This article explores the challenges of same-sex schooling as a breech of civil liberties. Research indicates that girls thrive in same-sex classrooms.
Following on the heels of the Senate's recent decision to permit single-sex schools in Michigan, two new high schools are scheduled to open - one for girls and one for boys. The American Civil Liberties Union maintains separate schooling is problematic. It treats children differently, according to their physical body parts. This is inappropriate and in violation of each student's civil liberties.
There fears are buttressed by an existing history of discrimination which placed Natives in residential schools, Catholics in Catholic schools, and excluded others - the one's thought too stupid or too foreign - from enrolling schools altogether. Their point is well taken. What happens to equality when educational environments, modalities and opportunities are streamlined according to gender? And furthermore, what happens to civil liberties when differential treatment is disguised as policies, approaches, and actions designed to 'help' as certain population? Weren't residential schools designed to 'help' Natives assimilate? Wasn't busing designed to 'help' Blacks assimilate? Doesn't assimilation facilitate the good of all in a melting pot society?
Research shows that girls learn better without boys around. Girls thrive in an all-girl learning environment where they speak more, and have more teacher contact and academic acknowledgment. However, girl's programs are under-funded compared to boys. Parents pay less attention to girl's programs, and invest less time and money into their daughter's educations. Despite the benefits of same-sex programs for girls, girls' programs offer less than mixed-gender programs. Lower quality programs and more limited resources may counteract the benefits of girls-only classrooms.
On the other hand, boys thrive in mixed-gender classrooms. They benefit from the cultural influences that girls bring to the classroom. As age increases, the benefit to boys increases, as girls learn to take a back seat and adopt 'cheerleading' roles in academic projects, and leadership opportunities.
So, what is a good civil libertarian to do? Perhaps in this case, equal treatment does not mean treating girls and boys the same. Perhaps it means educating boys and girls in a manner that counteracts their socially prescribed roles and experiences. Could different educational programs lay foundations for real, lived equality, provided the programs maintain the highest standards of excellence? Perhaps this is the challenge: to develop integrative educational programs that value difference, all types of difference, and remain flexible enough to celebrate the uniqueness of each child within America's classrooms.
