Has the “quiet quitting” trend Hit Your School?
Why Students “Quiet Quit” and Why It’s Making Some Teachers Mad
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Over the last 12-months, millions of people have been following the trend of “quiet quitting” at work.
What is “Quiet Quitting?”
When someone “quiet quits” they are making a choice to put their personal time over the company's time. The only people this annoys are “baby boomers” who believe that your work is your identity. It’s “baby boomers” who gave up their free time to devote to work. And that’s also why they are really annoyed that younger people don’t want to do the same thing.
Why Do People Choose to “Quiet Quit?”
The answer is simple. Younger people don’t agree with “baby boomers” philosophy or vision of the world. If you’re younger than 40 years old, you got to experience life outside the office for the last 2 years.
America went remote.
And the data shows American workers were MORE productive than when they were cooped up in the office. If you’re a CEO or HR Director, you cannot hide or dismiss the productivity data, despite your “desire” to have everyone come back to the office.
More and more younger workers are being asked this question: “It’s 5 o’clock, do you want to go home or do you want to stay for this office party?”
And the answer is, most of them want to go home.
Why Are Students Deciding to “Quiet Quit?”
It should be no shock that students in K12 schools or colleges are also electing to “quiet quit” now that their older brothers and sisters are doing it at work.
What does “Quiet Quitting” Look Like in School?
People who “quiet quit” at work still get all their work done. What they skip out on are the office parties, the extra-curricular activities and the “fake” social interactions the company has created.
Quiet Quitters want to do their job, but they want their boss and their company to stay out of their personal lives and time. And that’s what students want as well.
When a student “quiet quits” they are limiting their class participation and their interactions with the teacher. A student who “quiet quits” only wants to do the class work. They do not want to talk with the teacher. They do not want a relationship with the teacher. They do not want to get involved in class discussions.
Why Does “Quiet Quitting” Upset Teachers?
It’s important to point out that not ALL teachers hate “quiet quitters.” Over the last decade there has been a growing trend inside the teacher community that students have no right to privacy.
When a student enters a classroom, the teacher is not just legally in charge, but also responsible to break down the student’s privacy walls so they can “get at the truth.”
This is just a trend, it’s not the teacher’s actual job. And not all teachers follow or believe this trend. This article is only focused on students who “quiet quit” and teachers who get upset at them.
The reason some teachers are upset is because if they believe the student has no right to privacy, then when a student chooses to stop talking to the teacher and interacting with them — they take that personally.
When a teacher reacts negatively to students who “quiet quit”, it only confirms the reasons why the student disengaged in the first place. The students no longer feel safe or comfortable in class. The last thing they want is to allow the teacher into their life. Thus, that is why they are taking the classwork and assignments and doing them the best they can without asking any questions or participating in class.
Signs of “Quiet Quitting” at School To Look Out For
If you suspect that a student is “quiet quitting” in your classroom or you’re a parent who wants to know if your child is doing this in class, here are some signs you can look out for:
- Change in Student Behavior
- Decline in Student Grades/Achievement
- Being More Focused on Outside School Activities
Change in Behavior
The type of behavioral change that you will notice is the child is less engaged in class. They complete work assignments and they hand in homework, but the overall engagement has decreased. Overall, the student is more focused on completing work than concerned about interacting with the teacher.
Decline in Student Grades/Achievement
If the teacher does not use a grading rubric, then a student who “quiet quits” will also see a decline in grades. There are two reasons for this. The first is the less obvious one, but students who don’t allow teachers into their personal lives put a target on their back. The teachers who want to break down student walls see a student who puts distance between them as the “enemy” and therefore they deserve to receive poorer grades.
In the teacher’s mind, this is how you teach compliance.
If the teacher uses a grading rubric, student grades will go down, but not as much. The reason is because a student who doesn’t ask the teacher any questions, will make mistakes on assignments that could have been avoided if they were engaged.
Being More Focused on Outside School Activities
Just like “quiet quitters” at work. Students do not want to obsess over school and teachers. They know that school work takes a couple hours to do, they want to get it done and then move on to more interesting activities.
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About the Author:
D.Scott Schwartz, M.Ed. is better known as “The School Doc” on social media. In 2017, he was recognized by the #1 ranked state for education. He is a 21st century skills expert, including Leadership, Sales and Communications. He provides consulting help to businesses and schools on a limited basis. He also writes freelance and on Medium. If you want more info, you can learn more at Leaf Academy (find the url link in bio.)
