Finding happiness in school
Children should be happy at school.
Well, maybe that’s obvious. But I think it bears repeating when so much of the emphasis at school tends to land on learning. But schools do a lot more than just teach students information. Think about it - children spend the majority of their day at school with their teachers and peers. They spend more time at school than they do almost anywhere else.
In the world of classical education, we understand that a school is more than just a dispenser of information — it’s a community for its students. It’s a place where they learn what it means to live well and live well with others. Part of living well within a community means being able to find and take responsibility for your own happiness.
Children are still learning - so we do a lot to help them with this, which is what we mean when we talk about school “culture.” But there are a lot of ways for students to get started on their own
The first is to say hello.
Say hello to friends, to teachers, to the office staff. Say hello to the cleaning crew, the vice principal, or a younger student walking down the hallway.
People, and young people in particular, tend to resist this because they’ve convinced themselves that they’re not sociable, interesting, or friendly enough to do it. But people are happier when they talk with one another and when they believe that they are good enough to talk to one another.
At school, we share the same place and ideas. There’s enough of a common experience there for, at the very least, a simple hello.
When children consider who they want to be, it’s the kind of person whom they admire — the kind of person who treats others warmly and makes others laugh — who, without fail, smiles and gives a warm greeting at the start of the day. Children are not only proud to call these types their friends; they want, however secretly, to be like them, because it feels good to bear this kind of warmth toward others. Saying hello is a simple, effective start.
“Wouldn’t we all rather go to a school where students look each other in the eye and inquire into the wellbeing of their teachers? Where the seniors know the freshmen’s names? “
Consider the alternative. Imagine walking the halls of a school where eyes are always on the floor and faces are frozen into a scowl. Imagine everyone with their nose in a phone, almost deliberately uninterested in where they are going or who they will see along the way. I can’t imagine anything more boring. I also can’t imagine many scenarios in which the people involved are less happy.
Wouldn’t we all rather go to a school where students look each other in the eye and inquire into the wellbeing of their teachers? Where the seniors know the freshmen’s names? Where students catch up with one another — and not with Instagram — while they’re in the hallway?
It all starts with a greeting. Greetings turn cold rooms warm. The simple gesture of saying “hello” helps students to become the kind of people they want to be. It helps them connect with their community and takes them outside themselves, their own head, and the many worries that live there. At a classical school, we understand this. And we understand that we have a duty to teach it to your children, because — in some small way — their happiness depends on it.
You’ll never see us start our day without a warm “hello.”
