The daily gazette., 1880-07-13
From the N. " star,eg 3 t {
Co.EducatIon Of the Sexes.

S0~GouUaIt0ft W tttO ooA0Bs
The irrepressible controversy over sex
in education Las been sharply revived
by Mr.. Philbricks paper read before the
American Institute of Instruction al
Saratoga a few days ago. Mr.. Philbrick's
experience as Superintendent of the
Boston Public Schools qualities him 10
speax with the authority of an expert;
but apart from this altogether, his ar
guments appear 10 us conclusive on
their own merits.
Should young mtn and young women
be educated together In the same aca-
denies or colleges? Is the special phase
of the problem discussed by Mr.. Phil
brick, and TO th. query he responds with
an emphatic negative. The advocates
Of co-eLu :tion contend that under no
other System can girls secure an equal
chance with boys. They say that low
ever the sexes may differ in physlulos sical
structure and funct OH, intellectually
they are equal, and il is with the culture
and discipline Of the mental faculties
that schools ID colleges have mainly LC
to deal. II is asserted very plausibly
that there is no sex la. geometry oil
astronomy or metaphysics. Finally, II
is mai ntained with grand flourish oi
trumpets that the experiment has been
success 'ully tried in ''mixed" colleges
like Oberlin, Antioch and Michigan Uni
versity, and that the association Of the
sexes has been found to exercise a salu-
tary and refining influence -
Plausible as these arguments are, they
will not be likely TO weaken the almost
universal instinct which demands sepa.
rate eduction for the sexes. AS Mr..
Philbrick pointedly shows, co-eduction
is often found among pvor or primitive
communities; but the tendency toward
separation grows more and more marked
among all peoples as they ad, ance In
civilization. 1t is not disputed thai
| girls should have equal advantages will
boys, in degree, II not in kind; but
| fashions and manners change, human
nature does not, and an immutab!e Ia y
draws the line OF demarcation between
the sexes, which no artificial system car
| obliterate or break down.
| Under exceptional circumstances
and to a very slight extent, co-educa-
tion may be successfully attempted
but every such experiment not only
necessitaies a double discipline, but
also tends to unsex the female sub
jecis. The school is not family.
In reality the demand for joint edu
cation of the sexes originates in the
paucily Of institutions designed tt
afford high collegiate training fol
girls. Our forefathers believed thai
boys should be equipped for the battle
of life, and that girls should find theil
university in the home circle. Nova
days the olden theory is considered
modified, the impression steadily gain
ing ground that high mental culture
should be as accessible TO women a.
to the sterner sex. and that if proper
ly guided it should enhance instead o
detracting from the charms which con
stitute woman's scepter the worl'
over.
| The remedy, therefore, is to b
found not in oo-oducation, hut in til
establishment of high-grade institute
for women exclusively. Some sue
we already have in successful opera
tion-for instance. Vassar, Smith
and Wellesley. 1t is evident, how
ever, that while some of these ar
available only to wealthy students
the aggregate accommodations an
facilities are far behind the needs c
the times. Colleges and universitie
cannot be created in day they ar
the outgrowth of years ofearnest effort
But as the decades roll around, W
may yet expect TO see the probleI
satisfactorily solved.