> Perhaps there would be less classroom disruption if friends could have time together outside of the one class they took together knowing that would be the only time they could be together?
There is. School ends at 2:30, upon which point they can enlist in formal or informal shared after-school activities. Turning classes into a free-for-all where no one needs to afford the teacher and other students any respect for their time and attention isn't a great option.
Plus, most classes I took in high school had plenty of group projects, small discussion groups, etc. that allowed for social interaction with friends in a non-lecture context.
Problem is, there are no buses that take the kids home from their after-school activities. I don't know where you live, but there are many school districts in the US where kids can't walk home or expect their parents to drive them to and from school or a friend's house.
When I was in school, my house was an hour and a half bus ride from school. My parents worked in the other direction. Outside of being at school, there was no hope for social interaction unless we were in town for a festival. I'm also not arguing for turning classes into a free for all. I pretty explicitly said there should be room for social interaction outside of class. In districts with split lunch hours, there's literally no free-form social interaction unless you're on one of the last buses to leave at the end of the day.
We had buses to do exactly that. The "sports bus" departed at 6 p.m. every day; there weren't a lot of the buses, because not everyone did afterschool activities, but everyone who needed a ride got on the appropriate bus (east or west, as I recall) which dropped them to their home. It was free, too.
This was a rural school district, about 60 students in my class, and the district extended something like 20 miles in each direction from the town.
Turning classes into a free-for-all where no one needs to afford the teacher and other students any respect for their time and attention isn't a great option.
This is an insulting straw man. But I'm glad school was optimized for your needs.
I didn't say that anywhere. I believe it should be possible to design school experiences that can meet a wide variety of needs.
If the other commenter needs a quiet environment where he/she can listen to a lecture, that should be available without forcing those for whom it is unsuited to be there too.
Sure you did, up there where you said "it's only disruptive...". That is saying you want school optimised for other people's needs (perhaps not yours, specifically). The tone of the comment ("industrial age") indicates that you think it's broken and needs to change.
Wrong. I do think school is broken and needs to change, however nowhere did I say that it should be optimized for my needs at the original commenters expense.
Have you not considered the possibility that a school could be optimized for more than one set of needs at the same time?
There is. School ends at 2:30, upon which point they can enlist in formal or informal shared after-school activities. Turning classes into a free-for-all where no one needs to afford the teacher and other students any respect for their time and attention isn't a great option.
Plus, most classes I took in high school had plenty of group projects, small discussion groups, etc. that allowed for social interaction with friends in a non-lecture context.