Single Sex Education Essay

Single-sex education (teaching boys and girls in separate classrooms or schools) is an old approach that is gaining new momentum. This approach has been mainly seen in private or religious schools throughout our country, but it has been making appearances in our public schools today. There has been an on-going debate about whether single-sex education is better than coeducational. Ultimately, the reason that there is any kind of debate between these two education systems is because of a variety of beliefs. Although there may be some positive traits to single-sex schooling, it can lead to lasting negative consequences. Furthermore, research supports the effectiveness of single-sex education, but what parents, educators, and policymakers, need to understand is that single-sex education has lasting negative consequences.

In the U.S. today single-sex education is growing rapidly. In 1995 there were only two single-sex public schools in the country. Then in time, more and more school districts started adopting single-sex education. This phenomenon

Though in today’s world it is less and less acceptable to categorize and put labels on certain individuals, some of us still do it and possibly even unconsciously. Consequently, there are devastating outcomes to this. A law student from the University of Texas, Kelsey R. Chapple, claims that “stereotypes shape our perceptions of what choices are available to us” (563). We shouldn’t limit the choices and possibilities to children because they are a boy or because they are a girl. Ultimately, what is at stake here is our future. The minds of these children are currently being shaped and sculpted in our public schools today. We cannot have our children thinking that they can’t become or do something just because they are a boy or girl. Single-sex schooling embodies sex stereotyping and with this in mind, I fear for our