Instigator / Pro
21
1481
rating
11
debates
40.91%
won
Topic
#770

Single-sex education

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Better arguments
9
6
Better sources
6
4
Better legibility
3
3
Better conduct
3
3

After 3 votes and with 5 points ahead, the winner is...

Tiwaz
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
5
Time for argument
Two days
Max argument characters
29,999
Voting period
One week
Point system
Multiple criterions
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
16
1503
rating
26
debates
46.15%
won
Description

Single-sex education refers to both classes and schools that have only one sex, defined by a biological classification.

Rules

1: Burden of proof is shared.

2: No new arguments in the final round.

3: Voters must meet the voting policy expressed in the CoC guidelines. Location: https://www.debateart.com/rules

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

Pros main arguments are that boys as girls think differently, and learn differently. Pro also argues it would inherently improve motivation and increase achievement.

While I accept this is possible - it is pros job to show why this is the case, he doesn’t do this in opening round - I don’t like sources being used in lieu of arguments.

Cons rebuttal argues the social development impacts of single gender schools, and the exclusion or inclusion of transgender.

Pro doesn’t really deal with the transgender issue - and mostly brushes it under the carpet.

In terms of the list of issues - the denial of mixed gender relationships is a major factor raised, pro gives me no reason to doubt it - he mostly simply denies it. Similarly pro mostly dismisses the issues concerning gender disrespect - though cons point here was not intuitive.

In terms of gender stereotyping - pro does a great job of pointing out how single sex education can encourage participation against stereotypes, he mentions issues with ADHD misdiagnoses - and argues that it improves proficiency and learning of boys as well as girls.

Cons rebuttal was largely dismissive, and doesn’t fully cover the issues raised - though I mostly agree with the objection on the first point. On the second point relating to disrespect - con goes on to reiterate his position, but it appears to be a clutching at straws assertion - this argument is non intuitive, and so con needs to provide warrant for it which he does not.

In summary here, pro provided excellent benefits of single sex education. While con provided a potential issue with social interactions for single gender schools.

Given the actual benefits raised by pro - and the fact that cons harms don’t seem to be either compared against pros benefits - or provided with an objective quantification - I can’t accept cons position.

Arguments to pros.

Sources:

Cons position is largely unsourced - with two main sources - the only one relating to a core claim seems only to lightly support it. Pros sources landed a knock out with objective data pertaining to studies, and objective quantifiable benefit - specifically the acer, Eric.ed.gov and research gate links all warranted pros main claims, with the former landing the knock out blow.

As pros sources massively solidified his warrant and cons only had limited of any real impact, sources to pro too.

All other points tied.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

Kiss my goddamn ass.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

Undecided and stuff to fill the word limit