<p>Even under the most charitable interpretation of what the principal is trying to do with the policy, I think assigned seating is probably counterproductive. When I was in middle school (the first time that we weren’t all sitting at a few long tables), my group of friends were known as the “nice” table that would invite the social outcasts to sit with us. Had those students been left to the mercies of assigned seating, they could very well have wound up with a crowed who would at worst have bullied and at best ignored them.</p>
<p>Granted, you can’t always rely on kids to take that initiative on their own, but I think a combination of some good hearted students and gentle prodding from teachers, who should be in a position to identify the nice kids who might be amenable to including an unpopular student works much better than an assigned seating policy, which is likely to make people more, rather than less, miserable.</p>