Study hall is supposed to be the time to, you know, study. Right? But let’s be honest, we know it’s really a battle between trying to get work done and playing the games on the New York Times.
Most of us work best at a desk next to friends for accountability and moral support during the tough moments when math problems just don’t add up. Study hall is not the time to try to make new friends. No one is feeling friendly; they are just trying to get their work done. Assigned seating adds to the stress and makes everything worse. It just makes it so awkward and uncomfortable to sit next to someone you don’t know.
People are worried about being judged for how they work or if they are typing too loud. This whole problem could be avoided if we could just pick who we sit next to. The seating chart is supposed to help us be more productive, ironically, it is doing the complete opposite.
People will choose if they want to be productive regardless of who they sit next to. If someone doesn’t want to do their work, they’re not going to. Friends can be distracting, but at the end of the day it’s their own fault if they don’t do their work.
Additionally, a majority of people leave their study hall to get away from the assigned seating. They either go TA [Teacher Assistant] for a teacher or they go sit in a pod.
Study hall is supposed to be the one time when students get a little freedom during the school day. However, with assigned seating, study hall feels more like a prison sentence. Maybe you want to sit next to your best friend and share last minute notes on the upcoming test, or maybe you just need to sit far, far away from that person who eats too loudly.
Assigned seating takes away the fun of choosing between being productive and playing games, leaving you to ponder how long you can pretend to be busy over that one math problem.
