co-education

Interesting Topic
I attended the last non-coed public high school in the country and completed 10th grade before the school was forced to go coed by the courts. Some thoughts...

- Before the school was coed, guys would play cards in the halls before class, or chess or participate in extracurriculars like Key Club. There was very little focus on appearence or social pressure concerning dating. No one knew much about who was dating who, though there were plenty of interactions with the girls' high schools.

- After going coed, it was all about socializing. A lot of activities died due to lack of attention. I know I spent a lot more time thinking about girls! I have also observed the impact on girls of having boys in the class with them. Boys are louder and will unintentionally hog the spotlight. There also seems to be social pressure on both girls and boys alike to conform to predetermined molds.

If you are really hard core about doing some research, you should contact some of these teachers. They have a rare perspective from teaching both coed and non-coed in a public system. In another 10 years, they will all have retired.