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32 Seemingly Normal Things About American Schools That Confuse The Hell Out Of Non-Americans
Growing up in a European country and never witnessing what it's like to go to an American school, watching American high school comedies, to me, has always been a pretty surreal experience. I'm sure that most of you fellow non-Americans reading this article could relate to me on this.
There are so many things about American schools that have always seemed utterly fascinating to me. For instance, you get letter grades instead of number ones, schools have swimming pools inside them, there's a club for almost anything, you have to get a hall pass to go to the bathroom during class, and lunch meals are usually pretty bizarre. The list goes on. With that being said, Bored Panda invites you to look through this list of tweets from non-American Twitter users in which they share things that they find the strangest about American schools. Feel free to explain to us the things we don't understand or add your own in the comment section!
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Yes, but the cheerleaders were just normal students, not stuck up and they didn't wear their uniforms in class.
In Sweden it starts in august and ends in june. Nothing odd about it, to me.
They used to have E as a failing grade, but people thought it meant Excellent, so they changed it to an F.
Canadian here. They don't close schools in Canada unless it's been colder than -40C for three days in a row.
Where I live the people are incompetent in ice and snow even though it usually snows every year so they don't want to risk people driving their kids. Also we get picked up in big yellow busses that are like three cars long and have horrible turning capabilities so that's not going to be the best thing to drive in snow
Load More Replies...Since schools are required to bus kids to school, if the roads aren't plowed and they can't pick the kids up, school is cancelled. That's why more rural schools get snow days more often; plowing is more difficult than in urban areas.
Depends on where you are. Here in Texas, they close schools over even a little bit of snow, because no one here knows how to drive in it and they have a tendency to crash. A lot. I spent 2 1/2 years driving in Alaska, so I'm comfortable with it, but I would not be comfortable getting on the road with a bunch of other Texans in the snow. I'm guessing in Sweden, y'all are used to getting around in the snow. Not everyone else is.
In my rural county, buses picked up kids on dirt roads that would have been dangerous or impossible with snow. If buses can't run, no school.
For many parts of the US there is not enough snow activity to justify the expense of snow clearing equipment like snow plows. For those areas, it makes more economical sense to close schools for the day.
It really only happens in places that aren't prepared for heavy snow. A good portion of kids get bussed in, but if the roads aren't safe they have to call it. Since a lot of the US doesn't see deep snow on a regular basis, they don't invest in the infrastructure to deal with it.
I like in a place that never snows. The cancel school over a couple flakes, because they don't want us to get trapped in the school, and our buses and power and whatever can't handle more than a few inches.
Yes. when i was in a boarding school in the north of France we had mixed feelings about snow... If the snow was previsible, sometimes the school drove the boarders back home before the snowfall (school had its own buses) and when the snow was a surprise, we could be stuck for the weekend at the school, YAY! Option one: the student leaving near the school was jealous of boarders for skipping school, Option 2: a weekend in an empty strict boarding school where everything was forbidden
Load More Replies...this only happens in the places where they don't normally get snow - because the roads aren't safe to drive on. It would be like southern Spain or Portugal getting snow. It doesn't happen often and people don't know how to drive safely in it.
Firstly, it depends on the municipality/county. Oklahoma rarely gets snow, so instead of building an army of plows and deicers and other controls (which Sweden would have), they just shut nonessential things down for a couple of days a year. Second, techniques for driving in snow are taught in Sweden, so the cars and drivers are more prepared for it. American driving licenses don't require everyone knows these sorts of details, so the roads are much more dangerous for yourself and others.
ikr here at the north pole we have snow everyday and the elves still go to school
according to your username, i see you are a fellow person of culture, you read keeper of the lost cities?
Load More Replies...I know in my county their are a lot of winding roads, and back roads where the snow is not cleared of off, buses could crash, a young new 16 year old driver could crash... It is safety, we have snow maybe 3 months out of the year....Better safe than sorry.....I am guessing in Sweden you have a lot more snow than some parts of the US
According to the rumors (the're probably not true) we don't have snow days here is because one day school was canceled and a parent didn't know or something so they dropped their kid off at school and it was freeeeeeezing cold and he stayed outside all day because there was no one to let him inside and he had to go to the hospital because of frostbite.
in texas we close if there’s like one inch of snow because it only happens once every like 10 years
In California, one time a single drop of snow fell down, and all our schools got shut down. I lived in Boston before, so I'm usually like ...what?? when they shut it down.
When I was doing my PhD in Atlanta we got an inch and a half of snow and the whole city shut down for three days. Look it up: Snowpocalypse 2014. Now I'm in New Orleans and people think they are dying long before it gets close to freezing.
The U.S. has millions of miles of roads and some states/counties don't take very good care of them. It can be treacherous to have busses loaded with kids driving on crap roads.
Adding to what everyone said about "depends on where you live." In Kentucky my parents live off a road dubbed Roller Coster Road because of all the steep hills and sharp curves. A lot of rural KY is like this and dangerous without 4 wheel drive. It doesn't snow enough for everyone to own that sort of vehicle, so we take a few days off usually each winter to be safe.
