The high school debate over which of single-sex and mixed schools is a better choice to gurantee academic progression, or the lack of it, continues to be a source of policy and public debate.

Some say there are no distractions in single-sex schools, whereas others believe there are equally no such occurrences in mixed schools.

But for Muscled Oliver of the all-male panel conversation on Joy Prime dubbed ‘Bald, Muscled, Potbellied, and Skinny’ (BMPS), he thinks one can be distracted academically regardless of the school attended.

He based his argument on the fact that every individual is privileged to choose the way to go with their lives in all circumstances. Hence, he is of the view that the issue of distraction is dependent on the individual student and not the school.

“When you go to school, the main purpose is to study, and at the end of the day, you come home and achieve whatever you want to achieve. You can get distracted with the mixed school. It’s the same way you can get distracted with the single-sex school because, for instance, your guys can lure you to the bush during class hours with the excuse that the teacher will not teach anything important. Likewise, it happens in mixed schools. So, all depends on you; either you decide to focus on your studies or chase women,” Muscled Oliver explained.

For that reason, he said he would choose a coed school over single-sex for his children.

Skinny Poxieble, who also supported the idea, indicated that both categories of schools are prone to distractions academically, adding that it is the individual’s choice to either welcome or ignore it.

Aside from that, he thinks attending a mixed school helps boost one’s confidence because both genders gain the experience of speaking in front of each other while in school.

Using himself as an example, he said, “I went to a mixed school, and it boosted my confidence level because I could see a lady and not shy.”

But there’s also that argument that, when you go to a mixed school, you do not focus on your studies. The host and potbellied Kofi Hayford quizzed Poxieble.

“It’s a lie; I was focused. Actually, whatever issues I had in school were not because of the women but the men… Women actually boosted my confidence in school,” Poxieble answered.

Previous empirical evidence is somewhat ambiguous, with some studies finding a positive impact of single-sex schooling on educational achievement and others finding no differences across school types.

The relationship between single-sex schooling on academic outcomes is typically problematic to examine, as in most countries, single-sex schools are selective and the numbers attending them are relatively low.

The BMPS show airs every Friday at exactly 9 p.m. Join Kofi Hayford, Poxieble, Nanye, and Oliver as they digest men-related issues and share your opinion on Joy Prime’s social media platforms, @JoyPrimeTV on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and @JoyPrime on Facebook, with the hashtag #BMPSonJoy.