Does your school have a “No One Eats Lunch Alone” club?

Honestly, I'd support something like that over rules like kids not being able to say no to others at school dances.

While football coach at the University of Illinois, Lou Tepper did not enjoy great success on the field, but to his credit he worked hard to change the team's culture...which he said had become stratified and "tribal"...with black inner city kids and white rich kids on extreme ends of the spectrum and middle class whites and blacks caught in the middle.

Even within the racial groupings, there were sub cliques between offensive and defensive players....between smaller fast players and bigger stronger ones...

Tepper instituted a program where players would be assigned tables at meals and in study hall on a rotating basis in small groups (I believe he limited each table to 6 players). The rotation ensured that every player would sit with all his other teammates at one time or another through the season.

I don't recall the name, but I remember a former Illini player saying he thought it was a stupid rule while he was in college, but when he reached the NFL and saw how stratified (often by race) even grown professionals could be, he understood the value... he said he made it a point to dine with different players and invite younger players to do the same.

I think if something like this were done in schools, there would also have to be a no-phone, no-texting policy during lunchtime....and sadly, that would probably be met with greater resistance than assigned seating rules.

I graduated in 1970.