It really depend on where you live. Live somewhere used to snow and no you don't get out, freak snow in Georgia and yeah, you're out.
They don’t close schools because of the snow, but because of driving conditions. If it snows at the right time in the morning, the roads won’t be plowed. Or, sometimes it’s just too col for the buses to start.
In the south we have to close for snow because we're not equipped to clean the roads off for people to safely travel. We also don't have snow tires or anything similar. Heck, I've also seen schools closed from to much rain and flooded dirt roads.
Because our schools districts can be quite large - my high school was 10 miles from my home. When the roads are bad, there is no way for students to get to school.
My country doesn't really have that, either, and we don't really need it since the weather doesn't really get that extreme. Only time I remember school being cancelled because of the cold was when it was freezing outside and the heating in the school wasn't working (this has happened to me twice, once in 6th grade (ish) and once in high school.).
In the rural areas, you can have blizzards which close the roads for days. It is for the safety of the kids and staff.
It depends where you live. In Texas we rarely get snow and we are not prepared for it.
This only happens in states that don't have equipment to remove the snow. States like the one I grew up in might get snow about once every 3 years or so that actually sticks to the ground and hasn't melted within hours of snowing. So when a bad storm hits not just the school close down but a lot of businesses also close because the roads are not safe to drive if you can drive on them at all.
https://www.ajc.com/weather/remembering-snow-jam-2014-the-numbers/xGVwkyBhoebgNaTAmfGfUO/
They close school in the South. We don't get snow very often, can't drive in it and have no desire to be around it......that's one of the very great benefits to living in the South!
When I was in school (the 60s and 70s) in the Midwest of the US, school was seldom canceled. But now, the school district must plan for what the dumbest, laziest parent might do--send child out without proper clothing, etc. They also have to consider that the same stupid parent will sue the district if anything bad happens to their child.
It depends on if the snow makes driving conditions dangerous or if they expect it to get worse through the day. If you live where it usually doesn't snow, it doesn't take much to shut things down because there are no sand or salt trucks, and no one has snow tires or experience on an icy road.
Texan here. We close school for snow or ice because it might only happen once a year and the cost to the cities to have equipment to clear the roads isn’t worth it for such a rare occasion.
Plenty of American schools don't close down for snow, but in many areas, we only see an inch of snoe per year on average, so in the rare event that it dumps 8 inches, our infrastructure isn't equipped to handle it. No snow plows, no de-icers, so driving becomes a hazard because people never have enough snow to learn how to drive in it. Staying home for the day, is better than being dead on the way to school.
I spent the first 12 years of my life in Chicago, IL, where you had to have a lot of snow on the ground, and the threat of a lot more coming, before they'd even *think* about closing school. Then we moved to Houston, TX. When I was a junior in HS (about 16 yo), there was just enough frost on the ground that it crunched when you walked, but you could still see green grass underneath. The entire damn city shut down for two days, because Houston natives have no idea how to drive in conditions like that.
My kids school has been canceled because we were "expecting" snow. We didn't even get a dusting. They have also canceled school because it was "too cold" outside. Welcome to North Carolina, USA.
Because the major roads are cleared overnight but the sidestreets are not cleared in time for school.
In many parts of the US (primarily cities) NO ONE knows how to drive in the snow. It's safer to keep the kids home than risk accidents. Many businesses close as well. We had a massive snowstorm in Seattle back in 2008 and the city practially shutdown. We lived at the top of an incredibly steep hill and there was no way my little Kia was going to make it. Yeah - and most of us don't get "snow pay" you take the day without or use your vacation.
I live in Minnesota and we laugh at some of the states to our south and their wimpy attitude towards snow.
Depends on where in America you are. Colorado - never. Not unless the school buses can drive even with chains. In North Carolina - OH MY GOSH IS THAT A SNOWFLAKE?!? SHUT IT ALL DOWN!!!
We lived in Denver Colorado and there were no snow days. I guess it's for places that don't have much snow and aren't good at driving in it.
It also depends where in America. In places that are used to snow, they don't close school as much as in places that aren't. For example, I lived in Oregon, where we didn't get much snow, and the schools would close for amounts of snow that people here in Chicago would laugh at.
Sometimes its an excuse to save money, especially for schools above the snowline. Schools are so underfunded that when given an opportunity to save money by say...not paying for electricity and heating that day, some school districts choose that route. Sometimes the roads are simply imapssible and Americans are so spread out, we need to use those impassible roads to get anyhwere. Also there is excessive care for our kids where we dont want them being out in difficult or inclement weather.
LOVE 'snow days'. Many towns don't have the equpment to deal with snow and since we don't get the amount they do in other countries, they don't buy the equipment. It all comes down to money.
I’m in NY and snow days are rare and wonderful things. But I remember hearing about Georgia getting something like a half inch of snow, and everything closed, not just schools. No one down there had snow tires or any idea how to drive in snowy conditions. Not that half an inch is snow, but hey...! (As I write this, it’s snowing here, expected to dump a foot or so!)
