There are many private schools that are single-sex, and is quickly becoming the new thing in public schools. There are two middle schools in Austin that are greatly considering changing to single-sex, Pearce and Garcia Middle Schools. Of course the students are not liking this idea at all, the Statesman says "the results from an online survey, taken by nearly 500 students in May,
show 81 percent said they would not be interested in an all-boys or
all-girls school in their neighborhood, while 6 percent said yes, and 13
percent said maybe."
I do not agree with this proposal, it's going to cost more money, and students will rebel. Texas is already having trouble trying to figure out what to cut from the upcoming budget, this would only cause more of a deficit. The Statesman said the "district estimates show it would cost $860,833 more to operate the two
schools as single-sex schools in the first year than the district spent
for them in the 2012-13 school year."
Board President Mark Williams thinks there are too many teen pregnancies and that this could help prevent them from happening. This is not going to prevent pregnancy in teens at all, if anything the students will be more interested in the opposite sex. If a child wants to engage in the type of activity that is going to get them into a situation like this I don't think going to a different school is going to stop it.
After researching this a little more, I still don't believe students should be segregated by sex. Though there are some good reasons in single-sex schools like less distractions, better learning environments, and broader educational prospects, I still don't agree with splitting boys and girls in public schools. If parents have problems with their child in public school because of distractions or the learning capabilities of either boy or girl then there are private schools that the parents can put their children in. If we keep children separated by sex through grade school, what do parents think will happen when they go to college??
1 comment:
Carrie, I enjoyed your post on single-sex schools. Perhaps the most important point (and one you touch on) is the fact that students in single-sex schools will not have the opportunity to interact with children of another gender at an early age. The individuals I have met in the past who have come from boys’ schools (individuals whose parents eventually decided to move them over to traditional public schooling) had little idea with how to treat girls. They fluctuated between being afraid of women and acting rather chauvinist (to put it lightly). In talking with friends at girls’ schools, the lack of boys simply provided a ripe breeding ground for near man-worship. In short, “deprivation” (though that’s a bit dramatic) leads to obsession, so I’m going to have to disagree with you on the “less distractions” bit. The lack of interaction also leaves both sexes with little understanding of how to deal with attraction and removes a forum (school) in which boys and girls can come to view each other as individuals, not some vague object of their desires. Personally, I think same-sex schools would make girls more vulnerable to teen pregnancy.
In my mind (and in the mind of parentingteens.about.com), the best way to deal with teen pregnancy is in the home, by encouraging interests outside of boys (sports, art, drama, etc.), teaching your children about contraception, convincing them of their own self-worth, providing them someone with whom to talk to about their problems, and imposing discipline when necessary. It sounds a bit old-fashioned and naïve, but it worked well enough for my family.
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