My son was entering Grade 1. He was a bit nervous because he knew his best friend would not be in his new class. I explained to him that even though his best friend would not be in his class, he would still have some of his old classmates.
On the first day of school when the class list was posted, I was shocked! My son had zero former classmates in his class. None. Not one.
How could this happen?
I asked my friend who works with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. She explained, "Many largely populated schools often shuffle (重组) the kids around each year to encourage new friendships."
If schools are actively trying to place two best friends in different classes simply to shake things up, I think it is a blunder.
I was lucky enough to attend the same primary school all the way through. It was a small class and our group of students moved through each grade together. We felt like brothers and sisters. It was wonderful.
While it may be good to shake things up a bit in the older grades, it seems almost cruel (残忍的) to separate good friends in the younger grades without good cause.
One mom named Karen says that her son is always starting a new grade without any close friends. At first, she thought it was a good idea. Then she realized one thing—her son does not have a "best friend", which makes her pretty worried. In fact, she thinks that he does not have any close friends because his classmates are always changing.
Part of a school's responsibility is to provide a safe and comfortable space for children to learn and grow. If that environment is always changing—causing terrible results—perhaps it is time to rethink this practice.