Texas here. gets snow days randomly even though it almost never snows. once it was the hottest day of winter and we got one. twice it DID snow and we were forced into school
Areas that are used to snow don't close unless they lose power. Houston on the other hand shuts down faster after someone thinks they see a snowflake than we do for 100 year floods.
Im from north Idaho (very close to canada) and they NEVER close school unless its a literal blizzard.
Yeah that's about the only thing I missed from Iranian schools when we moved to Germany. 30-40 years ago we had every year few days off in Tehran's winter because of snow. On the other hand, there were so many breaks and holidays throughout the year in Germany that I was never too exhausted.
It depends on where you are. My area doesnt get snow often and people dont put winter tires on their cars. I was in a slow speed accident in front of my school because my car had no traction on the snow. I slid downhill until I hit a car stopped at the light. No damage to either car.
we're just soft, I'm from the midwest and sometimes we don't even get much snow and school is cancelled
depends on the state. As a Minnesotan (very northern state) we only got canceled if the snow was too much for the plows to handle, which was very very rare. ( i remember we got 6 feet one weekend, but we still got to class on monday!) while other states that get less snow don't have the equipment or familiarity to deal with it. a friend out in Portland (Oregon, far different climate) told me how they got 6 inches once, and the city shut down for 2 days! so it's a matter of perspective.
I live in Portland, Oregon and we only see snow MAYBE twice a year at best. Because it is so 'rare', people forget how to drive in it causing lots of traffic accidents. If teachers/staff and students can't get to school safely due to snow or more likely - ice - then school is closed for the day.
Depends on the region of the us. In the south east 1" will shutdown a town. Where I lived in the US they never closed for snow, just cold, an only for the younger grades.
this is a matter of latitude. the farther north you live, the more people are used to snow and the more likely that your town (or state) will have lots of snowplows. thus, everyone expects you to go to work, school, etc. but the farther south you live, there's maybe only one rusty old unused snowplow in the largest city. if even a dozen flakes fall from they sky, that's 15 minutes you'll remember for the rest of your life! the good thing if you life sorta south of the middle is that everything gets closed and you only have to live with it for 3-10 days, have fun with it, and then it all melts away.
during my school years I never had 1 snow day. But rain would change the day. Guess living in phoenix Arizona explains this.
Schools in the US usually have to go by the bus company. There’s some seriously rigorous processes that go on in a school bus company. Child safety is EVERYTHING to them so, yeah weird system that was based on being sued really.
Depends on where in the US you live. If it's someplace where snow is unusual, then nobody has snow tires, and can't safely drive. In Michigan and Wisconsin, I think it has to snow pretty bad before the schools close. In Georgia, not so much.
Not all of America. Just the places where it doesn’t snow a lot because they aren’t really prepared and most of the residents in those areas can’t properly drive in snow do a lot of accidents occur
When I was a kid in the 80s, I was in school in Indiana and they did not close for snow. If you couldn't get to school, you just didn't go. I lived in a rural area and the farmers would be up early in the morning to plow the side roads. It was a community effort. I never missed school, even after a blizzard. Nowadays, it's not like that.
Its because we have buses that take kids to school, and if a bus could crash, the children's lives aren't worth going to school that day
Because driving in the snow is dangerous and if a school bus gets in a crash or a student dies there will be a lot of people suing. America is unfortunately a very litigious society.
Southern American schools close when there's even a little bit of snow/ice because it's dangerous to get to the schools. Here in Texas, a large majority of the cities don't have the snow plows or salt trucks to clear the roads. We rarely get snow so there isn't a good reason to purchase this large expensive equipment. AND kids can live 30 miles or more from the school they attend, rural areas are VAST. BUT now that we have had to pull our asses together for the covid shut down, everyone will just be shunted to virtual school
That just depends if the geographical area is fully equipped to cope with it. For example. Chicago? Probably not a snow day. Oregon? Probably getting a snow day.
Wisconsin here - they will close if 1 - it's dangerously cold and there is a potential for frostbite within seconds due to the number of students who walk. 2 - if there's too much ice for busses to transport safely. The more rural the area, the better chance for a 2 hour delay or closure. 2018 was filled with closures because of the record lows (with wind chills) and record snows, but otherwise I could count on 1 hand how often we have closed since my son has been in school (he's in 7th grade)
Snow days were the best! Ah, the memories of going back to bed and then waking up to go play in the snow.
It doesnt matter rlly how much snow there is. From idaho USA and we still go to school when there is 5 feet of snow if the road are good enough to tavel
It depends on where you are. I lived in Anchorage, AK while I was growing up. Snow days were rare and only happened when driving conditions were truly dangerous (remember, we have school buses; if they can't transport students to school safely, they don't move). However, I'm now in Oregon, and if there's so much as a hint of snow, everybody panics and school gets cancelled.
