At Issue: Bring Positivity to Class Meetings

The day back from winter break Limestone administration held class meeting presentations. These presentations included information about the rules and regulations of the school along with the consequences that would come from going against these rules. This information was presented to all grades and although it may sound normal for a school to go over the rules, once this information was presented to the seniors some conflicting views arose.

During the assembly and afterward in my afternoon classes many students were talking about the assembly. Seniors felt that this was a very negative way to start school back up after the break. Although the senior class makes it clear that they understand the importance of the regulations of the school they felt that the information could have been presented in a better and more positive way.

Seniors believed that this was a negative approach, due to the feeling that the administration was predicting trouble. They believed the tone of the meeting to be accusing and aggressive, like a scare tactic to ensure all rules would be followed.

The seniors also believed that this was a childish approach for students who are going to be off to college, trades, and jobs in a few months. They felt as though the meeting was unnecessary at this age due to how long they have been in high school and the fact that they are well-aware of the rules by now. They took this as more of a lecture rather than informational. The class believes that information could have even been sent in an email instead of calling the whole class to the auditorium for a negative presentation on the consequences if you break a rule.

As a member of the Class of ’22, I also believe that this could have been handled in a more positive way. I believe that this lecture format automatically set a bad tone for the whole meeting and made the class tune out/shut down, especially at the start of the new semester. In the future, rather than bringing the whole class down during RA for what felt like a lecture, I think something as simple as sending an email with the rules and regulations to the senior class will earn a lot more positive feedback.

Even if the lecture format is still kept, I believe by simply just sending positive feedback to the class will make a big difference. For example, giving a shoutout to senior class Rocket Scholars or Academic/ CTE Students of the Month.  Even something such as positive reinforcement/recognition of the good behavior last semester, to set a good tone for the upcoming semester, would be a good change.  Another idea would be to make it more of a game where students can answer questions on the rules such as, “How many times can you forget your ID before detention?” This could shift students’ perspectives on the rules being presented for the eighth time. Changes such as these are easy to make and would make a big difference for the senior class.