School requires students to SMILE

[PollyannaMom]

I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE MIND NUMBINGLY BORED OR IF YOU'RE GRANNY JUST DIED MISTER, YOU WILL SMILE AND YOU WILL LIKE IT!!!!

We must all look like happy campers. Big Brother is watching.

Exactly.

A rule like that is ridiculous!

 

[disney junky]

I know teachers in this district and the parties involved. The media has exaggerated this and it has now gone viral. There is no smile policy.

 

[Hikergirl]

I know teachers in this district and the parties involved. The media has exaggerated this and it has now gone viral. There is no smile policy.

Oh no way the media would ever do such a thing

 

[sam_gordon]

I couldn't get the first link to work. The second link started with a parent talking about the smiling policy then morphing into an unrelated bullying incident? Something is not right.

Ok. I read the first one and it was the same. According to one parent/child in a family who had a beef with the school about a previous bullying incident. How is this news? There were no confirmations from anyone else.

+1

I noticed that myself. It's amazing people aren't willing to think for themselves and accept what's handed to them, especially when it doesn't "seem right". It's not just the media, it's FB, Instagram, message boards, etc.

 

[scoutie]

When I first read this article on Yahoo, the stock photo was of kids in the Phillipines playing with bubbles. I question this story. As a teacher in the public schools, I just don't see this happening.

 

[Antaniasmom]

Same here. Fake smiles annoy me to death. Sometimes my face looks like I'm really upset when I'm actually just thinking. I try to always be kind but I'm not super smiley.

Same!!! At work I was told by multiple people that I look angry but it's my concentration face...I get it from my Dad, can't help it...

 

[sam_gordon]

Same!!! At work I was told by multiple people that I look angry but it's my concentration face...I get it from my Dad, can't help it...

RBF

 

[Antaniasmom]

Yes ..my previous post lol

 

[Antaniasmom]

RBF

I'm not a fake person, I would not have lasted at that school either...besides I always have RBF or to be nice resting witch face....unless I'm at Disney, then I have a permanent smile, it's amazing

Yes..lol my previous post.. I hate that I have RBF

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Same here. Fake smiles annoy me to death. Sometimes my face looks like I'm really upset when I'm actually just thinking. I try to always be kind but I'm not super smiley.

Never trust someone that smiles too much.

 

[sailorstitch]

I know teachers in this district and the parties involved. The media has exaggerated this and it has now gone viral. There is no smile policy.

Well, that's good. But what's the real story that started this whole thing?

 

[Kitty 34]

I was teased and called Bucky a lot in school before I got braces. I remember never smiling because I didn't want to bring my buck teeth to other kids attention so that school "rule" would have been a nightmare for me.

 

[disney junky]

Well, that's good. But what's the real story that started this whole thing?

Apparently, the administrator, someone fairly young with elementary and middle school experience, has on occasion referred students to their guidance counselors based on their sad demeanor. One parents and a couple of "unnamed teachers" have "confirmed" this to the local newspaper.

In the past two years this district has gone through a lot of changes. It's a small relatively rural district, and in PA, the school boards are elected and the complexion of this board has changed as well. As with a lot of change in a short amount of time, and in a small community with a local call-in radio program and one newspaper looking for stories, this particular issue has made the best headline.

There is no policy regarding smiling in the halls.

 

[sailorstitch]

Apparently, the administrator, someone fairly young with elementary and middle school experience, has on occasion referred students to their guidance counselors based on their sad demeanor. One parents and a couple of "unnamed teachers" have "confirmed" this to the local newspaper.

In the past two years this district has gone through a lot of changes. It's a small relatively rural district, and in PA, the school boards are elected and the complexion of this board has changed as well. As with a lot of change in a short amount of time, and in a small community with a local call-in radio program and one newspaper looking for stories, this particular issue has made the best headline.

There is no policy regarding smiling in the halls.

Thank you for clarifying. Silly me thought sources like USA Today and Newsweek would be reliable.

 

[disney junky]

http://lebanondailynews.pa.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=259f36c45

 

[ronandannette]

Apparently, the administrator, someone fairly young with elementary and middle school experience, has on occasion referred students to their guidance counselors based on their sad demeanor. One parents and a couple of "unnamed teachers" have "confirmed" this to the local newspaper.

In the past two years this district has gone through a lot of changes. It's a small relatively rural district, and in PA, the school boards are elected and the complexion of this board has changed as well. As with a lot of change in a short amount of time, and in a small community with a local call-in radio program and one newspaper looking for stories, this particular issue has made the best headline.

There is no policy regarding smiling in the halls.

If that's actually the case, I think the school is then more to be commended than criticized. It's a positive thing, to me, if they're paying close enough attention to the kids that they notice when one seems unusually burdened by something. I'd have no problem whatsoever with a trusted adult coming alongside my child to try and make sure they were OK. A lot, and I mean a TON of young people today are on the edge of despair and are left feeling invisible and alone.

 

[GreatLakes]

Our garbage media sensationalizing a non-story to get clicks? You don't say. That is the norm now a days.

I think taking a closer look at kids that appear sad or depressed is a good thing and exactly what every employee in a school should be doing.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Our garbage media sensationalizing a non-story to get clicks? You don't say. That is the norm now a days.

I think taking a closer look at kids that appear sad or depressed is a good thing and exactly what every employee in a school should be doing.

You don't have to be sad or depressed to not smile. Do you smile every second of every day? Are you smiling right now while you are reading this reply? Did you smile while typing your post?

 

[GreatLakes]

You don't have to be sad or depressed to not smile. Do you smile every second of every day? Are you smiling right now while you are reading this reply? Did you smile while typing your post?

"Sad demeanor" is more than not smiling 100% of the time. Someone not smiling and either never appearing happy or appearing depressed is something that should be looked more deeply into. That is what is supposed to reported to administration, not a kid that isn't smiling at a particular moment as originally reported.