It change through out the years, schools had stayed opened in the past, sometimes they let us out early. Also for the longest time, School districts will announced school closings at the very last minute.
It's not always canceled. Sometimes they decide to just start the school day two hours later to give road crews a little longer to make the roads safe.
Some places like in Texas, it gets into the 100's (Fahrenheit) and people aren't really prepared for cold weather, so that's why,
Ok I live in the southern US and yes if it snows we cancel school. Why? because it never fricking snows here, so on the very rare occasion for when it does we are not really prepared for it. The roads are unsafe because they are iced over and because people are not used to driving in those conditions here.
in Utah the schools have only closed down once due to school. in my and my parent's lives
In Iowa and North Dakota at least, they don't cancel school often, in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, they literally cancel if there is an inch of snow. Those are just where i have lived, i dunno about other states
In my Scottish primary school (age 5-11) if it started snowing heavily they'd just send us home. And that meant walking a couple of miles in heavy snow, without our mums who wouldn't know we were on the way home until we got there. Thinking back, I'm really surprised that a few little kids didn't disappear en route.
Its a good thing sometimes. Once our power went out for 3 days because of snow. Not to mention icy roads.
When I was 9 or 10 we moved back to the states from Bavaria (Army brat) to S. Illinois. Got at the most 1" of snow, the grass wasn't even covered. My brother drove me to school and I sat in the empty waiting area until his girlfriend came and got me telling me school was canceled due to snow. Couldn't believe it! When we moved to Germany, in January, we live in an Apt. building and didn't know it had steps in front till the spring thaw.
Because American Schools dont. I know it is hard to understand, but the USA is the third largest country in Land Mass with areas from the frozen northern Alaska to the tropics in Hawaii and Southern Florida. So depending where they cancel school for different things. Where I live under 6 inches there is school, 6-8 depends on how well they clear it. But in places like Wisconisin they have school in 2 feet of snow, and Dallas cancels it for flurries. Each area does it based on what they are used to and consider safe based on that information
In Houston, we had a delayed opening for half an inch of snow. I’m from the north, so it was hilarious.
My husband grew up in northern Minnesota and they never closed schools for snow, either. But they had to close them for a week most years in the spring because of mud -- when the ground would thaw, it would turn into mud soup. The most ridiculous snow closure I ever saw was when my son was in high school; the system announced in the evening that schools would be closed the following day because a storm was predicted -- but not a single flake of snow fell! It was pretty funny, actually.
This happens in southwestern Canada whenever there is a huge snowfall. Mainly due to visibility and slippery road conditions for the school buses. If the roads are deemed unsafe, the buses won’t run. But the school stays open sometimes...
It snowed in San Francisco in Feb 1976 just enough to cover the ground with about 1cm (½ inch) and they closed the schools. (It snows here every few years but usually the ground is too warm for it to stick or stay)
Hahaha. In Texas, 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) of snow will close everything. But it only snows once or twice in a decade, so we don't have any road clearing equipment. Once in 1963 it snowed NINE INCHES, school was closed for a week! ..
When I was a kid in New York (upstate,in the mountains) schools would close if it was the kind of snow that made the roads extra slippery. Again, living in the country and not city makes a difference with how quickly that gets attended to. As an adult in Georgia (southwest close to the FL border) no one knows how to drive in it and there aren't plows, salt or sand trucks to readily take care of the roads. It's not just the schools that close, it's the whole area until conditions change. We're much more used to and prepared for +100F with 80% humidity. My daughter starts wearing long sleeves when it hits 70F LOL
This is weather & area depending. Obviously CA doesnt have snow days bit probably has ones during wildfires &/or heavy storms. My city was mostly bus kids & a really hilly area. We had more school cancellations, due to snow, than neighboring cities/towns BUT we also had way more buses get stuck on the hills trying to get students to/from school. If they dont think they can get them back and forth safely, they dont attempt it. If there was ever an accident, the school board & the city would be liable for any injuries that happen because it was their choice to not delay or cancel the day. At least with the new remote learning situation, they're going to start treating them as virtual days vs snow days here. That way the kids dont have to make up the days
In Texas we close schools when it snows, if there has been rain prior to the snow. Because, if we have snow immediately with rain, it means the temps have fallen precipitously and water on the street overpasses freezes making for "black ice." Then when it snows, that ice is covered over. There may not be ice on the roads, BUT THERE IS ICE ON THE OVERPASSES. And many people from out of state have not a clue as to how to drive on black ice. Consequently, they see that there is no "ice" on the roads, they start driving like bats out of hell, hit the black ice and we have a major wreck. Until and unless you have ever dealt with black ice, you better be happy that schools are more concerned with children's lives than what people in other countries think.
Depends on how well the area is equiped to deal with it. In NY it's up to the school district. What would close a school on Long Island would generally not be severe enough close one in Buffalo.
I'm in the North of the UK and my school sent us home once because of "extremely heavy rain" though to be fair, it did cause floods. But at the time no one realised it would, it was just torrential downpour.
