Blog #8

I think there are positive and negative arguments regarding whether we should separate boys and girls when they are in school.  A couple of the arguments for separating by gender include: less distractions, it helps them learn better, they have more confidence, and it allows the boys and girls to take subjects they may not otherwise take.  Some classrooms have distractions that come mainly from boys.  On the other hand, girls can be the cause of drama that disrupts the entire class. 

I remember when I was in High School we were only separated for gym and sex education classes.  I think boys can be less mature than girls.  I know when it comes to the sex education class, boys seem to be much more immature and sometimes have to be removed from the class because they are not able to learn the subject in a respectful manner. 

One of the arguments against separating by gender would be that students of different genders would not have interactions with each other and would not learn how to interact with the opposite sex.  I think school provides good opportunities to learn this important life skill.  I also think it is better to have the different opinions and viewpoints from both genders during class discussions and when they work on group projects.  A project may be biased if it only has one general viewpoint, such as that from one gender. 

Another aspect to think about is how boys and girls learn and how their brains develop.  Do boys and girls learn differently?  Boys might draw pictures with more action and less details.  Girls draw pictures with more detail and color.  Brain research has proven that male and female brains do develop differently. 

I do not think we necessarily have to separate students by gender, but we do need to teach them the different ways that they learn.  We do know that there are some advantages for each gender.  For example, boys tend to have more privileges and freedoms than girls, but teachers may have lower expectations for girls.  I think in order to be successful in the real world you need to be able to work cooperatively with different people, especially the opposite sex.  I have never had the experience of attending an all boys school, but I believe that some students might benefit from going to a same sex school. 

-Marco Olson Guillén