Q: What’s the continuing importance of an all-boys education in the 21st century?
A: “[The students] get a tradition and a patrimony from the past,” says the Rev. Gerard Gonda, president of Benedictine High School. “At a time of life where kids are going through a lot of pressures and identity confusion, it gives them a relaxed atmosphere to get to know themselves better as men and to develop friendships within the male circle. They’re free to be themselves and to maybe break out of some stereotypical disciplines. We also tend to have a predominance of male teachers, and I think it offers them a variety of male modeling. There are different kinds of male teachers here that different kids can get inspiration from. [The students’] sense of self-identity is stronger.”
