Studies done in the twenties and thirties report unequivocally that the percentage of friendship choices extended across the sex "barrier" dropped to near zero in about the third or fourth grade and remained there through the eighth grade, after which a slight rise was discernible. In 1930 Furfey summarized his careful and systematic observations of boy-girl relations at this age concluding that girls were rigorously excluded from participation in masculine activities.
"The girl, however, does not feel the affront very keenly since she has the
same negative attitude toward boys that they have toward her." (Furfey,
1930, p. 101). Furfey noted that from the time boys were age eight
to eleven years old until they reached puberty there was a strong distaste
for playing with girls, and only 20 percent of the boys did so.
Lehman and Witty (1927) found that from six to twelve years there was a
definite tendency for one-sex play, and games at this age were sex-
linked.
This is not to say that there were no exceptions. Romance has always
been an experience of some preadolescents. For example, Furfey described
Max, a twelve year old boy, who openly and ardently declared
his affection for his sweetheart.
In commenting on the situation, Fur-
fey wrote, "Although love affairs are common enough among twelve year
olds in fiction, a case like Max's is very rare in real life."
Furfey
believed this devotion to a girl before adolescence to be uncommon and
a distinctly precocious trait. (Furfey, 1930, p. 28).
Campbell, in 1939, in describing the typical twelve to thirteen
year old girl wrote, "She would not admit that a certain boy is attractive
to her, though she begins to take a covert interest." (Campbell,
1939).
This picture of generally disinterested boys and covertly interested
girls contrasts with the situation of recent decades. Empirical
evidence reveals, as in the study by Broderick and Fowler (1961), that
the majority of children in each grade claimed to have a sweetheart,
and most of these expected reciprocation. Moreover, the majority of
them did not keep their feelings to themselves.
That these children, in
fact, did discuss their romances with others is borne out by the ability
of their classmates to list the sweetheart pairs in their schoolroom
with considerable accuracy, especially in those cases where the
relationship was reciprocal or believed by one member to be reciprocal.
Hollingshead, reporting in 1949, stated that the most adventurous
youngsters began to date at the age of twelve and among the thirteen
year olds in Elmtown about 15 percent of the boys and 20 percent of the
girls had begun to date.
(Hollingshead, 1949, p. 224-225). Later studies
by Smith (1952), Lowrie (1956), and Cameron and Kenkel (1960) indicate
a higher incidence of dating at early ages.
The 1958 Office of Education Survey indicated that in most schools some dating may begin
as early as fourth grade. This national survey, involving data gathered
from fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers, supports the observation
that in some schools boys and girls do not appear to feel a need
to separate from each other during preadolescence. (Lewis, 1958, p. 3031).
In fact, as low as the fourth grade and continuing through the
sixth, they frequently asked for activities such as folk dancing and
table games together.
Boys groomed themselves (some beginning in the
fourth grade), carried a comb and used it, washed their hands voluntarily,
and occasionally wore a tie. Girls wore lipstick and nail polish
and groomed their hair. A few children wore "steady rings."