Depends on where the school is, here in Atlanta if there's snowflakes school's out
Why Invest in snowplows for the town snow, which ruin your fuel efficiency and in crease greenhouse gasses, when you can take a few days off every once in a while to enjoy a snow day?
If you live in a place that gets a lot of snow, it’s worth the money to get snow tires and for a town to invest in snowplows. If it rarely snows, that kind of investment doesn’t make sense. Snow tires cause your gas mileage to go down and the green house gasses to go up. Studded tires rip up the roads. It just makes more sense to shut things down for a few days every so often.
IKR in NYC we had a blizzard we only got delayed, now i live in VA and even if theres a cm of snow predicted and we get closed
Yeah, even in my cold state, we get a half inch of snow, you can’t inhale without death, dunno why America does this, but I’m not complaining
How many snow days you have also depends on the size of your school's county (size not population). If students are being bussed in from an hour a way a foot of snow and ice on the roads can make for a logistics nightmare. It just depends how slippery the roads are and if the school feels the students can get in safely without a car or bus accident.
I'm pretty sure there's school in the USA that don't close when it snows (up to a point), and plenty of schools in other countries around the world that do... all depending of how common snow is in that area. I think "how common is snow" is the most important factor here. Here in Germany a meter of snow would close plenty of schools, in many areas at least... we do get snow but usually not that much, so most places don't have the infrastructure to deal with that amount.
Point One: LOLOLOLOLOL. Cancel school for weather? Twice in my life, and one was a blizzard still ranked 3d worst to hit the region ever in recorded history. Point Two: I now live in the US South, and they have ZERO ROAD MAINTENANCE FOR SNOW. Going out is death.
Because we put all our budget into our announcements and lockers
Yes, teachers want you in class to learn, not loitering in the bathroom.
yep...at least in the suburbs because most of us start driving at 16
To be very honest, I'm English and I usually do page count rather than word count
So we aren't "distracted". Even rooms with windows usually had the blinds closed.
Not really. We have nearby schools we compete against in sports, but any rivalry is very light-hearted.
Candy was usually a very tiny part, if it was there at all. But it was the most exciting part!
I'm European and I read each one of these facts thinking "wait... they do *what*??!"
im american and reading these were like: wait other schools dont do that. its pretty cool to read this post and see other people's perspectives
Load More Replies...I have no idea what anyone does outside exactly three countries, one of them US, and I think it's a case of "whatever is unfamiliar is weird" here. BTW, clubs at US schools were a great way to pad your CV to get into college/uni, and to not go home to shi**y circumstances. So I'm for the clubs. That 7 AM thing, eh, I grew up in farm country. We were up anyway!
Some of the questions were odd even to me in the UK. In most instances, in many countries, we all have various versions of similar things. Pools in some schools, water fountains in some, after school activities are common place (but not called clubs), ditto lockers. The only thing that stuck out for me was the time of day lessons started and that has pros and cons. Younger children are (usually) naturally earlier risers but there are studies that show older children benefit from later starts. I like hearing how other countries do things but I'd really like another country to take a turn. Bored Panda - why not take the focus OFF the US, just for a moment, and pick countries that are less known and maybe we can share info from them?
Load More Replies...but how is having a parking lot wierd ??????????????????
Load More Replies...Jeezzz relax!! Just because things are done differently here doesn't necessarily mean it's weird. I had the opportunity to go to schoo in different countries because of the nature of my parents work. I can tell you with great assurance that every one had their own way of doing things and that's all okay.
A lot of the questions are "do American schools ___?". Which is a fair question... since these people's perception of American schools is from TV. Take cheerleaders for example. Do all American schools have cheerleaders? Or is it just a few of them, but cheerleaders make a good character for a TV show or a movie, so they get over-represented. Same with cafeterias, maybe only like 30% of schools have one, but since it makes such a convenient set, 100% of schools on TV have one.
Load More Replies...One trend I'm noticing, which is a frequent thing on 'People in the U.S. *insert here*' is that a lot of people posting don't seem to understand just how BIG the U.S. is. Cars are a culture here but of necessity. Public transportation may work in major cities but we have vast areas where you need a car. There is so much diversity in even what is available. I went to a K-12 school once where there were 22 of us my freshman class and we were one of the largest classes they'd had in years, and I've been to a school where my graduating class was over 2,000 people. Both those schools were in the same State just opposite ends of it. Canada gets it, but still, it's something people keep forgetting.
Australia - nearly the same size as the USA and public transport does work for students - dedicated school buses.One school I taught at (P-12) had the first student picked up before 7:30 and dropped off by around 5 - a long day if you're 5! All except three students came by bus (those three lived next to the school and were always late!) Our catchment area was well over a thousand square kilometres. In suburban areas where, especially in primary school (P-6) most parents will drop off and pick up, traffic is horrendous at those times and far more dangerous. Walking, riding or public transport is far safer for everyone.
