ABSTRACT
Throughout the years of elementary school, children’s friendships and casual encounters are strongly separated by sex. Sex segregation among children, which starts in preschool and is well established by middle childhood, has been amply documented in studies of children’s groups and friendships (e.g., Eder and Hallinan 1978; Schofield 1981) and is immediately visible in elementary school settings. When children choose seats in classrooms or the cafeteria, or get into line, they frequently arrange themselves in same-sex clusters. At lunchtime, they talk matter-of-factly about ‘girls’ tables’ and ‘boys’ tables’. Playgrounds have gendered turfs, with some areas and activities, such as large playing fields and basketball courts, controlled mainly by boys, and others (smaller enclaves like jungle-gym areas and concrete spaces for hopscotch or jumprope) more often controlled by girls. Sex segregation is so common in elementary schools that it is meaningful to speak of separate girls’ and boys’ worlds.
