6 reasons why all-girl schools are better

I am the survivor of a single sex school, having spent a whopping 7 out of 19 years of my life in boy-free education. There are plenty of opinions (which people are all too happy to voice) on the negatives single sex schools: Did a single sex education turn me into a bra-burning, hairy legged lesbian with an urge to murder anything with a penis? How on earth was I supposed to comprehend that men existed outside of the little oestrogen bubble that was my school? Was single sex education not dooming me to stereotypical career aspirations?

I can reveal that the answers to the above are as follows: no, no, just no. If I were 11 again, I’d pick same sex education again. The Guardian did a study in 2009 which found that single sex schools got better GCSE results, but here are my personal top reasons as to why all-girl’s school rock:

1

Freedom from gender stereotypes. I could have aspired to be a rocket scientist, an engineer or a mathematician, and I wouldn’t have had anyone tell me that I couldn’t just because I so happened to be born with lady parts.

2

Increased ability to deal with stress and drama. Mounting midterm deadlines? Oh, please. We girl’s school leavers have been through with catty oestrogen rages and Mean Girl style jungle-fighting bitch-fests. We are invincible.

3

We deal with guys better. Contrary to popular belief, going to an all-girls school doesn’t make you so socially awkward that you just can’t comprehend “real life”, in which some people come with added penis. It does, however, mean that you are immune to sleazy, lad-culture chat up lines. You also don’t see the point in playing dumb to impress. Result? Avoidance of assholes. Score.

4

We have awesome support networks. The mates you make at an all-girls school really are there for you for life. Together you have grown into experts in various lady skills like putting on tights in Olympic record times. The sisterhood is strong with this one.

5

Self-confidence. We’ve had to rock a kilt for years, go barefaced and scrape our hair back lest it blind us during games of hockey or lacrosse. We know that we are not going to be airbrushed perfection 24/7, and we rock it.

6

It’s fucking FUN. Without boys, none of us would be self-conscious enough think twice before participating in a food/water/hair mousse fight or lolling around the corridors in dregs of hungovers, trying to survive the day by laughing and drinking as much coffee as humanly possible. My starring role in the school play was as the comedy cow and I know I had way more fun doing that than primping and preening to hang limply off the arm of some guy in the audience.

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