school and my daughter has stated many times that she would not send her own daughter to an all girl school. She was successful there and was class vice-president but she missed having the balance of both male and female in her everyday environment. As someone pointed out girls can create a lot of drama! Another problem that we noticed was the usually high number of lesbian students who had no problem in checking out the freshman students as fresh “meat”. In a Catholic school this was surprising but it does happen and the school ignored it.
An all girl school can offer extra opportunites for leadership however, coed schools can do the same. I think the ideal would be to have a coed school that offered some classes that were single sex and let the parents and school administration decide what those classes would be.
Click to expand...
that has been by observation of the single sex schools. I know that I would not have done well if I went to an all girl school. Some of the studies suggested that girls in a single sex environment can show interest in science and math. I find that argument a bunch of baloney since I always loved science and math and did well in those areas whether there were boys around or not. In the all boys schools, a number of the sports teams become very difficult to get on and even advance to the varsity level. I know personally of a number of parents with heart broken boys that either never made or eventually lost their positions on a number of sports teams such as baseball, soccer, basketball etc. And when you have already invested 2 years in a school, it becomes impossible to switch if your desire was to make it to the varsity level of a sport. I do know parents of boys and girls that have had a wonderful experience with single sex HS but I also know more that when looking back regretted the experience, left (mostly girls) and ended up with a less than great or well rounded experience.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
This is true, unfortunately.

I would have to think long and hard about sending a daughter to an all-girls’ school because of this factor, and the drama. The boys’ schools don’t seem to have those particular problems.
Click to expand...
The boys schools have a lot of cut throat competition especially on a number of the sports teams. Plus there is more locker room humor and mentality which is much more common than you think. One mother whose son transfered to my son’s co-ed from and big shot all boys school shared that the lack of locker room humor and behavior was one of the first things her son had to learn NOT to do in a co-ed environment. Likewise, her son was a wonderful athelete and he just sat the bench in football. Coming to the smaller co-ed, he immediately became th big star and was able to do basketball, something he never got a chance at in the all boy’s school.
 
robwar said:
The boys schools have a lot of cut throat competition especially on a number of the sports teams. Plus there is more locker room humor and mentality which is much more common than you think. One mother whose son transfered to my son’s co-ed from and big shot all boys school shared that the lack of locker room humor and behavior was one of the first things her son had to learn NOT to do in a co-ed environment. Likewise, her son was a wonderful athelete and he just sat the bench in football. Coming to the smaller co-ed, he immediately became th big star and was able to do basketball, something he never got a chance at in the all boy’s school.
Click to expand...
Neither of my sons was in athletics so that wasn’t a factor for us, but I can understand the competition - you have a lot of very qualified young men in one school. The top of the top get to be on varsity, and recruited by colleges.

You have to do what’s right for your kids, whatever that may be. The boys’ school was right for us.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top