I think when you remove the distraction of the opposite gender, kids tend to do better.  

What do you folks think?

warmaker : i think that is like discrimanation and i think it's better for all genders to be with each other so they get used to that gender and make more friends

deg2000 : how is that discrimination? Only thing different is that classes are all male and all girl. Its like going to an all-male or all-female school, would that also be discrimination? Also we need to assume that the classes will be equal and teach the same things (otherwise that would unconstitutional). Also gender doesn't have as much protect as lets say race, you can more easily get away with discrimination based on sex compared to gender, but its harder to discriminate than age. Of course you have to have a real strong evidence for such a change (test score increase, less interruptions in classroom.) Plus its not like the genders will not be able to see each other completely unable to see each other, they can see each other in the hallways, at lunch, before and after school.

As for the actual question, I would like to see some statistics on whether kids do better in same-sex classrooms. I know gym class will be better (could never get to play tackle football as risk for injuring girls as to high). But I don't think a public school will ever consider such a policy as the feminists would scream bloody murder saying that such a move disenfranchises females or something along that lines.

In my opinion (and yes, this is just an opinion. Not fact based, more of a personal observation than anything) it makes little difference. If a student is going to slack off or not pay attention because of a guy or girl in class, they're going to find something else to distract themselves if the opposite sex is removed from the room. If you don't care enough to pay attention to your lesson, you just don't care enough to pay attention to your lesson.

However, I do think some topics are best to separate for. I know it's old fashioned, but Sex-Ed to me needs to be all boy and all girl, rather than mixed. That's just a personal preference. And I agree that P.E. should be boys in one group and girls in the other. Or vice versa. lol

So no, in the end I don't think having boys and girls in a class makes enough of a difference to justify going through the hassle of separating them.

From what I've gathered, Education isn't limited to only retaining and using knowledge; it's also about learning lessons that will help in life.

In the workplace, chances are that you'll be with both men and women. If that's your first time working with the 'distraction' of the opposite sex, you'll be in a sorry position, indeed.

It's better to learn those social skills as a student, when the consequences are less severe. Wouldn't you agree?

Mostly to my point of view, I don't think we really don't need any separation in the classroom by gender, sure, I would agree that both boys and girls do have similar and different interest in what classes they want to do, and it's nice that if they want to do it, then yeah, they can if they want.

Also, how I look at it, it really depends on the class that interest that student in High School and Collage (Elementary and Middle School is a different story), like some classes are mostly aimed for females and some mostly aimed to males, but that doesn't really mean that it's a female-only or a male-only classroom. But if it's at a point to say, I mostly say neither, because it really doesn't depend on the gender, it mostly depends on who's in that classroom.

I think more ribbing goes on in single sex class rooms and there is usually more boisterous behaviour in boys schools, well that is my experience at least. I have also found that the divide between those who achieve and those that don't is greater in single sex schools as there tends to be a simple hierarchy as opposed to an interlinked network which is more common is mixed schools.

What the heck?

Well I have no experience being in a single sex classroom but sounds pretty medieval to me. Those who act out in class I think they and what problems they might have go down much more deeper than having members of the opposite sex around. If you start separating boys from the girls it only leads in to that the kids think that there is something seriously wrong going on if you are some how dealing with the opposite sex and then you might grow up knowing pretty much nothing about the half of the population on earth and what they are like and that is a huge loss and leads into nothing but confusion.

I didn't even know that schools now have unisex classrooms. Honestly to me this sounds confusing.

EM took the words right out of my mouth. You need experience communicating with both genders. 

PE classes were humiliating enough even without having any girls around (who would have been better than me in soccer, ice hockey and what not...) anyway. Sometimes they were combined for dancing or some such which everybody hated equally despite their gender. Sex-ed was the same for everybody. It was basically about the same thing so I guess it would have been pointless to separate us. Nuts and bolts stuff that it is good for everyone to know. At least nobody got knocked up in my high school.

Are race separated classrooms better, worse, or neither? Would a classroom of nothing but white kids be better than one with Asians, blacks, Hispanics, and whites?  

