The U.S. education system is in such a desperate condition that it is moving backward to mitigate its circumstances.Girls, less than 50 years ago, especially in Louisiana, fought to attend the same schools as boys. But now, single-sex education is a novel experiment that will supposedly rescue a school’s declining academic scores and alleviate behavioral problems.More than 400 secondary education classrooms have begun using gender segregation since the 2004 federal regulatory change that gave public schools freedom to separate boys and girls, according to the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education.But such programs — while legal — invalidate the Civil Rights movement that successfully abolished such divisions.The Civil Rights movement’s core argument, “everyone is equal,” is demolished if the nation spontaneously reverts back to practicing antiquated        methodologies. Instead of re-enforcing equality between the genders, class segregation directly acknowledges that learning differences are prevalent enough to warrant action.”Research suggests that, whereas many girls prefer to learn by watching or listen, boys generally prefer to learn by doing,” wrote William Pollack in his book “Real Boys.”In reality, although neurological research shows some differences in the learning patterns, these differences are not grave enough to necessitate or justify division.Everyone, in some sense, learns differently. Education is not only about learning, but also about learning together. If society accepts division based on gender, then it should also be ready to accept separation of classrooms based on socio-economic class and even race.But any suggestion of separating schools based on race or class will be eliminated before even being debated because the idea draws images of the Civil Rights movement and the assiduous characters that worked toward integration.Separating classrooms based on gender should also invoke serious images of women fighting for equality, but instead, these images are muddled by psychological research and inconclusive statistics.The National Center for Education Statistics and College Board show no radical improvement in test scores for single-sex classrooms.   Boys earn slightly lower grades than girls, but achieve higher scores on high-stakes standardized tests like the SAT and ACT exams. Similarly, girls are participating more in athletics and opting to take higher mathematics and science classes than ever before.All these achievements are already happening in co-ed classrooms.The existence of improvement contradicts the opinion that boys and girls distract each other. In reality, a diversified environment increases competition and thus, performance level. Co-ed classrooms allow children to recognize diversity, learn cooperation and good citizenship skills. The “real world” is not separated based on genders; it is important for the younger generations to learn to cooperate in a mixed environment.Separating genders at young ages strengthens the use of gender stereotypes and introduces superiority-inferiority complexes. Boys instructed by a male will never understand their female counterparts’ success or intellectual ability. Instead, boys will develop a superiority complex because they could possibly learn to believe they are in the tougher class. The girls, similarly, can possibly develop an inferiority complex, believing they are in the ‘froo-froo,’ easy classes. The instructors catering to specific genders also increases gender norms. Boys would never truly encounter female sensitivity and girls would not encounter masculine austereness. Without learning to understand the other gender in a social context, collaboration becomes difficult.Transitioning from secondary schools to co-ed colleges and universities will become increasingly difficult.The education system should emphasize teaching students how to live in reality. If men and women cannot be partitioned in society, then neither can classrooms. Dini Parayitam is an 18-year-old biochemistry freshman from Lake Charles.——Contact Dini Parayitam at [email protected]