CS Debate Thread

[*~.Imagination.~*]

Hey, just thought I'd ask what you guys thought of the March debate resolve, for NJFL.

Single-gender classrooms would improve the quality of education in American public schools.

I'm currently writing up a Con case to this, but I'd like to gather other people's arguments (on both sides) so that I can arrive prepared with information on what they might question.

[Harpy•]

Hey, just thought I'd ask what you guys thought of the March debate resolve, for NJFL.

Single-gender classrooms would improve the quality of education in American public schools.

I'm currently writing up a Con case to this, but I'd like to gather other people's arguments (on both sides) so that I can arrive prepared with information on what they might question.

I see absolutely no solid reason as to why that would be a good idea xD

[*~.Imagination.~*]

Hey, just thought I'd ask what you guys thought of the March debate resolve, for NJFL.

Single-gender classrooms would improve the quality of education in American public schools.

I'm currently writing up a Con case to this, but I'd like to gather other people's arguments (on both sides) so that I can arrive prepared with information on what they might question.

I see absolutely no solid reason as to why that would be a good idea xD

Well the reasoning is that the children will be less distracted by the other gender, as well as the fact that studies show that certain parts of female brains are bigger, and certain parts of male brains are bigger, and their brains produce different chemicals, and that (though there will always be outliers) boys and girls learn different ways, and therefore need to be taught different ways- so the benefit from segregated learning

[The Great ME!]

Well the reasoning is that the children will be less distracted by the other gender

To be quite blunt: Kind of sounds like a load of crap to me.

In classrooms, the people who are distracted and goofing off that I've always personally seen are the people intermingling with their own gender group(girls with girls, boys with boys). I mean, sure, there are individuals who flirt or whatever, but that's not usually the majority. Or if they are distracted by someone of another gender, it's usually like, group gossip. No opposite gender actually present needed for that.

and that (though there will always be outliers) boys and girls learn different ways, and therefore need to be taught different ways- so the benefit from segregated learning

As if society didn't have enough reasons to segregate people People of the same gender learn in different ways from other people of the same gender too. That's more of an individualistic thing than a gender-specific thing.

And also, part of why girls and boys learn differently is because of the gender-stereotyping and segregation that human kind already instigates. That has a large part to do with it.

[*~.Imagination.~*]

I don't disagree with you, but in an effort to play devils advocate (as I will be forced to argue pro at least once in the next tournament) I'll just post bits of the Pro case and have you guys chew it up as you will
Single-gender classrooms individualize learning in certain subjects according to individual needs of both genders. According to multiple studies certain subjects seem to be biased to one gender and therefore they overpower the other gender in that specific subject.
Including one done by the Institute of Physics the report investigates six subjects – physics, maths and economics, as three that show a male bias; and biology, English and psychology, three that show a female bias.
These areas tend to be dominated by one single gender not allowing the other the opportunity to do well in the subject. Reports have gone to show that while teaching methods count the evidence strongly suggests that school culture determines the gender imbalances.
According to a Stanford study “Over the past 20 years, the fraction of males to females who score in the top five percent in high school math has remained constant at two to one.”
The American Association of University Women has found that college students still “view science and math as male fields and humanities and art as female.” And that girls have more positive feelings about reading than boys do.
The implementation of single gender classrooms for certain subjects allows those gender gaps to be recognized and resolved. According to The National Education Society “Girls who learn in all-girl environments are believed to be more comfortable responding to questions and sharing their opinion in class and more likely to explore more ‘nontraditional’ subjects such as math. Science, and technology. Also according the National Education Society boys in single gender classrooms “are more successful in school and more likely to pursue a wide range of interests and activities.”
Studies go to show that single gender classrooms often benefit the children. For example a study done at Palm High School in California at a single gender divided school two individuals researched, observed, analyzed, and interviewed students.
In one interview the students had agreed that they like this school much better than their previous because they receive more of an individualized approach and were able to focus and learn more at this school.
The report went on to show that not only did the teachers help the students receive better grades but that the teachers helped them realize their ability to continue their education in college and their future careers. Single gender classrooms allow for a better more individualized and specialized approach for a certain student’s needs and allows them the opportunity to improve their test scores, confidence, and learning capability.