Load More Replies...im not from the States but think this is super silly. Ofcourse Sweden doesnt cancel school when it snows, pretty sure they wont in Alaska either, pretty sure not only schools close, but all hell breaks lose if it will ever snow on Hawaii.... :-D
You can say that again. If you are FORCED to pledge allegiance, then are you really "free"?
Load More Replies...I live in Canada... we do some of these. Some of these just seem... plain weird...
I don't live in the USA, but I would wager that most of the people here aren't comparing "US schools vs other schools in the world" so much as "US schools vs THE SCHOOLS IN MY OWN COUNTRY because actually I have no goddamn clue what schools in other countries/continents are like". Some of the posts are true for Germany, or at least not totally unseen, and I definitely know of other countries that do some things in schools differently than we do... different countries are different, who'd have thought.
Here's one that they didn't list: SROs (Student Resource Officer) at high schools. We had a police officer assigned to my high school, hypothetically to help students out. In reality, he harrassed some students and was basically useless (I literally reported being threatened by another student with a gun, and he didn't take a statement, register a complaint... nothing).
This just makes me think the U.S. is the only normal country and European countries are weird.
This is weirdly,assuming that all European schools are exactly the same and we all find the exact same things about American schools strange.
I’m American and I am just now learning some of these things. My school did not have hall passes, a cafeteria, dances, vending machines, buses, and whatnot.
US here. What your school has also depends on the wealth of your school district. These can be extremely different from school to school. My elementary-Jr High was in a very well funded system and we had a lot of opportunities and resources in school. Breakfast and lunch was provided and both were awesome. In High School, I moved states and was in poorer district. The school was small, over crowded and underfunded. We had "open lunch" because not all the students could fit in the caf, so we could leave campus for lunch hour. This school was in the mountains so yes the bus took me from home 27 miles to school everyday. If it was too cold, the diesel in the bus would gel and half the kids who lived on the other side of the pass got a snow day because the bus couldn't go.
So true! If you lived in a very prosperous district, your school benefitted from that. If you own a house in that district, it's worth more because the schools are usually a cut above the rest, and most Americans want their children to go to the best school possible even if the taxes there are higher.
Load More Replies...Maybe it's just my state of mind this morning but it seemed like most of those were "look what dumbf*cks they are in America" statement and not really "you do this and it's different from us. Why?" And a lot of the questions were just strange. Lockers? Water fountains? Lunch rooms?
Well in my school in Germany we really didn't have lockers, lunchrooms or waterfountains. Everyone brought thier food and water and just ate in the hall or outside. Also I don't think the questions are meant menacingly. It's more of a "wait, it's really like that and not just a clichee we see in movies?!"
Load More Replies...I'd like to know, how often do they 'pledge their allegiance to the flag of the United States of America'?
My elementary school did it occasionally, my middle school never did it, my high school did it every single day. It just depends.
Load More Replies...The most terrifying thing is lessons from 7 a.m!! )) some other things made me jealous... but not nurse: we have medical rooms and nurses at schools and pediatrician + nurse are in kindergardens . In my childhood there were even weeks of dentist's care, not any more. But still first aid and some vaccination like against flue can be done there
I have never been or heard of a school that had classes starting at 7:00 am most have it start at 8:00 - 8:30 am.
Load More Replies...Most of these are just due to the fact that american schools are usually huuuge. I went to a big business school in Europe when I was 16 and we had almost all of the same "anomalies" listed above. When you have 5000+ students you need to organize stuff on another scale.
I did a placement in a US school about 10 years ago. I was so shocked by how old fashioned the teaching was. All the classrooms were just grim lines of individual desks facing front, and it was pretty common for kids to just sit there in total silence while a teacher lectured at the front. The schools were absolutely obsessed with quantative assessments (such as useless multiple choice tests). A lot of teachers were very poorly qualified and not really learning specialists in any modern sense. That sort of treat-everyone-the-same "talk and chalk" teaching style disappeared in the 1980s in my home country. It was a real shock.
As an Australian, our public schools don't supply lunches or cafeterias (although some country schools have them). Our students eat their lunch sitting in the yard, or if very young, in the classroom before being allowed out to play. I did work in a private school where staff had a room to eat lunch and had soup supplied if wanted. Swimming pools? Only in private or similar schools. Clubs? Voluntary and in everyone's own time (staff and students). Bathroom passes? We expect our students to wash themselves outside school time. Toilet visits? Usually up to the individual teacher, and refused when too frequent with no reason. Buses to school? I worked at one school where all except three students came to school by bus. The furthest boarded the bus at 7:30 and got home around 4:45 - a long day for a 5 y.o. in Prep. Many students in suburban schools are driven by their (usually) mother - resulting in traffic jams around 8:30 to 9 a.m. and the equivalent in the afternoon.
It all comes down to money and government. All of it. I used to have a difficult time understanding why my parents put me in private schools. Turns out public schools are, at best, just weak.
Deja vu. You guys had basically the same post (most of the same entries) last week. And two weeks ago. And a month ago.
