Single Sex Schools
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Single Sex Schooling for Girls
The experience that I have had in both co-ed and same sex schooling has made me come to an understanding of how different these two schooling systems are. Going to a co-ed elementary and middle school at a young age did not really prove to me that there is any difference between co-ed and same sex schooling. After moving to Iran, I was forced to attend an all girl high school because all of the schools in Iran were single sex. I had always dreamed about going to all of the high school traditions such as prom and graduation however, it was no longer possible. After my sophomore year of high school, I saw a significant change in my grades. It was at that point in my life when I realized that there is a difference between co-ed and single sex schooling because my studying habits had not changed and the material that was being taught in school was not getting easier. I was no longer dreaming about those high school traditions, I was dreaming more about how I was going to take advantage of this miracle. Was the raise in my grades due to the fact that I was attending an all girl school?
Single sex schools such as all girl or all boy schools have not been taken seriously or thoroughly thought through by people. These schools have been looked at like just Catholic or private schools. Single sex schools are not necessarily just those schools; they can be public schools as well. Single sex schools benefit girls and also benefit boys. Single sex schools have been proven to destroy the gender stereotypes and gender roles that society has built throughout the past. Single sex schools concentrate more on the different learning capabilities of each gender individually which raises the test scores and grades of students that attend those schools.
Co-ed schooling is the only schooling that most parents have been exposed to and so they think it is the right way of schooling their children. Many parents want their children to grow up and go to school with the opposite sex because they want their children to be more social and know how to get along and communicate with the opposite sex. This is something that is natural and is not wrong. However, parents do not look at how single sex schooling will bring out the other side of their child that the gender stereotypes will not allow. If a girl in a co-ed school shows an interest in math, computer science or physics she is going to be looked at differently and teased because those subjects are mainly for boys to study and to be good at. In a Goodman Research Group study sponsored by the National Coalition of Girls Schools, “25 percent of the senior girls surveyed in same-sex schools said they intended to pursue math, science and technology in college. This figure is four times the national average” (qtd. in Schools for Girls 6). The National Association for Single Sex Public Education calls this “a breadth of educational opportunity which is a benefit of same sex schooling beyond grades and scores”. Wouldn’t parents want their children to show an interest in something they like and not what society wants them to like? Every child should at least be allowed to be different from other children to make them unique and their own individual.
Attending a single-sex school for high school in particular can help the students get prepared for college. It can also change their minds about the major they want to study or better yet for those students who didn’t want to continue to obtain a college degree; single sex schooling might be the right place to be for them to change their mind about their future. In the same study conducted by Goodman Researched Group, it showed that “Out of 4,000 graduates of 63 girls schools, 62 percent believe they were better prepared for college math and science than women from co-ed schools” (qtd. in Schools for Girls 6). In 2000, The National Coalition of Girl’s Schools conducted a survey of approximately 4,300 girls who attended all girl schools and came up with the following results about their experience and of attending a same sex high school: “88% would repeat their girls school experience, 83% perceived themselves to be better prepared for college than female counterparts from co-educational high schools and 13% intended to major in math or science — significantly more than females and males nationally (2% and 10% respectively)” (National Association for Single Sex Public Education) .
When there are no boys present, girls can be who they are. There is no one for them to impress, they do not have to be someone that society has pictured them to be. For example, if a girl does not have to impress a boy that she has a crush on, she will go to school without having to worry about what to wear and how to do her hair and make up every morning. Also, throughout the year, girls do not have to worry about who will ask them to their school formal, prom or any school social event because such a thing does not exist in single sex schools. The teachers at these single sex schools will get the attention of the girls by effectively teaching them in a manner that is not present in co-ed schooling. A girl’s school develops a girls individuality and her personality. Teachers in a girls school can teach successfully in ways which will reach girls and appeal to their learning style due to the fact that girls mature faster than boys in some areas of the brain. For example, “Girls are more able to engage in multi-task behavior, use both sides of the brain when processing information, hear better and are more physically active” (Boys and Girls: What’s the Difference). With this taken into consideration, teachers can assign more tasks to the girls and not have to repeat what they said which saves time. This time can be used by teachers to teach the girls more in-depth or new material. The learning style of boys and girls is different and has never been taken into consideration. With single sex schools, the teachers can take into consideration these different learning styles.
Single sex schools not only help the students academically but also personally. Teen pregnancy is an