People usually act how they're going to act regardless of the sex of those around them. Yes, I agree that kids have to have the interaction with others to learn how to act and behave in society BUT the idea that a single sex classroom might hinder this development is ludicrous. 

Most people have a life outside of work/school and implying that being in a single sex environment would stop interaction with the opposite sex is wrong. Yes, work/school is a huge part of the day but in the end the rest of your life takes more time than school/work.

I honestly don't think it matters. People automatically assume that people will be distracted by members of the opposite sex, but that's just dumb. I actually feel kinda insulted that people immediately think that because I'm 18 and in high school I'm somehow incapable of controlling myself in a classroom environment.

Separating a classroom doesn't do anything but needlessly segregate genders.

NVTaks :

Hey, I attempted to summon you over on the other thread but I failed... So this is that summons...

Actual input to topic: dual-gendered classrooms are better. At a basic level, it's a practice for other dual-gender interaction. If the first time I talked to a girl was 18 I'd act normal around them again at about 40. Sure, there might be a base level of distraction due to "I like her" and "I like him" or "Eww, he's gross", but it's ultimately beneficial.

Honestly it could go both ways for me. But in general, single sex classrooms are worse. They are worse because I think its good to hear all of the genders opioions on topics. .

single sex classrooms are worse. I do like females. I do like listening to their opinions as much as anyone else.

There are really pros and cons to both. So I say neither. I do agree that it can tend to cause distractions when you have both sexes in the same classrooms. Particularly when you are in the teenage years. Hormones are around. It happens. As far as academically speaking, it would probably be better.

But school is supposed to be more than academics. It is about preparing you to function properly in society. In society, there are boys and girls. If you limit them so severely to their own gender, there is less interaction, so less understanding between the two (and given we still have huge misunderstandings between the two as it is, we need the interaction). When you don't grow up with a group of people, there tend to be more barriers. We see it all the time. For example, look at private schools that only rich families can afford. The send their kids to those places where they only get real exposure to others who are wealthy. What happens then? We get more and more wealthy class people who have no understanding of those not as fortunate as them. Completely blind to what life is like for those not in the wealthy class. We live in a day where to get high in government office, you pretty much have to be wealthy. So now the people who run our country are those who blind to the struggles of anyone in a lower class than them. I am not saying that forcing rich families to have their kids schooled with the rest would fix all that. But I think that maybe there could be a lot less sense of entitlement if kids in wealthy families grew up with exposure to the life of those less fortunate.

So take that example, and apply it to if we had schools separate boys and girls. They grow up much less aware of how to interact with the opposite gender. There will very likely become an even less sense of equality. We had separated classrooms before. What happened during that point in history. Much more defined gender roles where women had their function, and men had theirs. There was much less opportunity and less collaboration.

So I guess it depends on what kind of society you want. If you want more defined gender roles, or maybe even more of a battle of the sexes type of society, then separated classrooms would be the way to go. Make them grow up with as little experience to the opposite gender, so our future leaders have less understanding and empathy towards the other. At lease we might do better academically. But at what cost?

Granted, the scenario I gave was a full on separation of genders in schools. Not just specific classes. There would be boys schools and girls schools everywhere. So my scenario is considering the extreme side, and I am not sure if that was the point of intention for this thread.

Well I got to go with neither. I don't mind single sex classrooms (To me...a class with just boys sounds awesome). 

rcarter2 pretty much took the words right out of my mouth, although he probably did so with more grace than I could.

I've always...felt a bit conflicted on the issue. There's no denying that a unisex classroom is more effective and students are less distracted. However, (as much as this perhaps should not be true), school these days is now largely a part of social development.  If students spend most of their grown up years isolated from the opposite sex, what effect will that have on their ability to be competitive in a business world?  It's true that kids have the opportunities to interact outside of school, but the fact of the matter is that MOST socializing for kids these days is through a school campus.

Then again, you have the trends of homosexuality growing with the passing of time.  A unisex classroom cannot keep kids from experimenting (whether in desperation or in genuineness).  There are still plenty of chances to get distracted by hormones in a unisex classroom.