I wonder how they can promise regular "relations" with girls. I expect it's something as innocuous as inter-school sporting events, but I can't help but imagine a few dozen girls being herded into a classroom so each boy can practice chat-up lines and other activities that boys are supposed to do with girls.

A not uncommon practice. At Hampden-Sydeny (where I teach), admissions materials suggest tacitly and implicitly that our students will not lack for het dates.

From the admissions faq:
So I understand that I'll only have guys in my classes, but will I see any women on the weekends?

Hampden-Sydney is located in the middle of an area with over 15 Colleges and Universities - including four women's colleges. Over the years students have come to realize that an education at Hampden-Sydney comes with the best of both worlds—where the advantages of the single-sex classroom environment are well balanced by the very co-ed nature of the weekend social life. A popular tee-shirt at Hampden-Sydney over the years has stated the case quite simply, "Hampden-Sydney: We don't need our own women. We're doing just fine with yours!"

Erk -- that should have read: "tacitly and explicitly"

From my high school days I can recall that girls from all-girls school were expected to be promiscuous. "Mount Me St. Mary's" was the joke. I don't really remember much about their male counterparts.

My fiance went to an all-boy's Jesuit school and every once in a while someone will make fun of him for not going to the co-ed Jesuit school that was near by.

I went to an all girls high school and, although single sex education (both private and state funded) is very common here, the ongoing stereotypes are that girls' school students were some weird blend of feminazi butch dyke and super (hetero) slut. Likewise, the various boys schools seemed to express competing notions of hypermasculinity and homoerotic undercurrents, particularly in schools with boarding houses. In both cases the ongoing stereotypes of both sets of students reflects an anxiety around the emerging sexual orientation of students attending a single sex school, and a vehement, enacted denial of any possible homosexuality that often takes the form of extreme, enforced heteronormativity.

Yeah, I think it's a worry about a lack of opposite-sex interaction. I'm applying to lots of women's colleges, and they always sneakily include the pictures with boys just so you know that they're around.

This ad is ridiculously blunt about it, though...

Dating seems to be going out of fashion in the US, regarded in some quarters as a quaint but bizarre custom of the now distant twentieth century. Is dating still alive and well in Australia?

I can't speak for boys' schools, but the girls' high school that I attended never made any effort to emphasise the opportunities for interaction with boys - all of the focus went into promoting the school's reputation for helping the local community and getting good exam results. In the first year there was a joint disco with the local boys' high school, but that was as far their efforts went. They didn't even allow boys as guests at the prom, much to the annoyance of many of my classmates.

At my co-ed middle school, some of those who were going to a different high school would comment that the girls' school was 'for lesbians', and on one occasion when I was walking home from high school once, a pair of boys who looked about eleven or twelve shouted 'dyke' at me. Nobody of our own age group behaved like that once they got to high school, though - they were more interested in socialising with the girls than mocking them. I think there was an element of expecting the girls to be starved of male attention, and therefore 'desperate' though.

I don't recall anyone with parents having concerns about sexuality at a single-sex school. Many sent their children to the two single-sex schools in the town because they thought their children would be less distracted.

I can't say whether any of these things were a result of it being a girls' school rather than a boys' school, or whether it was my high school in particular. I can imagine parents being less concerned about making sure teenage daughters have dates (or even discouraging them) than with teenage sons, though

I don't know if this is good or bad, but my next door floormate at college went to an All Boys Catholic high school, and he's probably the most assertive guy I know. He doesn't seem too interested in long term relationships so much as sex. Other factors: He's really tall and works out a lot (230 pounds, 6'3-ish, muscular) if that counts, and deeply hated being at an all boys school.

I don't know if the school in the ad makes that active an attempt to teach social interactions with girls. I think for most people don't have that much trouble with interactions. Those with moderate to severe social anxiety or Aspergers usually need help beyond what a public or private school can provide, so it's probably a moot point.

This is an advertisement directed at parents. They probably have marketing research that demonstrates that some parents might be interested in sending their son to the school but are concerned that they won't have the full range of experiences (including girls) that are offered at co-ed schools. This ad seeks to take that concern and deal with directly (and given the good looks of the girl in the photo, make it a positive).

If this is what the research showed, then its good advertising.

The guy in the pic is my brother. Haha.
He's just 18, and he definately has good relationships with girls. All night long.
Trust me, we have thin walls.

Really. I think this is a bit of an overreaction. This ad was part of a series of ads about how the school 'Teach Boys'. There is no subtle undertones of sex or discrimination, just a simple thing that boys can go to a single-sex school and still have friends that are girls.

Also, at this photo shoot, there were two guys and two girls, both blonde and brunette. There's another ad where you can see it. Us girls were picked because we knew the photographer and the guys went to the school.. all 17/18.

maybe you should all lighten up.