Students must change seats at least once in each school term. It is the solution proposed by the Ministry of Education to eliminate discrimination based on ethnicity, school performance or special educational requirements. “It’s a good idea, but it could also come with some disadvantages” psychologist Keren Rosner stated for “Avevarul”.
Bullying could be prevented by better socialization between students. Photo source: archive
The idea, if implemented, could prevent cliques and exclusion, encourage socialization, communication and acceptance. “Students will interact because proximity causes them to talk, to see, to observe each other. It’s an opportunity to collaborate when they have school activities where they need to team up. And then they would be forced by circumstances to communicate with new colleagues, with whom they otherwise would not have interacted, would not have had the opportunity to do so. In this way, their communication and collaboration skills will be developed, and they will be promoted social inclusion but also empathy”, the psychologist also specified.
In conclusion, the intention is a good one, but it also has a number of disadvantages, according to the specialist. “For example, children might become much more noisy, much more inattentive, they might try to connect during class with their friends who are far away.” Such an obligation to change the place in the bank, to have several colleagues during a school year could, in certain situations, do more harm than good. “Certain more shy, withdrawn, introverted children could experience great emotional discomfort or even anxiety if they had very popular, very vocal or, why not, aggressive students as schoolmates. And then they will be fearful of the presence of those colleagues. Therefore, although the intention is to strengthen the relationships between children, the friendships that would form could be false and the relationships superficial.” psychologist Keren Rosner also specified.
Psychologist: “A rule with advantages and disadvantages”
Moreover, there could be situations when students in conflict would have to share the same desk, and then things could escalate: “They will not have enough time to develop deep relationships and build mutual trust. And, instead of forming friendships, in the end they could, on the contrary, still remain in the conflict zone. There is also this possibility, especially in the case of those who are not compatible. They don’t understand each other, tensions arise, they don’t have the same concerns, they disturb each other, etc.”
Then, let’s not forget the children with special needs who, many of them, are rejected by the whole group: “And it is not the students who reject them, but rather the parents of these students. Because discrimination starts in the family. And if we look at things from this point of view, the rule to move them, to rotate them in banks to prevent segregation and discrimination is useless. Children with special educational needs need help from everyone: their parents, peers, teachers, school counselors, other children’s parents.”
Psychologist Keren Rosner believes that this idea could pay off if all decision makers were involved: “The rule is not a new one. It works in classrooms private schools where it is a normality. And when we are dealing with a normality, you don’t have the problem that you only want to sit next to a certain person. You know from the start how things are and you comply. And from the feeling of lack of control from the beginning, the child can also discover the advantages of knowing other children. And in the case of children who are more shy and who cannot form relationships, through this method they could get closer to certain colleagues whom they would not be able to approach in any other situation”.
Teacher: “In high school, the principal does not have the power to impose such rules”
Alexandru Croitoru, deputy director of the “Mihai Viteazul” National College from the Capital, stated that the idea is interesting, but it will be difficult to apply to the high school, to the older classes: “If we refer to primary school students, or maybe the first years of secondary school, it can be a feasible option. If we’re already going up to high school, I don’t think the director has the power to force the student to sit in the second bench for a module, and then move to the third bench from another row. Here, at Mihai Viteazul College, it can’t even be applied, because the students move every hour according to the discipline they have in the timetable”.
Parents’ representative: “Students have very big problems with acceptance”
Iuliana Constantinescu, the representative of the parents at the “Lucian Blaga” Theoretical High School in Bucharest, believes that the idea proposed by the Ministry of Education is a very good one. “Very often, parents complain that some students sit only in the first pew and others only in the last, that some are put in pews permanently with I don’t know what other children who talk and disturb them. I believe that this rotation is not only against segregation, but it is also a way for students to learn to socialize with each other, communicate and integrate into the community. Because socializing only with the bank colleague and not being able to interact with anyone else is not beneficial for children.” she explained to “The Truth”.
Children, the parent believes, should be taught to develop relationships with absolutely everyone around them: “Because we have very big acceptance problems starting with ethnicity, with disabilitywith the social environment and so on. On the other hand, I think students will have no problem following this rule. Those who will react negatively may even be the parents. Because that’s how we, adults, are selective and, most of the time, we raise our children the same way”.
Iuliana Constantinescu is of the opinion that for this rule to work, teachers should also be educated. “Teachers need training on many levels. Unfortunately, schools only teach them to strictly teach some scientific notions in a certain discipline. And that’s it. And they don’t know basic notions of how to behave around a child, how to communicate with a child,” said the father.
