I have said before on this list that I like the notion of all-girls.....
Let me chime in this time with an experience of my own. I went to an all
girls high school. It was very small, 39 girls in my graduating class, 150
in the school total. It was very rich, college prep place. I was one of
only 5-6 Black girls in the whole school and definitely not rich. Now
having said this, there was a little competition for looks etc. We
definitely cared how we looked even though there were no boys, we wore
make-up etc. But as I compare my experience to my daughter's (now a
freshmen in high school) my classmates and I were no where near as
concerned with our looks as she and her friends. My daughter has left for
school some times in tears because it is time to go and she doesn't feel
she
looks "right" yet! She quite often gets upset if she misses the bus,
because she won't get to school early enough to adjust her looks before the
halls fill up and classes start. She quite often speaks of the older tenth
and eleventh grade boys during our conversations.
I worry for her and do all that I can to balance out her awareness of
herself so that it is not just in the context of looks and boys, but wow!
I have always wished that I could send her to my former high school, but we
live in a different town etc. Even with all of the class issues that I had
when I went to school, being jealous of the girl who drove her own Mercedes
to school etc, boy that was nothing compared to what my daughter is going
through. I have to remind her every so often that she isn't going to a
fashion show.
I would be curious to know how the girls, as well as, other mothers deal
with these issues.
Kelly Clark
Office of Multicultural Affairs
SUNY Geneseo
**********************************************************************************
Message posted on EdEquity Girls Dialogue: The Voices of Girls (extended
until May 2)
Subject: [EDEQUITY Girls Dialogue] Co-ed classes more questions
Edwina,
Hi, this is Emma responding to your email. Do you think that you
would get more work done if you were in a same sex class? And do you think
that people might be more open, and less self-conscious if there wasn't
anyone of the opposite sex in their class? I agree with your points you
made. And
brought up thoughtful discussion.
Emma
Member of the Girls Editorial Board
New Moon Magazine
<nancyg@newmoon.org>
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