Single Sex

I have long been a proponent of single-sex education. I attended an all-girls school for 9th and 10th grade and while no high school experience is without its traumas, I wouldn't take that time back for all the tea in china. (Or for a lot of money since who really needs that much tea.)

Recent studies allegedly disprove the theories that single-sex education is beneficial to students for learning and social development. While I understand part of their viewpoints, I bring to the table a high school experience evenly divided between single-sex and coed institutions. I found that in my first school, Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, IL, I was challenged far more in an academic sense, and I also felt extremely confident in asking questions, answering questions, and participating in debate and conversation. I was also less concerned about my general outward appearance and found competition at the school measured and healthy. Recently, Woodlands added a multi-million dollar science learning center, continuing to advocate for women's participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). While it's a small school, its theater and music programs are strong and heartily supported.

I spent my last two years at Westerville South High School in Westerville, OH, which was a dramatically different school. With a coed population of nearly 2,000 students, it was ten times larger than Woodlands. While I rarely met an academic challenge at WSHS, I participated in a world-class marching band and theater program. As the new kid with mad music skills (at the time) who came from a big city and was already in the National Honor Society (an honor that WSHS students didn't receive until their senior years), I was often given a certain amount of deference. Had I been there since the beginning of my high school career, I doubt I would have received the same reaction. My difference helped me navigate a huge school with a distinct bullying problem where many of the boys were actually practically grown men, and the divide between the sexes (and between straight and gay students) was palpable. There were expectations that women excel in certain arenas (foreign language) and not in others (statistics).

Today's high school student isn't nearly as fortunate as I was. The opportunities to marginalize, stigmatize, hate and bully students are everywhere; one no longer has to corner someone in the bathroom or in the hallway. One click of a cell phone button sends gossip swirling, ruining a young person's social life. I don't know if this would be better in a single sex school, but I do know that I generally felt more comfortable around female peers than around male AND female peers. I felt that I knew what to expect, and that I could defend myself to someone who is very much like me. Teenage girls are volatile, strange creatures (as are teenage boys) but it takes one to know one. Things might be different today, but I was pretty convinced by the single sex education option. Food for thought.