The talk of single sex education versus coed schooling has become a popular debate for many years. It has brought up many issues such as social, civil rights and discrimination problems. Many factors can affect a child's learning abilities such as gender, intelligence, and the difference in maturity rates. There are many sides to the debate whether children need the other sex in order to succeed in education and later in life, or if genders learn differently. When schools first began, genders were mixed to avoid inequality. Now controversy is rising on whether or not single sex schooling is more beneficial. The problem they are running into when testing this theory is that many single sex schools are private and not public; therefore, it is hard to test for research because kids who attend private schools typically pay for more resources. The final goal is to have single sex public school options, or at least single sex classrooms in public schools. Single sex schooling is not meant to show discrimination; it is simply to help each gender succeed because of the different learning abilities they possess. I personally attended an all girls high school. The high school I attended, Notre Dame, was a sister school to an all boys school called Saint Johns. After school, we shared facilities for after school activities such as sports. We were able to learn separately, but we were still able to make friends and socialize with the other gender and go to proms together etc. I believe that single sex schooling leads to independence and confidence causing more boys and girls to succeed separately, which is what causes me to feel so strongly on this topic. By looking at the benefits of single sex schooling, we can see that the benefits outweigh the negatives, such as the maturing differences, the different ways of learning in each gender, and the social benefits of splitting the genders, along with the counter argument of interaction benefits that are only found in coed schooling. 

One of the reasons single sex schooling will help children succeed is by looking at the way that children mature. Boys and girls mature at different times in their lives, making it difficult to teach them the same thing all at once. Genders grow physically and mentally at different speeds, causing their learning abilities to differ. Boys "are a year behind at age of six, 18 months behind at age nine, and a full two years less mature upon entrance to high school than girls are" (Peltier n.p). This quote comes from an article that shows us that boys and girls cannot be taught together as they are growing up because of the huge difference in growing patterns. There are many factors that affect a child's learning abilities. Not only is it about the nature of the student, his intelligence and maturity, but it is also about his nurture; the way he was brought up by his family and environment around him. More research has been done gathering brain scans between the ages of 3 to 27 years old. Researchers found that the "the occipital lobe ... shows rapid development in girls 6 to 10 years old, while boys show the largest growth in this region after 14 years old ... concluding that the language areas of the brain in many 5-year-old boys look similar to that of many 3-year-old girls" (Novotney n.p). This article proves that genders grow and mature with different learning abilities at different ages. For instance, they show that visual processing in young girls will not have the same effect on boys. It is hard to teach boys and girls the same material at the same time because the female brain develops before the males. Some studies have also found that girls excel in mental and educational achievement. It was found by Gary Peltier that "Nearly two thirds of all grade repeaters are boys; more boys than girls, by a huge margin, are underachievers and poor readers; three times as many boys as girls develop stuttering problems (n.p)." Peltier is a professor of Educational Foundations Emeritus UNR, after doing research he shows that genders achieve in different ways and boys and girls have learning issues separate from one another. 

We can see differences between boys and their career interests when they are separated from the other gender. An example of this research comes from the article Does Separating Boys and Girls Improve Their Education? by Kristen Hartman reports that after a "study led by educational psychologist Abigail Norfleet James, PhD," there was evidence that showed "boys who attended single-sex schools were more than twice as likely to pursue interests in subjects such as art, music, drama and foreign languages compared with boys of comparable ability who attended coed schools" (n.p). This shows that boys who attend a single sex school are more likely to chose feminine type interests because they are able to be themselves and not having to compete with the opposite gender. Children are strongly affected by their surroundings and they do not have to compete with girls for the same interests. On the other hand, girls are shown to be more likely to fall into the male dominated industry after attending a single sex school. In the article, The Advantages of Single-Sex vs. Coeducational Environments for High School Girls, Hartman says that women who attend single sex high schools "tend to have less traditional sex-role attitudes, but they are also more likely to choose less traditional fields of study upon entering college ...  Women are also more likely to choose more male dominated majors than their female peers who attended coed schools" (Hartman n.p). When gender is separated, children are more likely to chose their interest rather than being affected by others possibly choosing something they not like; separation creates independence. This shows single sex schooling as a better choice for school because, based on my experience I noticed no bullying in my school which helped with self esteem and created independence. Along with build confidence between my friends and I, which is an experience you may not get at a coed school. 

The most significant separation is needed with young children. Young children especially need to be separated because boys and girls age physically and mentally at different times making it difficult for them to both learn the same thing. The negative motivation and behavior changes in adolescents is the "failure of some families and schools to provide flexible environments that respond to the adolescent's emerging maturity and independence ... the fit between the features of the social environment and an individual's characteristics can influence behavior, motivation, and mental health" (Eccles n.p).  Overall, adolescents mature both physically and mentally at different ages, and they learn and change based on their surroundings. Boys and girls should be separated in schooling in order to cater to each of their needs. Although I went to an all girls high school, I believe I could have benefitted more from going to a single sex school as a child because by the time I got to high school, my brain had already matured enough that it did not have as much of an impact on me. 

