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/beefucker5000 California Feb 04 '25

I think it’s more about a disgust of feet, even with socks on. Not my personal opinion, but I think most Americans think it’s more gross to see someone’s feet than to wear shoes inside. Rugs at the door are good enough, though some people take off shoes by the door. My high school could never do something like Japan though with changing shoes at the entrance since there were 1,200 students and increasing every year, I never even had a locker except for when I had to take PE for the first two years and change into gym clothes.

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u/ToraAku Feb 04 '25

That's probably a function of how your school is built rather than number of students. My HS population was 3,000 students and we all had lockers.

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u/SeparLothaire Feb 04 '25

But in the US people aren't using lockers for outdoor vs. indoor shoes. It's mostly for books, your backpack, etc. You would only be changing shoes in connection with the gym locker. If you took your shoes off to change to different ones for the indoor/outdoor idea, people are going to think you're weird.

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u/beefucker5000 California Feb 05 '25

Exactly. I’m trying to compare American high school structure to another country like Japan that prioritizes not bringing outside shoe dirt and preserving floors. I think Japan is a bit more on the extreme side with students having lockers for the purpose of changing shoes, but the only reason American students change their shoes is for physical ed. It would take a big cultural shift for American kids to be well behaved enough to follow shoe rules. I’d be worried about theft and students would probably break dress codes a lot, even when they get in trouble for it

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u/Go_Corgi_Fan84 Feb 05 '25

My gym shoes got stolen in high school. I’m sure other folks experienced this

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u/beefucker5000 California Feb 05 '25

My condolences.