Answering Your Questions to "Mary Isn't Welcome at Chaminade High School"

I have received many questions and comments regarding my latest post, "Mary Isn't Welcome at Chaminade High School." Many comments have called for clarification of main facets of the article. Thus, I will take the opportunity now to define and respond to the top 5 actual questions and comments I have received.

1. Why aren't you calling-out Our Lady of Mercy, Sacred Heart, and other all-girls schools for being single-sex?

This is a comment I have heard frequently that many believe shows "sexism against men" imbedded in my ideas. However in reality, the reason I chose to highlight Chaminade is because they continue to be the best school in the area, shown clearly by their new science center, Chinese language classes, new AP-aligned courses, and well-run extracurriculars. These disparities are why it is unjust to not allow females. Additionally, it is more likely for all-boys schools to have an advantage because they often have more working alumni to donate, and have existed for longer.

2. How is single-sex education like racial segregation if you have the choice to participate in it? The purpose of the racial segregation analogy is this: in the hypothetical situation that Chaminade disallowed minorities from attending, all of society would be disgusted by this limitation due to a genetic factor. Similarly, gender is something one is born with that shouldn't be a determinant of his or her quality of education. The only reason our society tolerates this is because we have been told time and again that it is benefitting boys to eliminate girls. However, what is not being recognized is that this is limiting young women's choice as consumers. Imagine walking into a supermarket and not being let down one aisle because of your gender. 3. But Sacred Heart is just as good as Chaminade, and you can benefit from a single-sex school. This opinion misses the point because it doesn't take into account the fact that girls still can't access opportunities at Chaminade. Chaminade's website describes their science center as having "two Anatomage digital anatomy tables, a Foucault pendulum to demonstrate the Earth's rotation, a green wall of preserved plants, computerized lab probes, a meteorological observation deck, 3D printers, and space for robotics technology, hydrodynamics simulators, and more." Their Chinese classes have gotten several kids accepted to exchange programs in Asia, their debate team has had many years to develop, and they offer Advanced Placement-aligned courses. These are things that parents would want to offer to their sons and daughters. 4. Why can't they just start a Chaminade for girls, or improve Kellenberg? This is an unrealistic standard because, as the court said in 1954, separate but equal is impossible. Biological segregation needs to be avoided, especially in education, because it just opens the door for unequal opportunity and an unhealthy work environment. On a positive note, co-ed schools endow students with a realistic experience that simply isn't formed in single-sex schools. A meta-study by the American Psychological Association on 184 studies on single-sex education found that only those with no control group showed single-sex education benefits students. In those with a control group, co-ed schools always had the advantage. These studies also never show how students perform once they leave the artificial reality of high school. The Women in the Workplace Study shows that 50/50 workplaces are significantly more productive than those with more of one gender. When people enter the workplace, they need to be able to cooperate with those of the opposite gender; single-sex education probably doesn't prepare students too well for this future. 5. Any race is allowed at Chaminade, you just have to be Catholic. This girl wouldn’t even get into Chaminade if she thinks it's racially segregated. Yes, this is a real comment. Please read more than the headline and first sentence before commenting. I know Chaminade isn't racially segregated and believe I would actually get in quite easily, well, if I had a Y chromosome.