The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

83 Women, on the other hand, had a near equal decrease, no matter which side was affected by the stroke (12). Based on this research, one might think that boys and girls process information differently; after all, the stroke affected the different genders in different ways. This may not be the case, however. As Eliot points out, “children’s brains do not operate like adults: they are works-in-progress, and much of what influences adult neural circuitry is an individual’s social- educational experience from birth until adulthood” (364). Therefore, since the research that Sax cites is based on studies that were done on adults, the research is not necessarily applicable to children or solid evidence in favor of single-sex education. Even if information is processed on different sides, it’s clear that boys do not have “verbal barriers” that necessitate their separation from girls simply because of their gender, as some claim; their brains can process language just as easily as girls’ can. Moreover, though boys tend to do better in math and girls tend to do better in English, that fact is not necessarily a result of gender or the make-up of their brains. Achievement in different areas may instead be the result of a conglomeration of other factors, including the fact that little girls are encouraged to read for fun, and little boys are more likely to be encouraged to work off energy through sports. The activities they take part in when they are young translate into their interests and abilities once they are old enough to begin school. Furthermore, once children begin school, outside pressures tell them to conform to what society deems as normal for their gender (Jackson 228). Often times, especially during the pre- teen years, boys and girls settle into these patterns in order to fit in or to avoid being bullied because they are different. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to say that one of the reasons that each gender tends to do better in certain areas has at least as much to do with environment as it does with gender. Again, it should be noted that children are all different, and it is not fair to expect them to do well or poorly because of their gender. Such expectations might become self-fulfilling prophecies and keep children from doing their best with their natural talents and inclinations. On top of the fact that there are no proven differences between boys and girls, the legality of establishing single-sex schools or classrooms is uncertain, and creating a single-sex school, or even single-sex classes, may result in lawsuits. The amendment to