I don’t miss those school lunches but I feel like everyone would always get super excited when it was chicken strip day. Those weren’t bad. I like the mini breakfast pizza it was tasty. But that’s about it. As a kid I absolutely loved snow days and when there was no school. Kids today won’t be able to experience it because there’s virtual learning. Anyways I’m so glad to be finished with school. I hate getting up so early.
Some of these I found odd. Is it really only America that has buses, lockers and clubs?
Canada has all three! My school even had a D&D club, before Covid.
Load More Replies...i live in nh i go to kersharge we have nurses mental health people mostly women and lots of over teachers that help the kids its a very ice school with also has many groupes and clubs and a black market for pokymon cards
yes we have a black market becuse the cards arnt allowed but we dont care right now they have in and at home learning
Load More Replies...America's number 1 export is "media". TV shows, movies, etc. People from other countries watch it, and form their ideas of what "America" is from that... considering that TV & Movies are designed to be entertaining, it is understandable that foreigners see America as being an entertaining place.
Load More Replies...oh no i have a nurse in case someone has an asthma attack oh no i have clubs were i can expand my social circle....save me lol
Load More Replies...I'm European and I read each one of these facts thinking "wait... they do *what*??!"
im american and reading these were like: wait other schools dont do that. its pretty cool to read this post and see other people's perspectives
Load More Replies...I have no idea what anyone does outside exactly three countries, one of them US, and I think it's a case of "whatever is unfamiliar is weird" here. BTW, clubs at US schools were a great way to pad your CV to get into college/uni, and to not go home to shi**y circumstances. So I'm for the clubs. That 7 AM thing, eh, I grew up in farm country. We were up anyway!
Some of the questions were odd even to me in the UK. In most instances, in many countries, we all have various versions of similar things. Pools in some schools, water fountains in some, after school activities are common place (but not called clubs), ditto lockers. The only thing that stuck out for me was the time of day lessons started and that has pros and cons. Younger children are (usually) naturally earlier risers but there are studies that show older children benefit from later starts. I like hearing how other countries do things but I'd really like another country to take a turn. Bored Panda - why not take the focus OFF the US, just for a moment, and pick countries that are less known and maybe we can share info from them?
Load More Replies...but how is having a parking lot wierd ??????????????????
Load More Replies...Jeezzz relax!! Just because things are done differently here doesn't necessarily mean it's weird. I had the opportunity to go to schoo in different countries because of the nature of my parents work. I can tell you with great assurance that every one had their own way of doing things and that's all okay.
A lot of the questions are "do American schools ___?". Which is a fair question... since these people's perception of American schools is from TV. Take cheerleaders for example. Do all American schools have cheerleaders? Or is it just a few of them, but cheerleaders make a good character for a TV show or a movie, so they get over-represented. Same with cafeterias, maybe only like 30% of schools have one, but since it makes such a convenient set, 100% of schools on TV have one.
Load More Replies...One trend I'm noticing, which is a frequent thing on 'People in the U.S. *insert here*' is that a lot of people posting don't seem to understand just how BIG the U.S. is. Cars are a culture here but of necessity. Public transportation may work in major cities but we have vast areas where you need a car. There is so much diversity in even what is available. I went to a K-12 school once where there were 22 of us my freshman class and we were one of the largest classes they'd had in years, and I've been to a school where my graduating class was over 2,000 people. Both those schools were in the same State just opposite ends of it. Canada gets it, but still, it's something people keep forgetting.
Australia - nearly the same size as the USA and public transport does work for students - dedicated school buses.One school I taught at (P-12) had the first student picked up before 7:30 and dropped off by around 5 - a long day if you're 5! All except three students came by bus (those three lived next to the school and were always late!) Our catchment area was well over a thousand square kilometres. In suburban areas where, especially in primary school (P-6) most parents will drop off and pick up, traffic is horrendous at those times and far more dangerous. Walking, riding or public transport is far safer for everyone.
Load More Replies...im not from the States but think this is super silly. Ofcourse Sweden doesnt cancel school when it snows, pretty sure they wont in Alaska either, pretty sure not only schools close, but all hell breaks lose if it will ever snow on Hawaii.... :-D
You can say that again. If you are FORCED to pledge allegiance, then are you really "free"?
Load More Replies...I live in Canada... we do some of these. Some of these just seem... plain weird...
I don't live in the USA, but I would wager that most of the people here aren't comparing "US schools vs other schools in the world" so much as "US schools vs THE SCHOOLS IN MY OWN COUNTRY because actually I have no goddamn clue what schools in other countries/continents are like". Some of the posts are true for Germany, or at least not totally unseen, and I definitely know of other countries that do some things in schools differently than we do... different countries are different, who'd have thought.
Here's one that they didn't list: SROs (Student Resource Officer) at high schools. We had a police officer assigned to my high school, hypothetically to help students out. In reality, he harrassed some students and was basically useless (I literally reported being threatened by another student with a gun, and he didn't take a statement, register a complaint... nothing).
This just makes me think the U.S. is the only normal country and European countries are weird.
