For Gender Divided Class Argument

                More and more students are fading fast in America, with less and less students graduating, and there seems nothing can be done about it—or can there? With the economy recovering from turmoil, and the cost of post-secondary education on the rise, increasing education funds seems to be the last thing on anyone’s mind, but is that the solution? No; the solution appears to be more the structure of the classroom rather than the funding for such. The hope for the American education lies in one simple strategy—single-gender classrooms.

                It’s no secret that boys and girls think differently, and thinking is the basis for learning, so it can be inferred that boys and girls learn differently, too. If we aim our classrooms to teach the two sexes separately, we can emphasize their specific learning styles, and maximize their education. Doing so will cut down on the distractions that seem to govern adolescent classrooms, so there would be less scolding and more praising. The work would increase the grades would increase, and the graduation rates would increase. Free from intimidation from the opposite sex, students would build confidence in their work and, ultimately, themselves.

                Socialization is a main concern for people who are against same-sex classrooms, as it should be, but if we set up our schools to only have certain single-sex classes, particularly math and science—the two subjects boys and girls seem to differ most in—we would ensure students still get the interaction between the sexes. Another idea is to have a Monday-Thursday single-sex classes and Friday coed class review day schedule. This would allow for the two to learn their own way, but Friday would be a chance to make sure they are both on the same page and learning the same material. It would also offer a chance for boy/girl socialization.

                By confining a classroom to one general teaching/learning technique, we are allowing the students who do not learn they way they are being taught well fall through the cracks. There is no excuse for not having every student who begins school graduate, and there is nobody to blame for it but ourselves. It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a nation to ensure each child is given the same opportunity to graduate with a high school education as the next.