There is within Modern Orthodoxy a tendency to prefer mixed sex classes for the education of their children. I have written about this before. I am against it in principle. As I’ve said many times, the benefit to be had by the socialization process, which admittedly is a real benefit, is far outweighed by the downside that is almost a certain result of such classes in far too many instances.
In the younger grades, I think it should be mandatory to have mixed classes, at least through first grade and perhaps second. The calming influence that girls have on the boys is a very strong positive that is outweighed by any possible Tznius learning considerations at age 6 or 7 and under.
But in the upper grades of elementary school and more importantly in high school, the possibility of inappropriate behavior between boys and girls is very great. The lack of maturity and the onset of newly gained hormonal activity is a “deadly” combination, which young teenagers often don’t know how to handle when confronted with feelings often developed at this age.
And it isn’t as though all possibility for learning how to interact with members of the opposite sex is lost by separating the sexes in the classroom. There is ample other opportunity for learning how to socialize. It can be done outside the classroom such as in Bnei Akiva. Although Bnei Akiva might also foster a bit too much contact at this age. Learning how to interact with theopposaite sex can also be done at a Kiddush in Shul on Shabbos... or in the context of the home and family setting when parents invite their friends with similar age children of the opposite sex to a Shabbos or Yom Tov meal. This is how my own children learned it. It also helps if one has opposite sex siblings... but of course there is no way to gaurantee that. In short it is prudent to minimize daily contact. But occasional contact should be allowed in that it does help one attain the proper social graces that are necessary when one begins dating, and in general it teaches one how to behave in the culture in which we live.
So, I am opposed to total separation of the sexes. Unless you are a Chasid. Chasidic lives are so strictly formatted that Shidduchim are rarely based on how well a young couple know how to act with each other. (Although I’ll bet that some minimal contact even by Chasidim would be beneficial. But that’s not my call, just my advice.) But in Non Chasidic circles, total separation is counter productive. If a young male teen has no sisters or vice versa then extreme separation means that there is virtually no appropriate socializing learned. Such young people are at a great disadvantage. They have no clue how to behave with the opposite sex. And I don’t think the social graces should be treated as lightly as they are in some circles.
But I digress. The point I wanted to make here is that the mixed classroom is not only detrimental to matters of Erva and Tznius. It is also detrimental to learning. When I last wrote about it, I was disputed by studies that showed this to be only partially true. But here is yet another study that shows this to be true. From an editorial in the Chicago Tribune last Shabbos:
“Three years ago, administrators at Woodward Avenue Elementary School in DeLand, Fla., noticed that the boys were lagging behind the girls on academic achievement tests. Hoping to stop the slide, Woodward gave parents the choice of enrolling their youngsters in single-gender classrooms.”
“Test results from the first year of Woodward's experiment showed significant gains for pupils in the single-gender classes. In some grades, those pupils continue to outperform their counterparts in traditional classrooms.”
“Woodward's decision was based on research that suggests the brains of girls and boys develop differently. Girls tend to learn better in environments that are more quiet and orderly. Boys tend to learn better when they're freer to roam about.”
Anyone seen Lawrence Summers?
