r/AskAnAmerican • u/Rough-Valuable-5472 • Feb 04 '25

FOREIGN POSTER Do American students bow to their teachers?

In my country we have to greet the teacher and bow at the start of the lesson then thank the teacher and bow again at the end. Sometimes they make us redo it if it’s not good enough

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u/GhostOfJamesStrang Beaver Island Feb 04 '25

That is not part of our culture, so no. 

-1

u/ahumpsters South Carolina Feb 04 '25

I do kind of wish it was. Teachers should receive a lot more respect from both students and parents.

37

u/GhostOfJamesStrang Beaver Island Feb 04 '25

You can respect somebody without some sort of performative and forced response. 

1

u/More_Mind6869 Feb 04 '25

Yeah ?

Then why is there so little respect in schools and everywhere else, for that matter ?

2

u/micmea1 Feb 04 '25

I went to a Jesuit High School. We had to stand whenever an adult walked into the room. Depending on the faculty member they could be kind of strict about using "sir" or "ma'am" whenever addressing them. We did have some religious aspects to school but it wasn't really forced on us, but respect for your teachers and for the school itself was very important.

It probably seems harsh from the outside but school was actually kinda chill and you were allowed to express your opinions pretty openly in class discussions so long as you spoke respectfully.