Should Single Gender Schools be Allowed?
As a senior in high school, I am for single-sex schooling. I have gone through co-ed public schools and it is very hard to focus on the work that is given to me. The main reason are the boys that are in my class. When children are younger they flirt and get side tracked easily, not to mention the notes that are passed back and for between “boyfriend” and “girlfriend”. On the other hand, boys and girls need to figue out how to relate to the opposite sex because that is what they are going to be living with during the rest of their lives. This makes it a subject that has become very controversial.
In the February issue of WORLD magazine, Mark Bergin, wrote about the controversy of single-sex schools. Within this article, he interviews a four year teacher at an elemntary school, Glen Clisham. Clisham makes the arguement that boys are able to concentrate on their work instead of staring or writing notes to a girl. In the year 2000, the principal, Benjamin Wright, at Thurgood Marshall Elementary, were Clisham works, began to offer a single-sex education for children. Within the first year, the number of boys satisfactory reading scores rose from 10 percent to 66 percent. In 2003, Wright recieved the Washington state’s Principal of the year award. He then joined the board of directors of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. “This organization is committed to advancing what reamains a highly controversal pedagogy.” As of now, there are 250 public schools in the nations that provides a single gender education.
Bergin, Mark. ”No Girls Allowed.” World Magazine: February 2007.