32 Seemingly Normal Things About American Schools That Confuse The Hell Out Of Non-Americans

I don’t ever know what A levels etc. are. One of these days I need to look it up.

mine starts at 8:00 till 3:00

Yes, but the cheerleaders were just normal students, not stuck up and they didn't wear their uniforms in class.

Yes, because if you're in the hall without one, then you MUST be commiting murder (Sarcasm lads)

In Sweden it starts in august and ends in june. Nothing odd about it, to me.

Yep and we decorate them too!

Yes, don't you?

They used to have E as a failing grade, but people thought it meant Excellent, so they changed it to an F.

Yep, even a snowboard & skiing club in the Midwest.

huge, loud, head-ache inducing cafeterias.

I didn't realize that was abnormal...

Yes, we have cafeterias and selections of different foods. You get approximately a half an hour for lunch so you don’t really have time to go home and we don’t allow students out because we have had occurrences of them getting into accidents or getting stoned or getting drunk and then coming back or not coming back. Seniors usually have greater privileges and their own lunch area. We have staggered periods for eating so all students are in the cafeteria at the same time. For quite a few students who are uncomfortable with all that socialization there are teachers that usually allow them to eat in their rooms.

This is what they say is weird?

Where would you go to eat your lunch? Most of us can't go home (living 10+ miles away). Because school are mostly in rural areas there are no local places to eat. Some schools are actually located between towns - so the only thing nearby is a field.

Some Do, Some don't

My middle and high schools had an cafeteria..it depends on the group you were in, if you were in the athletic or popular group, the caf was the place to be seen. If you were band/theatre/art/newspaper/yearbook kids, you tended to eat in the rooms for that activity. The stoners would disappear into the smoke pit in the woods (the teachers knew, but didn’t care), and the goth/heavy metal kids used to chill in the breezeway between the auto shop building and the metal/wood shop building. (We had covered walkways between buildings as my school is in Western Canada)

In the colder states that have more incline to weather-yes we have cafeterias. Same for those states that get really hot. I moved from NY to NV and was shocked they had outdoor seating for students.

In France (from kindergarden to high school) either you eat at the school's "cantine" (= cafeteria, serving a proper meal with entrées, main and dessert) , or you go back home to eat (or eat out wherever when you are old enough). Hardly anyone brings a packed lunch.

Aussie kids have a basic tuck shop with some very simple food snacks or sandwiches but not really all that healthy . Students usually take their lunch from home.

In South Africa, you or Mom makes your sandwiches to take to school for lunch, with a bottle of milk or juice. We had a tuckshop which sold cold drinks, what the US calls soda.

Most do. It's the way only way a lot of kids get a decent meal (sometimes breakfast, too). I went to Catholic school and our cafeteria was basically for Friday night Bingo. We got a hot lunch on Fridays (hot dogs or hamburgers, even during Lent - go figure!).

Well, Euopean schools do too.

Yes, and the food is frequently awful.

eat homemade lunch in the playground

elfin

elfin

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Many do. It is a convenient way to feed a lot of students. It is also a way to make sure that students from underprivileged homes get a solid meal. It's awful that that's a thing, but it does serve a good purpose.

Yes and a program where kids that are food insecure get at least 2 meals every school day. SOme districts even have an evening meal for kids that stay after school for sports or clubs.

Huh? Here in Finland we have cafeterias/dining halls. That's where they serve the (free) food.

We get a cafeteria to sit in and eat lunch for 15 minutes then straight back to the classroom we go (no recess or freedom of any sort)

Yeah. Where else would you eat?

Of course we do! It's a big room with tables and chairs where students can buy lunch or just eat one brought from home.

I've been teaching in Korea for years - Korean students eat their lunches in their classrooms with their teachers.

Yes, because everyone knows exposure to the outside causes children's brains to melt, and eating in the classroom will cause them to ignore the teacher of that room for the rest of the year.

Sure do, the food sucks, the lines are as bad as Disney land, and they will sue your parents for a dollar.

wait, do Americans eat food!?

My god! Just where do you live?

Here in Finland basically every school have a proper canteen

yup

We have cantines

All schools I've been to (Asia) have cafeterias, but small and mostly selling snacks bc we come home for lunch. Unless if a school is placed pretty far from the center and children have to stay for lunch, then there's a fully functioned cafeteria.

Actually, some small schools don't have a cafeteria. The high school I went to was very small and if kids wanted to eat at a school cafeteria they had to go to the elementary school and eat with the little kids. My friends and I would walk the block or two to the small downtown, where there were several small shops that would sell yummy sandwiches and soup and whatnot for the same price as lousy cafeteria food. I still miss the fabulous salami in one of those shops, and it's been out of business for many years!

I thought this was a thing in most schools, not just the states. All schools I’ve gone to in Sweden have a cafeteria as well, from first grade up to university.

we have a tiny one... we usually eat outside or in classrooms, there isn't room in the cafeteria. this sucks cause where i live it gets to be over 100 degrees and there's no indoor seating.

In my school in Ireland, you brought your own lunch and usually sat in the assembly hall or lurked about in corridors/outside. Later on, they started to sell (crappy) sandwiches for kids who forgot to bring lunch.

Now, THIS (to Americans) is a STRANGE question. A meal-break is required here from Kindergarten onward. No one has time to run home for a meal or have adults come deliver it. So, YES, there is a structured meal-plan and a cafeteria to eat at.

Not all schools

LJ Robinson We had cafeterias. We would line up, they would put our food on a tray that we picked up at the end of the steam tables the lunch ladies worked over. No choices, just what they gave us. Then we sat down at long tables with benches attached and ate and chatted or did homework or read until the lunch period was over, then went to your next class.

A lot of kids go home to eat during lunch break. Not in the US but internationally.

Our cafeteria was too small to fit the large amount of students. We usually had lunch outside by the band room.

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Well students need to eat somewhere and eat a table in a civilized manner

Yes sadly

Aunt Messy

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Canadian here. They don't close schools in Canada unless it's been colder than -40C for three days in a row.

Because we put all our budget into our announcements and lockers