Catholic school separates 7th- and 8th-grade boys and girls for math and language arts: "'In math, the girls can ask questions,' said Ms. Baverso, who has taught at St. Bede since 1999. 'They don't feel dumb, the boys aren't loud, it's quiet. Those are the things they need.'"
I don't usually fall in step with the latest trendy ideas, but I think there is a good point here. I went to an all-girls school and never felt held back in any way. Now I'm a smarty pants to the oompf degree because no one ever told me I was stupid or overlooked me to pay attention to the boys first. I'm just saying, society has a subtle bias...hmmm, or is it so subtle?
Does society have the bias or do you have the bias? Society isn't posing the question...
ReplyDeleteThat being said, it's probably a good idea for any student to be allowed an environment free of stimuli that might impede the learning process. Given current societal mores (or lack thereof), I'm just not sure that contemporary kids (outside a parochial setting, in particular) would respond positively to sequestration, be it for their own good or not. I think that even in a single-sex environment, girls might be able to invent ways to harass and impede one another's progress, regardless of the lack of bullying by the boys.
I'd rather see the money spent on training teachers to recognize and deal with disruptive students, regardless of their gender. Zero tolerance should be the norm for handling bullies in our school--get caught and your parents find another school to put you in... no detention, no suspension, no slap on the hands.