[The Great ME!]

The American Association of University Women has found that college students still “view science and math as male fields and humanities and art as female.” And that girls have more positive feelings about reading than boys do.

Well, right, but what I was saying before, a lot of that can be attributed to gender stereotyping and segregation, which we've inevitably grown up with probably the majority of our lives, from the not-so-subtle(when you go to the toy store, and the entire toy section is divided up by "girls toys" and "boys toys") to the extremely subtle(seeing males and females portrayed or working in particular professions either in real life or in media).
And as for the media, even when they put female characters into positions that are considered "masculine" or "a man's profession", they're stereotyped in a certain way, like in crime shows where there's a woman investigor, a lot of the women usually have skirts(extra point dedaction if they're short!) and primped up lots of make-up. Being someone who has family and family-friends in Law, I can tell you that real women who are detectives and the like don't dress at all like how the media portrays them, a lot of them dress and act even more masculine than the men in the force do, which includes pants, not skirts(skirts really aren't practical for their line of work, anyhow!)

I know quite a number of other guys(and myself) who are very in-to the arts or the things that are stereotyped as being "girl things"(and are not gay, closet or otherwise!) who usually just don't pursue it because of things like having pressures from their family(usually fathers) to do "more manly things", or because society imposes a belief that "Men only do certain things, and women do others".

Again, a large part of it is gender-stereotyping and segregation that society imposes and expects, and if people stray from that and try to do what they want outside-the-box, they're treated as an "outlier" or even bullied and put down, like if a guy likes things that "only girls are supposed to like", instead of simply liking what they like, they're labeled "gay". And such. And these societal expectations of "How guys should think and feel" and "How girls should think and feel" are reinforced by both genders throughout society, constantly pressuring people to be a certain way.

There was actually a story I saw the other day(someone's Tumblr) about how a little boy wanted to get a drawing pad, but his father refused to buy it, saying "Art is a girl's thing" and making the boy cry, so the checker gave it to the boy for free, and then when she walked outside later, found the drawing pad ripped up and scattered across the sidewalk just outside and abandoned(by the father), just to use one example. Another I read on another site was how a bunch of students in a summer camp drama club, boys and girls, did make-up and threw glitter all over each other, and one boy's father got furious, wiping off the glitter and make-up and basically saying "It's not a proper boys thing", completely ignoring that his son had been having a blast before.
To use two other(strikingly similar) examples, when I was a young kid, one girl in my neighborhood liked to play with some of the transformer-type stuff I used to have, and at one point she said her mother wouldn't let her get any herself because "those were boy's toys, she should be playing with girls stuff like Barbies!". Another girl had her mother get her stuff no matter what "section" it was in, but the mother told me about how she had been told by the cashier she couldn't buy some of the stuff she got one day because "Girls won't like that kind of toy, you have to get something for a girl!" and she had to request a manager before she was allowed to buy it for her kid.
And things like that aren't a rarity.

Over time, those kinds of experiences would affect how male and female brains develop to think and do things differently than their opposite gender, is what I was saying.

[*~.Imagination.~*]

Wonderful ^-^ Do you mind if I actually incorporate some of what you said into the block argument for my Con side?
I'd like to point out how these societal expectations already divide our generation by gender, thus limiting their potential, self esteem, as well as their self exploration, and I feel like bits of your post really phrase that well.

