I remember all through school meeting my friends in the cafeteria and talking. I have tons of wonderful memories of being with friends in the cafeteria.
Funny memory: I heard about sex from a girl named Kelly. We were in 4th grade. We were at lunch in the cafeteria. She told us that he put his thing (she points to a certain place on the body) in your thing (still pointing). She knew because an older sibling had told her. None of us had ever heard of such a thing. I remember where we were sitting. That was it. I got the sex talk. (Is there an alert that I'm supposed to put here to warn people that I'm about to say something inappropriate?)
Seriously, I loved that part of school. I'm an extrovert and I've always needed to talk to think. I can't imagine reading during lunch. My oldest son is a heavy reader, he probably wouldn't mind it so much.
Sorry for using the word "herd mentality". That's a really loaded word. I agree with how important it is to create a calm environment so kids can learn. I was posting about some of the indignities I remember as a kid. The times I saw rules that didn't make school a positive place. Just reflecting here on all of it.
I'm reconsidering the conversation because the discourse has become so anti-school and anti-teacher that I don't want to add to that. Teachers deserve to be supported right now, not ganged up on. Sorry if I offended.
It does make me sad, though, because I think that kids have it harder than we did in a lot of ways.
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