Safety is another concern. Students who experience crisis will grab anything in their vicinity that can be used to express their frustration, which typically involves throwing chairs. I’ve even had a student try to throw a desk at me (it was a bit too overladen with workbooks to go very far). Hence why some schools still feature the seemingly medieval feature of bolted down desks.
So what is the ideal seating for a student? Both ergonomics and safety should be the primary considerations. But whatever designers come up with, the next concern is, of course, the pricing. As Megan Garber notes in her Mashable article:
Ray [the name of the chair mentioned in the article], in its simple, plastic, IKEA-esque glory, is currently gaining traction where you’d expect it to: Scandinavia. And also Germany. And also the U.K., where Dennehy’s company, Perch, offers a mid-range version of the chair that’s cheaper than the original.
So could Ray make its way into U.S. classrooms? It’s hard to see already cash-strapped administrators making the investment — though with the new emphasis on making schools healthier places for kids, the idea of ergonomic classrooms could gain more traction now than it might have a few years ago.
Ah yes. Of course, when we get to the US, pricing becomes THE primary concern.
What sort of seating do you believe public schools should offer our children?
Thanks so much for sharing this. I read that same article as well and wondered what kind of classroom chairs I should be getting for the school I work at. I think safety and comfort are the most important quality when it comes to these kinds of chairs.
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Cool, glad you found it useful. Good luck selecting chairs! Maybe yoga balls might be a good replacement?
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