Single-Sex School...Just Say No!

Carrie, I enjoyed your post on single-sex schools. Perhaps the most important point (and one you touch on) is the fact that students in single-sex schools will not have the opportunity to interact with children of another gender at an early age. The individuals I have met in the past who have come from boys’ schools (individuals whose parents eventually decided to move them over to traditional public schooling) had little idea with how to treat girls. They fluctuated between being afraid of women and acting rather chauvinist (to put it lightly). In talking with friends at girls’ schools, the lack of boys simply provided a ripe breeding ground for near man-worship. In short, “deprivation” (though that’s a bit dramatic) leads to obsession, so I’m going to have to disagree with you on the “less distractions” bit. The lack of interaction also leaves both sexes with little understanding of how to deal with attraction and removes a forum (school) in which boys and girls can come to view each other as individuals, not some vague object of their desires. Personally, I think same-sex schools would make girls more vulnerable to teen pregnancy.

In my mind (and in the mind of parentingteens.about.com), the best way to deal with teen pregnancy is in the home, by encouraging interests outside of boys (sports, art, drama, etc.), teaching your children about contraception, convincing them of their own self-worth, providing them someone with whom to talk to about their problems, and imposing discipline when necessary. It sounds a bit old-fashioned and naïve, but it worked well enough for my family.