![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
school days
Jun. 30th, 2023 12:37 pmDunno what reminded me of this today, but:
When I was in elementary school, the schoolyard had a line painted down the middle to divide it by gender. [This was a simpler task in those days, as there were only two.] When we arrived before school, we waited in the schoolyard on our designated side. When the bell rang, the boys clustered at the boys' door on one end of the school, and the girls did likewise at the opposite end.
Of course, once we were inside the school, the genders mingled, because you would have to pass some of the opposite on their way to their classroom while you were on your way to your classroom. Once in the classroom, seating was non-segregated. As were lessons. When we were divided into groups for group projects, they generally tended to be co-ed.
But when the bell rang for morning recess, we lined up at the classroom door in two lines, divided by gender. And then, when dismissed, our lines diverged toward the designated outer doors. When we were out for recess, we played on our designated side. Facilities were duplicated: there was a girls' and boys' baseball diamond, girls' and boys' basketball nets, etc. Being caught on the wrong side was grounds for squeals of snitching, courtesy of the correct gender, and chewing out, courtesy of whichever teacher was on monitor duty.
This repeated throughout the day: returning inside after recess, being sent outside at lunch [our school had no cafeteria, it was assumed everyone could go home for lunch], returning, out and in for afternoon recess, and then final bell to leave for the day. Segregated outside, integrated inside. [Granted, they couldn't stop us from mingling over lunch or after school. But recess was enforced.]
It didn't take me more than a couple of grades to grow old enough to see the pointlessness and waste of all this. But I was always too meek to question it out loud.
In grades seven and eight, the boys were obliged to take wood shop, and the girls to take home ec — the first segregated instruction. This is also when phys ed classes became segregated. In my darkest secret recesses, I suspected puberty had something to do with the phys ed situation.
Once I hit high school in grade nine —
But at least, in high school, the schoolyard and entryways were no longer segregated.
I still have no real explanation for all of this. But I'm glad my kids came up in a school system which no longer indulged in such eccentricities.
When I was in elementary school, the schoolyard had a line painted down the middle to divide it by gender. [This was a simpler task in those days, as there were only two.] When we arrived before school, we waited in the schoolyard on our designated side. When the bell rang, the boys clustered at the boys' door on one end of the school, and the girls did likewise at the opposite end.
Of course, once we were inside the school, the genders mingled, because you would have to pass some of the opposite on their way to their classroom while you were on your way to your classroom. Once in the classroom, seating was non-segregated. As were lessons. When we were divided into groups for group projects, they generally tended to be co-ed.
But when the bell rang for morning recess, we lined up at the classroom door in two lines, divided by gender. And then, when dismissed, our lines diverged toward the designated outer doors. When we were out for recess, we played on our designated side. Facilities were duplicated: there was a girls' and boys' baseball diamond, girls' and boys' basketball nets, etc. Being caught on the wrong side was grounds for squeals of snitching, courtesy of the correct gender, and chewing out, courtesy of whichever teacher was on monitor duty.
This repeated throughout the day: returning inside after recess, being sent outside at lunch [our school had no cafeteria, it was assumed everyone could go home for lunch], returning, out and in for afternoon recess, and then final bell to leave for the day. Segregated outside, integrated inside. [Granted, they couldn't stop us from mingling over lunch or after school. But recess was enforced.]
It didn't take me more than a couple of grades to grow old enough to see the pointlessness and waste of all this. But I was always too meek to question it out loud.
In grades seven and eight, the boys were obliged to take wood shop, and the girls to take home ec — the first segregated instruction. This is also when phys ed classes became segregated. In my darkest secret recesses, I suspected puberty had something to do with the phys ed situation.
Once I hit high school in grade nine —
[Our school system didn't have middle school or junior high: it was elementary = kindergarten thru eight, and then high school = nine thru thirteen.]
— then wood shop became an elective. Along with auto shop and metalworking. No longer obligatory. But also not available for girls. Home ec was similarly optional, and also not available for boys. No matter how much they might be interested in the subject, or benefit from it. It simply wasn't up for discussion. But at least, in high school, the schoolyard and entryways were no longer segregated.
I still have no real explanation for all of this. But I'm glad my kids came up in a school system which no longer indulged in such eccentricities.
