Why I chose a Co-Educational School for my son...

 

Schooling is one of the most important aspects of a child’s life. It forms the foundation on which the building of a child’s entire life depends. No matter what goes on in life, your school will always remain in the picture, therefore one of the major challenges of parenthood is finding the right school for their child.

When we were expecting our son, one subject we discussed was about our son’s education. Both of us were prompt enough to say and agree that we wanted our son to study in a Co-Educational school. Though this is mostly the norm and there’s no big deal about it as such, but since both of us had studied in ‘All girls’ and ‘All boys’ schools respectively, we were not quite comfortable with the idea of sending our son to one such school.

Before you readers fulminate against the topic at hand here, I must clarify that there certainly isn’t anything seriously wrong with single-sex schools and I have quite enjoyed my time there yet I feel that there are some outshining advantages of co-ed schools. Owing to my first-hand schooling experience, I surely can point out some of these.

1.     When you study is a single-sex school, there is always a weird curiosity about the opposite sex. You do not know what kind of people they are, what goes on in their mind, what they do in their school and so its like enigma! You are always in that mystery zone. In a co-educational setup, you know what’s what!

 

2.     A cloud of anxiety looms large in the presence of people from the opposite sex. This is marked by hesitation and discomfort and the person is usually ill at ease whereas in a co-educational school, girls and boys do not care two bits about each other and are quite capable of completely ignoring the presence of the other.

 

3.     Simple events like an invitation from a neighbouring school for an exhibition or a play, become like a huge ‘How do I look’ event. Girls and boys behave as if this is their one and only chance at winning the attention of the other! The hype is overbearing and totally blown out of proportion. In a co-ed school, every day is such, and so the craziness is far less apparent.

 

4.     Since children are thrown together from the very beginning in a co-ed school, they understand the ground realities well and are ready to work together and also pitch against each other in a very healthy manner. No one goes on an ego trip which otherwise can be an issue if one is not attuned to these things.

 

5.     Growing up in a co-educational school, makes you understand the emotions of the opposite sex quite well, and this helps one is dealing with a lot of issues in life. Students become emotionally co-dependent and can help sort out many problems for each other.

 

6.     In a co-educational setup, you learn to mutually respect each other. There isn’t any extreme feeling and so the thought of discrimination doesn’t arise. You learn to peacefully co-habit.

 

7.     And finally, you have an exciting group of people around you for life who know you just too well and can give you fair professional advice if you’re not getting along well with your boss of the opposite sex; and even marital advise from the perspective of your spouse, thereby simplifying one’s life.

 

So even though, we had our share of uninhibited fun in our respective same-sex schools, we felt, it was important to provide our son with a different life, which started with sending him to a co-educational school. Of course, how much a child wishes to socialize with the opposite gender is still her/his prerogative but at least, the option is there!