Whether to let their children enrol in a single-sex or a co-educational school has always been a problem that furrows parents’ brows. A dilemma it seems to be, but I would say there is absolutely no difficulty in making this choice. Co-ed schools are better schools, as will be illustrated in this essay.
To begin with, co-ed schools provide the suitable environment for students to develop the interpersonal skills needed when they join in the labour force in future. People always say that school is a miniature of society, and there are males and females in society, which is just like the situation in a co-ed school. In society, males and females are members, functioning as workers or decision makers or whatever role they get to play. There is no way to avoid contact with the opposite gender, and it is essential for one to learn the proper way to interact with others so that one can develop healthy relationships with people around. A single-sex school cannot provide such an environment to its students within the campus. This may lead to the development of negative response to the approach of the opposite gender. For example, a boy who studies in a boys’ school may be too shy to communicate with a girl because he does not know how. He may be intimidated or feel belittled by the girl because he lacks the confidence in communicating with her. It is the accumulated experience from interacting with the opposite gender and observing others interact with the opposite sex that enables one to be apt and able in communicating with others, whether male or female. This is certainly a vital advantage of studying in a co-ed school.
Another benefit of studying in a co-ed school is that it can broaden students’ horizons. As we all know, there are a lot of inherent differences between male and female. It is certainly that boys and girls think differently and in a different way. While learning and studying with the opposite sex, one can be exposed to a greater variety of views and opinions on different things. Moreover, although not always true, the general trend is that boys excel in science subjects while girls shine in language and culture-related subjects. This phenomenon allows boys and girls studying in a co-ed school realize their weakness, and they will also have able peers to learn from. Some may say that students studying in co-ed school cannot focus on their studies because all they have in mind is which boy or girl to date. However, it is not so. In fact, the presence of both genders in class creates a better learning atmosphere. Realizing the strength and weakness of respective sex can be a motivation that prompts students to learn and improve themselves. In other words, the competition between peers will become fiercer. This is surely one of the reasons to choose to study in a co-ed school.
Last but not least, students studying in a co-ed school can enjoy the advantage of building a set of balanced moral values, especially about love affairs, more easily than those studying in a single-sex school. Teachers and parents of co-ed students can take advantage of the presence of both boys and girls in the same class to explain the differences between male and female, thus instill up the correct moral messages into their hearts. For example, information like premarital sex is morally unacceptable, and how it can be avoided. It is important for students to see that this applies to them all, regardless of their sex. What’s more, in this way students can hear what the opposite sex say, and acquire an understanding of different opinions. This difference induces them to discuss more and think more deeply of these matters. Moreover, dating and marriage involve both sexes. Including the opposite sex in the discussion of these matters can surely provide a more variable and more in-depth insight for students to ponder on. In the course of these discussions, students can gain a set of moral values that is both correct and acknowledged by themselves, and they will be willing to follow them. This is one big advantage for students studying in a co-ed school as well.
From the arguments above, we can see that co-ed schools are better schools for three reasons. The first is that students can develop better interpersonal skills, the second being that students’ horizons can be broadened and the third being that students can acquire a set of correct and balanced moral values more easily. All these help students adapt to and cope with society’s demand. It is clear that single-sex schools are totally out of the question when compared with co-ed schools.