Co-ed college roommates: What can we learn?

One boy, one girl -- one dorm room.

There is a new phenomena at Universities that has caused much discussion. It is not as though the schools are promoting it or assigning random male female roommates. It is actually a very small number who participate, and yes some are in relationships,which is tagged as "roomcest" on campus the CNN piece points out. I feel like there are certainly interesting lessons that can be learned from such an arrangement early on in adulthood. One young man who has a female roommate shared:

"I had just roomed with a boy. I was under the impression at the time that
girls were a little bit neater and more quiet," Youngdahl said. "As it turns
out, I don't see much of a difference from one sex to the other."

Garcia, 19, admitted: "I'm incredibly messy."

I had to laugh at that exchange because there are many things that young people can learn about gender differences early on that may have a long term effect on their relationships. Both genders would probably demystify a great deal about one another, which in turn could lead to the demise of "Woman are from Mars..." or "Rules" books which could only lead to positive change.

One group is probably far from happy about the new alternatives in college roommates. Parents are of many opinions and I think it will take a long time for it to catch on but some parents are already raising issues as expected.

From the article: "Parents aren't necessarily thrilled with boy-girl housing.
Debbie Feldman's 20-year-old daughter, Samantha, is a sophomore at Oberlin in Ohio and plans to room with her platonic friend Grey Caspro, a straight guy, next year. Feldman said she was shocked when her daughter told her.
"When you have a male and female sharing such close quarters, I think it's somewhat delusional to think there won't be sexual tension," 52-year-old Feldman said. "Maybe this generation feels more comfortable walking around in their underwear. I'm not sure that's a good thing."
Still, Feldman said her daughter is partly in college to learn life lessons, and it's her decision. Samantha said she assured her mom that she thinks of Caspro as a brother.
"I'm really close to him, and I consider him one of my really good friends," she said. "I really trust him. That trust makes it work."

I believe that it depends greatly on the maturity level of the students, and young couples. From an academic view one might look at it as a learning experience in itself. Learning to negotiate with the opposite sex over issues regarding bills, food and lifestyle to name a few, could lead to better overall relationships with co-worker's, friends and intimate partners. I had male roommates on several occasions (completely platonic) and I was a sophomore in college the first time. It was only for a semester and it was unremarkable. He happened to be a bit of a slob but it taught me tolerance for the petty toilet seat issues.

What do you think of this issue? Anyone have anything to share?