This is weirdly,assuming that all European schools are exactly the same and we all find the exact same things about American schools strange.
I’m American and I am just now learning some of these things. My school did not have hall passes, a cafeteria, dances, vending machines, buses, and whatnot.
US here. What your school has also depends on the wealth of your school district. These can be extremely different from school to school. My elementary-Jr High was in a very well funded system and we had a lot of opportunities and resources in school. Breakfast and lunch was provided and both were awesome. In High School, I moved states and was in poorer district. The school was small, over crowded and underfunded. We had "open lunch" because not all the students could fit in the caf, so we could leave campus for lunch hour. This school was in the mountains so yes the bus took me from home 27 miles to school everyday. If it was too cold, the diesel in the bus would gel and half the kids who lived on the other side of the pass got a snow day because the bus couldn't go.
So true! If you lived in a very prosperous district, your school benefitted from that. If you own a house in that district, it's worth more because the schools are usually a cut above the rest, and most Americans want their children to go to the best school possible even if the taxes there are higher.
Load More Replies...Maybe it's just my state of mind this morning but it seemed like most of those were "look what dumbf*cks they are in America" statement and not really "you do this and it's different from us. Why?" And a lot of the questions were just strange. Lockers? Water fountains? Lunch rooms?
Well in my school in Germany we really didn't have lockers, lunchrooms or waterfountains. Everyone brought thier food and water and just ate in the hall or outside. Also I don't think the questions are meant menacingly. It's more of a "wait, it's really like that and not just a clichee we see in movies?!"
Load More Replies...I'd like to know, how often do they 'pledge their allegiance to the flag of the United States of America'?
My elementary school did it occasionally, my middle school never did it, my high school did it every single day. It just depends.
Load More Replies...The most terrifying thing is lessons from 7 a.m!! )) some other things made me jealous... but not nurse: we have medical rooms and nurses at schools and pediatrician + nurse are in kindergardens . In my childhood there were even weeks of dentist's care, not any more. But still first aid and some vaccination like against flue can be done there
I have never been or heard of a school that had classes starting at 7:00 am most have it start at 8:00 - 8:30 am.
Load More Replies...Most of these are just due to the fact that american schools are usually huuuge. I went to a big business school in Europe when I was 16 and we had almost all of the same "anomalies" listed above. When you have 5000+ students you need to organize stuff on another scale.
I did a placement in a US school about 10 years ago. I was so shocked by how old fashioned the teaching was. All the classrooms were just grim lines of individual desks facing front, and it was pretty common for kids to just sit there in total silence while a teacher lectured at the front. The schools were absolutely obsessed with quantative assessments (such as useless multiple choice tests). A lot of teachers were very poorly qualified and not really learning specialists in any modern sense. That sort of treat-everyone-the-same "talk and chalk" teaching style disappeared in the 1980s in my home country. It was a real shock.
As an Australian, our public schools don't supply lunches or cafeterias (although some country schools have them). Our students eat their lunch sitting in the yard, or if very young, in the classroom before being allowed out to play. I did work in a private school where staff had a room to eat lunch and had soup supplied if wanted. Swimming pools? Only in private or similar schools. Clubs? Voluntary and in everyone's own time (staff and students). Bathroom passes? We expect our students to wash themselves outside school time. Toilet visits? Usually up to the individual teacher, and refused when too frequent with no reason. Buses to school? I worked at one school where all except three students came to school by bus. The furthest boarded the bus at 7:30 and got home around 4:45 - a long day for a 5 y.o. in Prep. Many students in suburban schools are driven by their (usually) mother - resulting in traffic jams around 8:30 to 9 a.m. and the equivalent in the afternoon.
It all comes down to money and government. All of it. I used to have a difficult time understanding why my parents put me in private schools. Turns out public schools are, at best, just weak.
Deja vu. You guys had basically the same post (most of the same entries) last week. And two weeks ago. And a month ago.
I don’t miss those school lunches but I feel like everyone would always get super excited when it was chicken strip day. Those weren’t bad. I like the mini breakfast pizza it was tasty. But that’s about it. As a kid I absolutely loved snow days and when there was no school. Kids today won’t be able to experience it because there’s virtual learning. Anyways I’m so glad to be finished with school. I hate getting up so early.
Some of these I found odd. Is it really only America that has buses, lockers and clubs?
Canada has all three! My school even had a D&D club, before Covid.
Load More Replies...i live in nh i go to kersharge we have nurses mental health people mostly women and lots of over teachers that help the kids its a very ice school with also has many groupes and clubs and a black market for pokymon cards
yes we have a black market becuse the cards arnt allowed but we dont care right now they have in and at home learning
Load More Replies...America's number 1 export is "media". TV shows, movies, etc. People from other countries watch it, and form their ideas of what "America" is from that... considering that TV & Movies are designed to be entertaining, it is understandable that foreigners see America as being an entertaining place.
Load More Replies...oh no i have a nurse in case someone has an asthma attack oh no i have clubs were i can expand my social circle....save me lol
Load More Replies...