Jothar posted: “Starwolf, there have been many scientific studies done PROVING that boys do much better academically when there are no girls around. you also seem to be unaware of a basic fact of life that occurs in mixed environments. Speak to any educator in a co-ed high school for a proper second opinion, and he’ll give you an earful. Mixed classes are a churban. “
You may have an opinion of mixed classes based on your particular view of proper behavior. However, I teach in a few Universities for a living, and I see no particular academic churban as a result of mixed classes in the high schools of my pupils. And I spend a considerable amount of my time speaking to both primary and secondary school educators–in Israel, at least.
It is somewhat more difficult for those students who have been in a separate environment all their lives. We do see some Hareidi students in University in Israel, and they do not always look comfortable. The system does go to some effort to ensure that they are accomodated as much as possible within the framework. of course, this is more so in Israel, where we have a better understanding of what the needs are.
As far as my misunderstanding of what goes on in mixed environments–rest assured that I have been associated with Universities as a student and teacher for quite some time. If students wish to fool around (in any way), of course I cannot stop this. But I see very little of it in the schools that I am associated with. Keep in mind that, in Israel, most students are older, the vast majority of them work, and they are not there to have a good time. (In the US, I am associated with rather elite institutions at which the students are well known for working their you-know-whats off.) I reinforce this by giving the student very heavy workloads, encouraging debate in the classroom (meaning that they had better be on top of the material) and being completely willing to fail students who do not fullfil the course requirements.
I understand that this may not fit the standard view that society has of University–as TV and the movies portray it. I also understand that some people do party their way through college. In my schools, I see this kind of behavior very very rarely. Apparently, many students seem to be able to resist the siren calls of fooling around in college. Perhaps I only see the serious students. Whatever the reason, one would hope that after 12 years of religious education, our (the Torah world) children would be among the serious ones, who go to school with a mission, not to fool around. If our children are not among these, then the fault must lie with our system of education. Either with the curriculum, or the social environment. Or does anyone have any other theories?