MIXED OR SINGLE SEX SCHOOL?

[chizor]

Common entrance results had just been released. Preparations for interviews were underway and thoughts of the school(s) we would be posted to running through our little minds.

Would we end up in the same school? or would dad want me to go to an all girls school? That being the case, i just might never see him again. Well like I thought, I got shoved into an all girls schools and my childhood sweetheart got sent to some other mixed school.

My Secondary school was fun. A whole lot of fun. Being an all girls school, things went on amongst the girls which perhaps shouldn?t be mentioned here and which I believe was the case in most all girls/all boys schools.

Social nights were fun, but most especially for the senior girls. Hey! our neighbours are here o! (Referring to the gsso guys). the senior girls would step out... Make up, wigs you name it. The tightest daywear?s ever sown all on show, in the bid to expose all the curves, fronts and backs. Who said one yard of material couldn?t sew a complete daywear??

Well, why would you blame them? That might be the only opportunity they?d have to see the opposite sex until perhaps the next visiting day or when they are finally let out of the prison yard at the end of term.

\'Ju\' girls like us, we weren?t allowed to the events then, but even if we were, which guy would look at us in our \'A\' Line pinafore and low cut hair. Our scruffy looking selves. All we could do was peep at the guys passing through and hold unto the thought that one day, we\'ll be up there.

Sundays! Sundays were the worst days. Mass was held in school every Sunday but one. When it\'s held in school, you would see the chairs begging to be sat on. Where did everyone go? Why didn?t they come for mass? Not surprisingly, when its held in GSSO, there would hardly be enough room to stand. The Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, all will answer present on the day. it was funny!

so why my story? Whilst in school and for a little while after i left and started mingling a bit more, I noticed I was slightly different from some of my friends who went to mixed schools. Perhaps not as outgoing, a bit shy, and maybe lacking a few social skills in my interactions with the opposite sex etc.

So my question is this? Did you go to the type of school you wanted to go to? (Single/mixed) How did the choice of school you went to affect you? Does it really make a difference? If you had the choice now, would you send your kids to a co-ed or a single sex school?
_________________

[ugbobaby]

fortunately for me, i went to a mixed skuul in LAG in ma junior days (it was a state skuul); albeit, it was still hella fun for me. i remember always makin up every morn bcos i loved the compliments dat i got from d guyz.
but u know guyz, they sang the same song to every gurl whether she was ugly or not (though i think no one is UG). off course the guys in jss were so immature, all they wanted to do was enter any gurl they cud.
and in inter sci class, the guys were so hilarious when it came to changes n reproduction in the female body, they were so immature.
I guess they grew up a lil in their snr days, i wasn\'t there cos i transfered to feddy babes OW where i saw gurls in action. students of feddy skuuls in nija are assumed to be \"feelers\" and we feddy gurls lived up to that assumption not only outside but even inside the skuul as well
The vals\' and pals\' game, the pullings, the jealousies of form six gurls- form 5 gurls and so on, the punishments, the back stabs, the slangs, the pixs that rich gurls brought to skuul to opress others, there were just a lot of experiences too much to mention.
Anywayz, its good that i tasted both worlds.
I dont think that mixed skuuls are better or worse than single skuuls n vice versa, irrespective of the high skuul one attends, the type of friends that he/she hangs out with will b a strong influence cos teenage life is all about peer pressure.  but who knows, i might just send out ma gurls to an all gurls skuul but then i gotta watch out for lele (feddy gurls know what am blabbin about. I am the kind of person that behaves like a roman when in rome, it wasn\'t hard for me to blend into an all gurls skuul

[uapo4]

:lol: Interesting posts!  Well, for me, I don\'t really know which gives a better advantage.  There can be arguments from both sides.  Here\'s what happened to me, maybe that could give someone another view.  I actually went to a co-ed/mixed school during my JSS in Kano.  Afterwards, it was all boys as I winded up in GSSO.

During my first two terms of JSS, I was so inclined on impressing the girls in our class by acting so macho, charging up to a fight over no issues, using chalk to generate smokes :twisted: .  But quite frankly, that is not my calling or anyone elses at all.  One very intelligent girl in our class once told me in a gentle voice \"Uzoma, why are you doing this?\" :oops:   I thought hard about it and then in the third term of JSS1, I experienced a transformation that changed me.

There\'s a lot to say, but the bottomline is I actually think it\'s a good idea to have a mix school experience at some point, preferrably in JSS because you just came out of primary school anyway.  And then in SSS, it might be a good idea to stay all boys or all girls...that way, you have more time to concentrate on your studies...if I\'m not mistaken, SSS is the most crucial point of an intellectual\'s life; it will make or break you regarding your studies in the university.  It is important, therefore, to make sure the kid is very concentrated on his/her studies...that\'s just an opinion and it\'s not full-proof.  Peace

[Amaka]

I had the opportunity to experience a mixed school when I was in jss1 before I transferred to owerri girls. I was the prefect and the guys nearly killed me, they were too rough, not withstanding there was intellectual competition going on. The first two students in class with best grades especially in math were guys and the girls were struggling to dethrone them. I stick with single sex school though... especially since we spend at least the first 11 years of our life in a mixed sex school.
BTW psychologist found that there is naturally gender discrimination right from childhood, I mean 1-2 year old toddlers who don?t know much. Children find same-sex play partners more compatible, and they segregate themselves into same-sex groups, in which distinctive interaction styles emerge. As they move into adolescence, the patterns they developed in their childhood same-sex groups are mostly retained. That?s why even as adult we pretty much like to spend more time with same sex. I thought that was interesting. (Check out Gender and Relationships by Eleanor Maccoby)

[Waffi]

IMO, I think it all depends on your family background. For a girl, I think single-sex school makes you more conscious of yourself as a female. As a result you may not have all the equipment you need to deal/interact with a guy. But you will be more.......whats the word.......ladylike....compared to most others from mix school. And I am only talking from experience. As for me I started my JSS 1 in a mix school. I stayed for only two months though, but it wasn\'t that bad because it was a private school. My parents thought it was best to send me to single school because thay wanted me to have the \"gurly\" experience. I could reason with them cos you see I have five brothers and I was basically being shadowed all my life before I went to feddy girls. And yeah, feddy girls was a good experience for me, I don\'t think I would be the same person if I had gone to a mix school. And, no, I was not a tomboy!
Thats my two cents y\'all.

[uapo4]

Honestly, on a second thought, I don\'t see the clear advantage that one has over the other.  I am inclined to say that all-boys/all-girls school takes the edge in senior secondary school.  This is because there\'s usually less tendency to do \"outrageous\" stuff to impress the other gender that may be common in co-ed schools.  These sort of stuff may pre-occupy a student\'s head and he/she forgets the primary purpose for going to school is to be educated in academics and morals.

Then again, at some point, the individual still has to come to grasp with the real world - there are men and there are women (which is depicted in co-ed schools).  And all that stuff will still go on like people getting pre-occupied with how to impress the opposite gender.  Then it becomes important that the student becomes morally sound and know how to act properly in different situations and around different people\'s mindset.

Oh well, I think I\'ll lean towards single-sex SSS school for my child (when God blesses us with the fruit of the womb) but will have no objection or resistance even if my sweetheart thinks otherwise.  That\'s my two cents  :lol: