School-wide Attempt at Bettering Relationships

Social+Contract+from+Journalism+Classroom+

Social Contract from Journalism Classroom

Nadia Turley, Staff Writer

A new implementation at MHS receives mixed responses from students and administration. It was suggested at the beginning of the year that all teachers do social contracts with all of their classes, as well as greet every student by shaking their hands in the morning with the hope that teachers will get to know the students on a more personal level.

“My teachers do the social contracts, and I think they are a waste of time. It’s just common knowledge to respect the people around you in class. None of my teachers really shake my hand, but they did at my last school and I didn’t like it. Especially when I was sick, it’s just a fast way to spread germs.” said Hannah Wilson, sophomore.

At the beginning of the year, teachers were good about standing outside their door and shaking hands, or doing a greeting of some sort. Now, they occasionally will stand outside, but usually just sit at their desk until the class fills up. This actually isn’t a problem for a lot of kids, as many of them don’t like shaking hands. Teachers were also instructed to do social contracts with all of their classes. This has also received various responses from the students. Maleiah Ewert, sophomore, said “Some of my teachers did social contracts. It can be effective if the students actually care. Otherwise it’s just a waste of time and serves no purpose.”

The reason teachers were instructed to do social contracts is so that the students feel like the classrooms are a safe space, and therefore can learn better. It was also supposed to help reduce bullying as it should help everyone get to know each other and get along better. Teachers were also instructed to shake their students hands and greet them everyday so that the students felt like they could trust their teachers, and have more of a connection. The reasoning behind these implementations are good, but are they working? The responses are split. Freshman Analicia Rocha said “It’s all just weird. They act like they have to be involved with their students, and do it because they were told to, not because they actually want to.” While some students have responses such as that, others have responses like junior Maria Cecenas: “My teachers don’t really shake hands, and if they did it wouldn’t really bother me, I just think it’s the respectful thing to do. Most of my teachers did the social contracts, and it doesn’t really bother me either. I don’t really care either way.” It is arguable that this implementation isn’t actually benefiting anyone, but it still is recommended that teachers do so.

A senior here at MHS believes “It was made to help develop a more respectful environment, but it gets very repetitive when every class is doing it. It makes kids not care as much. Based on some of the recent events happening at MHS, I don’t think it is very effective.”

There’s a lot of varied responses from everyone. Some like it and believe it serves its purpose, others think it’s a waste of time, others are indifferent. Are there other ways to solve this problem? Does there even a problem, and is it even that big of a deal? That’s for you to decide, but the implementation still stands strong.