Gender Issues In Middle Schools

“Did you know America ranks the lowest in education but the highest in drug use? It's nice to be number one, but we can fix that. All we need to do is start the war on education. If it's anywhere near as successful as our war on drugs, in no time we'll all be hooked on phonics” -Leighann (Lord) Leighamm Lord is a comedian, but when it comes to the education of children, she takes it very seriously and it is not so much a joke to her. Children are the future, and giving them the best education available is crucial to the future. Making decisions in the educational system would not only better the future, but the children’s future. These changes of segregating classrooms, will give the children a better working environment, to improve test scores, and academic advancements. Research shows that segregating classrooms would be a great step to a successful future; however, conflicting arguments to the negative and positive impacts of segregating classrooms to consider.

Can you imagine if girls weren't’t able to play as many sports as boys? Before 1972, women didn't have as many opportunities as men did. Also, women were left out of many activities and were turned away from doing great things.

The program is an emotionally challenging one: apart from teaching the foundations of counseling skills, the CILT directors encourage an opening of one’s true self that often involves breaking down the gender fronts kids bring with them. Thorne argues that “boys’ social relations tend to be overtly hierarchical and competitive” (92). The program does not encourage this type of social interaction. Rather, the program chooses to emphasize the emotions in personal relationships and self-disclosure typical of girls’ social relationships (94). After two weeks of learning, sharing, and growing within the camp context, the males’ social relations operate similarly to the females’ because there is no threat of being socially outcast for adopting the behavior values of the other gender. That is to say, the males have become bicultural along gender lines. Just as teasing (as Thorne points out) dissuades cross-gender interaction, social pressure outside camp plays a similar role in limiting males’ expression of things seen as feminine, such as sharing feelings (54). For an age group faced with many social anxieties, extinguishing the fire at the end of the session is an essential tool of anticipatory socialization used to recreate the male gender identity necessary for acceptance in the outside male social world.

Mary Pipher's "Saplings in the Storm" and William S. Pollack's "How U.S. Schools Are Stifling Male Students"

...Beliefs were measured to examine the image adolescent girls have of themselves. Girls often experience a significant drop in self-esteem during the transition from elementary to middle school, when biological chances occur. Programs like Go Girls can be considered a preventative program so that girls do not experience this decline in self-esteem during these critical years. The ability to use sources of help was a significant finding (LeCroy, 2004). Adolescents often don’t know who to trust or where to turn for help when in crisis. They often internalize their feelings, as is evidenced by high rates of girls suffering from poor body image, eating disorders, and depression. A program can teach girls what to do and who to talk to if they need help and improve self-esteem. This study proved useful in the study of adolescent self-esteem since support plays a major role.

During the recent decades, there have been increasing reforms of education system. In particular, the Congress of the United Stated began to carry out No Child Left Behind Act to promote single-sex schooling programs in 2006 (Hayes and Pahlke and Bigler, 2011). Although mixed gender education, also known as coeducation, has still dominated the leading position around the world since the end of 19th century, a debate about whether it is really beneficial for teenagers’ comprehensive development has never stopped. In this essay, it will be argued that a mixed gender education should be avoided.

I think everyone is going to choose going to a both gender school. You get to experience a lot of things with both genders. I think that if genders had to be in a singular school it would be so much different. Like for example less drama, more focused, less worried about appearances. Less fights will be happening. I would choose to go to a both gender school. Because we learn and make friends with both genders.

“We have a lot more girls than we have boys.” “ We have an abundance of girls, but little boys” “There are only girls here, no boys.” Within high school theater, this is a reoccurring problem that is common throughout the United States. Many high schools have a lot of girls but little to no boys.

In this chapter by John L. Rury, "Coeducation and Same-Sex Schooling" is about how schools first started allowing men and women attend the same school. Its been long for people to figure out how to educate men and women. In current years, feminists have signed separate schools to support women's achievements. Coeducation started to grow, but gender segregated schools continued to stay the same around the world. People thought coeducation schools would change the traditional labor for the men and women.

Growing up I went to public schools my entire life. In elementary school something that stood out to me and still does to this day is “boys are only mean to girls because it means they like you”, everything about teachers and adults saying this confused me. I am not sure if it is sexist but it did offend me that it was always okay for boys to pick on girls if their excuse was “they liked you”. In middle school I never really knew what sexism was until I reached 9th grade or so. It wasn’t really a subject of discussion in the classroom and I don’t remember it being a big deal. In the past couple years, I have learned more about sexism than ever before. With little knowledge on this subject I am happy to be in a course where I can understand