Same-Sex Education in Florida: Hey, Make the Boys Do Jumping Jacks!

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More bad news for advocates of gender segregated education.

http://jezebel.com/same-sex-education-in-florida-hey-make-the-boys-do-ju-1579689999

Another day, another same-sex education program allegedly based on broad, ridiculous gender stereotypes. The ACLU has filed a complaint against a Florida public school system, arguing its justification and training are based in no small part on pseudoscientific nonsense, and the result is vastly different learning environments for boys and girls.

Short version: Boys are rambunctious and must be ruled with a firm, authoritative hand and also jumping jacks before math lessons. Girls are little flowers who want to please the teacher but need math and science related to concrete, real world situations—oh, and "tend to use relationships as weapons." Pretty sure that line of thinking right there is how you get Betty Draper.

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Girls are encouraged to work quietly and discuss their feelings and personal problems. They're expected to be cooperative and noncompetitive. Boys are encouraged to move around, compete and are not encouraged to discuss their feelings. Girls are taught mathematics in a way that makes it less abstract and consequently gives girls the message that they are not good at abstract mathematics. Boys are taught literature in a way that makes stories highly concrete and fact-based and does not encourage them to connect with characters' emotions.

A few more touches: The complaint says boys got an "electronics day" as a reward for good behavior, while girls were comforted when they made mistakes. Jumping jacks preceded math lessons for boys, while in one female-only classroom, "the teacher gave each girl a dab of perfume on her wrist for doing a task correctly." Gotta inculcate the importance of Chanel No. 5 early, or they'll never understand.

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