On the other hand however, since no one else seems eager to defend the pro side-
Couldn't it be said that, by dividing into gender based classrooms, the ultimate quality of education would improve, because by eliminating the opposite gender from the equation, things would be less focused on "boy things" and "girl things"?
The idea is that each gender will be more comfortable exploring their talents in typically other gender dominated areas, because without the other gender, there is no more division.
Without girls in the picture, art is no longer a "girl thing".
When boys are out of sight and out of mind, no girl is uncomfortable talking about her "male like" interests.
The end result is focus is fixed back onto the individual, allowing them to explore whatever fields they wish without the pressure of appearing too much like the other gender.
Studies show that girls are more comfortable (in single sex classrooms) answering questions and talking in class, while they tend to simply keep quiet and allow the boys to monopolize the conversation of the room in coeducational classrooms.

[reilly]

Can I randomly pop in?

A few years ago my school experimented with the gender-separated classes. I indeed was a guinea pig for this method of teaching.
Personal experience speaking here: It worked very well. The majority of grades went up and stayed there.
I really liked having single-gender classes. I was a lot more comfortable with just girls.
One huge problem, though, was not related to the academic progress. School-aged children no matter what gender both have their rowdiness. And the boys especially seemed to get even more rowdy when they were with thirty other boys and no girls.
It was a strange experience, but I liked it. It seemed to work very well for me. Though I feel bad for the teachers who got a classroom full of energetic football players. xD

I would also like to point out that bringing boy to girl differences outside of learning habits into this debate could be irrelevant. That's another debate in itself.
For instance toy choice doesn't have much to do with how brains learn.
I personally would like to say that I really don't care if I play with boy toys or don't wear makeup. I love to play with ninja swords and Nerf Guns.
But as stated in other posts, girls' brains and boys' brains tend to develop differently. In a school environment it can be beneficial to separate genders in order to better focus on each gender's learning needs. Although their were exceptions and this method will not work for everyone.

Just my two cents. c:

[puffins]

Wonderful ^-^ Do you mind if I actually incorporate some of what you said into the block argument for my Con side?
I'd like to point out how these societal expectations already divide our generation by gender, thus limiting their potential, self esteem, as well as their self exploration, and I feel like bits of your post really phrase that well.

On the other hand however, since no one else seems eager to defend the pro side-
Couldn't it be said that, by dividing into gender based classrooms, the ultimate quality of education would improve, because by eliminating the opposite gender from the equation, things would be less focused on "boy things" and "girl things"?
The idea is that each gender will be more comfortable exploring their talents in typically other gender dominated areas, because without the other gender, there is no more division.
Without girls in the picture, art is no longer a "girl thing".
When boys are out of sight and out of mind, no girl is uncomfortable talking about her "male like" interests.
The end result is focus is fixed back onto the individual, allowing them to explore whatever fields they wish without the pressure of appearing too much like the other gender.
Studies show that girls are more comfortable (in single sex classrooms) answering questions and talking in class, while they tend to simply keep quiet and allow the boys to monopolize the conversation of the room in coeducational classrooms.

I'm sorry, but the "studies" that say that girls are more comfortable in a classroom full of girls definitely DOES NOT apply to me. I actually feel worse around many other girls. I'm a teenager and other girls always belittle me because I'm "different."
In fact, if girls were attending a class with only other girls, wouldn't that make them feel more pressured to dress a certain way, and try to be like everyone else in the class room?

Also, you said; "Couldn't it be said that, by dividing into gender based classrooms, the ultimate quality of education would improve, because by eliminating the opposite gender from the equation, things would be less focused on "boy things" and "girl things"?"
Well, in classes now, they teach everyone the same thing. There's no "girls things" or "boys things." The lesson is the same for everyone because everyone is in the class. Wouldn't segregation just be an easy way to teach girls "girls things" and boys "boys things?" I mean, with genders in separate classrooms, the kids wouldn't be in the same room so you can't assure they're learning the same things.

[only]

Keeping this short and sweet.
Ever thought boys and girls might be friends? The society made boy and girl friendships almost seem silly, but I happen to be a girl who knows two boys who are my friends, whom I treat the same as my female friends.