# Same Sex Public Schools - WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2002, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-public-schools-wtf/108095 "2002-05-09T15:31:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-public-schools-wtf/108095/21 "2002-05-10T05:05:39Z")
The ‘real world’ preparation just doesn’t hold water with me. I went to a woman’s college. College is supposed to be the most intensive training for ‘real life’ when it comes to formal schooling, and I spent the academic portion of it in a single-sex environment. I see no evidence that I have trouble ‘dealing with men’ in the work world or otherwise. Same seems to be true of the alumnae of my college and the other women’s college alums I’ve met. That’s why I have a hard time believing that single-sex education at the elementary and secondary level is going to handicap students in the future to the degree that some of you allege. Yes, students will miss out on some key perspectives, and they will fail to get some experience in dealing with the opposite sex, but many believe the benefits far outweigh those drawbacks. ---
**Author:** ![derTintenfisch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@derTintenfisch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/derTintenfisch)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-public-schools-wtf/108095/22 "2002-05-10T05:58:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > **The ‘real world’ preparation just doesn’t hold water with me. I went to a woman’s college. College is supposed to be the most intensive training for ‘real life’ when it comes to formal schooling, and I spent the academic portion of it in a single-sex environment. I see no evidence that I have trouble ‘dealing with men’ in the work world or otherwise. Same seems to be true of the alumnae of my college and the other women’s college alums I’ve met.** I think the problem with this is that I would guess a large portion of the people at an all-women’s college went to coed high schools. I think (though not having had any experience with this I could easily be wrong) that there’s probably a significant difference between a single-sex middle school/high school and a single-sex college. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-public-schools-wtf/108095/23 "2002-05-10T06:54:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by beagledave \* > **On NPR tonite, they covered this story by interviewing an elementary school principal (In Washington state I thought?). His school was one of only 12 in the country that had gone through all of the steps to have single sex education. In this school, the boys and girls shared the same building, ate in the same cafeteria, but had single sex classes. The main reason for this effort was that boys were being suspended at a 5:1 ratio in this school. Even though they didn’t set out to create this environment for increasing test scores…it had a dramatic effect. (I looked for a link at [npr.org](http://npr.org), but no luck).** I heard the same report and **beagledave** has described it very well. I hunted and could not find that segment, but found two others they have done, mostly about girls and single sex schools. You can listen to these [**here**](http://search1.npr.org/search97cgi/s97_cgi). _The link didn’t work exactly like it should, so enter “single sex schools” when you get there_ and that should work. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-public-schools-wtf/108095/24 "2002-05-10T13:29:43Z")
I frankly think that “shy girls” need to be encouraged at the earliest age possible to become confident in the presence of men. Good mentor teachers and support is a far better method to my mind than segregation. They need to be prepared for the mixed workplace they will face when they finish school. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-public-schools-wtf/108095.md?page=1)