I can agree with that.

Wow, did we just reach a consensus? Doesn't happen much round here...

I find it odd that people often refer to single-sex schools as being less 'distracting' - I went to a mixed school, but had several people in my larger group of friends at a local girls school. My friends from the mixed school - from about years 7 to 10 - were all "eh. Boys. Boring", whereas the people who went to a girls school were "ohmigawd! you get to go to school with boys! thats so exciting! what are they like? are you dating anyone?". It was quite odd, and always sticks in my mind when people talk about single-sex as meaning less focus on the opposite sex - because I always found they had MUCH more focus on boys as they were sort of exotic and interesting and exciting, rather than just people who you saw everyday. Just my experience! :)

Laurie the less focus on boys is during class time when they are learning. In the playground the topic is boys in just about all schools during the teenage years for a lot of girls.

Thing is that if you want to succeed in your education you need to be able to focus in class and the subjects have to be taken seriously.

I think Single sex schools are ok, BUT... depriving boys and girls of opportunities to relate to the opposite sex on a regular basis could cause some to have difficulty later.. I'm one of them. Went to an all boys school. BUT.. yep..there is another one of those :) after I left school and joined the RAAF, (again.. pretty much all boy environment) they bussed us over to St Micheals and Lowther Hall during the first year of our apprenticeship, and we had a good chance to relate. Sadly, even to me at the time, the songs sung on the way left little to the imagination about what most of the blokes hoped for.. but for me, just to meet a nice looking girl who hinted that "if you were a JAZZER as opposed to a ROCKER we might have a future" was quite encouraging. Then there were girls who clearly were besotted with me, but whom I didn't find attractive, and vice versa.
In other words we found our place.

Barriers to finding our place and normal relating tend to create pent up and usually misguided views about the opposite sex.

So, I conclude that for educational purposes, single sex schools are good, and that some overlap between the sexes at that age is also good. Finding the balance and acceptable means is the important thing.

Though, family and social networks should provide opportunities for learning how to relate also. Me ? I never had sisters. (moan)
So perhaps the best approach is try to have a mix of children.

To those who don't believe that single sex schools mess you up, I present exhibit A: BOAZ_David.

No offense, BOAZ.