Why I Want My Children In A Co-Ed School

I have two boys and a girl. A lovely mix if I do say so myself. I am always trying to find ways in my parenting to cut down on the work load.  Some would argue that I am lazy. I would argue efficient.

This was taken into consideration when I chose the school that I am sending them to. My children are attending a co-educational school, or as we call it in our family, a mixed school. This streamlines a number of things.

I can reuse jumpers for the third time, if they survive.

Drop offs and collections are all in the one spot, so my road rage is concentrated in one area rather than spread all over town. I’ll have relationships built up with the school and it’s systems by the time the princess is ready to attend. I see all these aspects as very important…for me.

When it comes to the children, who are almost as important as me, I think it’s vital that they are educated with members of the opposite sex.

I went to all an all girls primary. I went to an all girls secondary. Then college arrived and I walked into the atrium on my first day and I almost ended up in casualty with neck injuries my head was spinning so fast.

There were boys.

There were lots of boys. Some of them even wanted to talk to me and putting it mildly I didn’t have a clue.

I didn’t have any male friends. All I knew of boys was that I fancied them. I didn’t realise that you could just be friends; how do you talk to a guy without flirting with him?

I’d flirt with a priest…honestly!

This is a problem that I still have at 36 years of age. I still don’t have any male friends. I believe that is a direct result of my single sex education.

Obviously I don’t want the same to happen for my children. I don’t want the first thing that they see about a person is their sex. I want them to have both boy and girl friends.

I want them to feel equally comfortable in the company of both sexes.

There are advantages and disadvantages to a co-educational system.

The disadvantages are that more children can be distracted by the opposite sex. That applies to older children when the hormones kick in. Can’t wait for that phase, said no parent ever. Boys are more physical and some girls may feel intimidated or unsafe in that kind of environment.

The advantages far outweigh any negatives. It encourages mutual respect for each other. Mixing boys and girls will help create an understanding of our differences from an early age. This will help form more rounded individuals from a social point of view.

They will be comfortable in each other’s company throughout their whole lives. This will curtail the distractions of being around the opposite sex because the child will be so used to it. It will be nothing new when they go to college or enter the work force.

The opposing characteristics will rub off on each other.

The presence of the more physical boys and the more sensitive girls will rub off on one another. Forgive me for the mass generalisation, but it’s true to a certain extent. The girls will see the boys participate in sports and a bit of healthy competitiveness kicks in and encourages them to keep it up. Equally boys become more emotionally intelligent being around the girls who are better at expressing feelings.

Co-educational schools are the way to go.

For me, it’s a no brainer. It’s working out perfectly for me in primary, unfortunately my options are limited in my choice for second level. If I fail to secure a co-education secondary school I am hoping the formative years spent in mixed education will stand to them. Time will tell.