Most of the research done on single sex schooling indicates that children are more likely to succeed when teachers use different techniques specifically for that gender. Genders do not only need to be separated, but they need to be taught differently. Unfortunately, coed schools teach without regard to sex. If teachers were taught specific teaching strategies to cater to the student, students would be able to learn faster and more efficiently. Boys are more likely to speak out in class, while girls are less of a distraction. This creates different teaching strategies because while teaching boys, teachers need to spend more time focusing on discipline. With girls, however, they do not need to focus on that as much. Studies have shown that "girls who attend single-sex high schools are also said to have higher test scores, higher self-esteem, less traditional sex-role attitudes and are frequently more involved in school leadership positions" (Hartman 10). Hartman demonstrates how single sex schooling for the female shows better self esteem and higher academic performance, leading to more independence. In my experiences at my single sex school, a high number of girls surprisingly went on to be engineering majors in college, which is typically unusual for females. They chose more male dominated subjects in college and I believe this is due to the fact that they had more self esteem without having to worry about what boys thought about their decisions. 

In coed schooling there are many self esteem issues with girls because they are greatly affected by the opposite gender "The benefit of single-sex schools, however, is that they offer the dynamic of having only one sex in the classroom at a time, creating opportunities that don't exist in the coed classroom" (Novotney n.p). Many times, students are left behind in the competition of the other gender. Having one sex in the classroom allows for genders to thrive without the competiveness of the other gender. Syal & Trump did an experiment in England in 1996, their research showed "large gains for adolescent boys in English language and literature examination results when taught separately from girls" (Harker 206). This experiment was followed by Kumagai's research which shows "gains for girls in physics in girls-only classes in the US. Scott's (1991) New Zealand case study shows an increase in confidence and self-esteem for girls in a girls-only science class" (Harker 206). These combined experiments proved that boys and girls succeed in subjects that are typically associated with the opposite gender when they are separated. Providing a greater number of girls in the classroom shows less distraction, proving that if separating genders detraction will be significantly less. Another study shows that men are more likely to drop out of school and the young men who don't "find themselves in the minority, outnumbered almost three to two by women [in college]" (Gilbert n.p). Gilbert's study shows that women outnumber men in education. Therefore, they should be separated to avoid competition.

Kristen Hartman discusses how confidence is higher in single sex schools and eating disorders are lower, which proves that there are more positive outcomes of separating sexes. The American Association of University Women did research and "found evidence of bias against women by teachers and curricula that undermine girls' self esteem and discourage them from pursuing non-traditional careers, such as those involving math and science" (Harrison 315). When girls are separated from boys, they have higher opportunities to pursue different career interests without the stereotype they receive from coed schooling. I have found this to be true in my own personal experiences at Notre Dame Academy. Coming to school with all girls allowed all of us to feel secure and confident in any attire and with any appearance. No matter what we came in looking like, we never had to worry about boys' opinions of us. It was always a much more comfortable environment so we only had to worry about focusing on our school work. The problem with this argument is that many people argue against single sex schooling. For instance, during coed education, children separated from the opposite sex at such a young age will have trouble communicating and working with the opposite gender later in life. Children must learn how to interact with the opposite sex because it will help them in the workplace. Another issue is that splitting children up may cause discrimination issues regarding the genders. In Amy Novoney's article, she discusses gender stereotypes and how it usually depends on the specific child or the situation. Whether or not single sex schooling will be affective on them, "Coeducation advocates and researchers also report that segregating students by gender  --  be it via entire schools or simply classrooms  --  can lead to greater gender discrimination and make it harder for students to deal with the other sex later in life" (Novotney n.p). Novotney shows that by separating sexes, it may cause issues when children grow up and move onto the workplace where they will need to know basic ways of communication with the other gender. This is a problem because they will not be able to learn these communication skills at a single sex school. Many people worry that "single-sex education is a step back, taking us away from gender equality in education which so many individuals have fought for over the years ... and makes women less prepared for the real world upon graduation" (Hartman 21). Although it is relevant for people to believe that single sex schooling may lead to more discrimination, this is not to say that the children will not be interacting with other sexes in their lives outside of school. 

School may be a major part of a child's life, but their home lives and social lives are just as important as school. It is up to the parents of the children to ensure that their children interact with the opposite sex during their time outside of school. For example, Notre Dame Academy and Saint Johns High School did a great job in incorporating single sex education and coed social lives. Instead of putting boys and girls in the same classrooms, they involved boys and girls with each other in different ways. The girls and boys played sports in the same facilities and had the opportunity to interact with one another outside of the classroom. By doing so, the parents of the students did not have to keep them involved with the opposite sex, but we still got the chance to connect and communicate with the opposite sex. In the YouTube video of a news cast in Australia on Coed Vs Single Sex Schooling, the news broadcasters bring up points where basic social skills may be compromised from single sex schooling due to the lack of interaction with the opposite gender. As long as the schools incorporate coed activities in places outside of the classroom, like sports, genders will not have problems interacting with one another in the workplace. Males and females are interacting constantly every day; it does not have to be in a coed classroom that teaches students to connect with the opposite genders. 

When looking at the benefits of single sex schooling, we can see the many benefits such as the maturing differences both physically and mentally.  The different ways of learning in each gender, and the social benefits of splitting the genders. We also can see the controversy of interaction benefits that are only found in coed schooling. The National Association for Single Sex Public Education estimates that at least 506 public schools provided single-sex opportunities for the 2011-2012 school year (Schemo 301). Showing us that single sex schooling is becoming noticed and the government is making change. Although they do state that "Participation in single-sex classes must be voluntary ... . schools must provide a substantially equal coeducational class" for every single-sex class, because otherwise, students' enrollment in a single-sex class would not be voluntary (Schemo 305). Overall the debate on single sex education is exponentially growing in the United States and as a society we must consider the benefits that come from separating males in females in schools.

