The Dangers of Assigned Seating

When you were a kid it was the first day of school what was running through your mind when you entered each classroom for the first time? For me the thought was “Are any of my friends in here and will I be able to sit next to them?” I would always get excited to find a friend and then we would sit next to each other and start talking, only to have the teacher walk into the room and announce that there is assigned seating and break everyone up. I would always end up on the opposite side of the classroom and basically stop paying attention and start hating the class. All I could think about was getting out of the class and talking to my friends. Other classes I would walk in and do the same stuff, but the teacher would walk in later and say that whatever seat we were sitting in became our seat. Those classes were the best because I would always be able to sit near my friends and be able to talk to them and not have to think about it all period.

I know that there is concern that it would end up just distracting the students, and to that, I say “possibly.” The problem with that happening is that only the students who already do not care about the class would do this, so it should be left to the teacher’s discretion to break those troublemakers up for the rest of the class. I believe that the risk/reward of abolishing assigned seating is a small risk for a large reward.

Most people only see the risks and don’t realize the rewards. One reward is that the students would feel more comfortable in the class and wouldn’t spend the period sulking in their seats or thinking about the conversation they will be having in the hallway between periods.

Another reward is how a student would be more likely to ask a question to the student next to them if it is a student they have known for a long time and not someone who they are forced to sit next to and might not even know their name.

A student might also be more engaged if they see their friends paying attention and participating in class, and as a side effect, it could also put the teacher in good graces with the students instead of making the students resent the teacher.

I propose that we end assigned seating across the board and make it so teachers always let the students choose their seats so that the students are happier and more engaged.