My Inner European...

The Claremont Institute releases a study that indicates that coeducational institutions tend to reinforce gender stereotypes rather than break them down. That is, women are far more likely to take math and science courses at a girls only school and similarly, boys are more likely to take art and theater at a boys only school. Critics will damn Claremont as partisan and so on, but I think there's something there. Single sex schooling makes sense for many reasons. That is not to say that boys and girls should be segregated, far from it. Rather, there should be mixing in a social setting rather than an educational one. Either that or some sort of gradual mixing as the kids get older. The very young kids likely benefit from coeducation. My son's only experience with little girls is school. There aren't many of them in our neighborhood and he's only now figuring out that girls are somehow, different. However, once those differences emerge, it makes sense to separate them by sex to create the best environment for everyone. Boys and girls learn differently, they behave differently and when mixed, they're moritified of say/doing something dumb in front of each other. There's enough pressure that comes with being a teenager and anything we can do to reduce that pressure at school is a good thing.