Here is an article about having same sex classrooms in Middle School. At first I was a little skeptical to the idea, but reading through it I think I could be convinced that it might be a good idea. I do think that if this became a trend beyond Middle School it would stunt social growth in kids. In several years marriages would begin to suffer even more because these kids wouldn't know how to interact with the opposite sex. Who knows, that might even be an effect from separating in Middle School?
The theory is that by separating girls and boys _ especially during
middle school years typically marked by burgeoning hormones, self doubt
and peer pressure _ lessons can be more effective because they are in
unique classroom settings.
In one recent boys' class, a group of gangly seventh-graders sprawled
on the floor around a giant vinyl chart, using skateboard parts and
measuring tape to learn pre-algebra. In a different school a few miles
away, middle school girls interviewed each other, then turned their
surveys about who's shy and who has dogs into fractions, decimals and
percentages. Classical music played softly in the background.
Teachers in all-girls classes say they've learned to speak more softly, because their students can take yelling more personally than boys. And the educators gear their lessons to what students like: assigning action novels for boys to read or allowing girls to evaluate cosmetics for science projects.
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