In many schools today, assemblies have gone from hyped up, fun, and highly attended events, to seen as an optional event. What used to be seen as mandatory, as well looked forward to, are now used for late arrivals, longer lunches, and fill the school with empty hallways. A growing culture of skipping assemblies is upon us, and it shows a lot about school life.

People often dismiss assemblies due to students feeling that they are boring, pointless, and easy to ditch. Assemblies are one of the few school activities where the entire school population comes together to participate in fun games, music, and hear announcements. Assemblies remind everyone they’re part of something larger than just their classes, and when students skip them, a little bit of knowledge and community within the school goes away.

The habit of skipping assemblies also goes along with following the leader, where people opt out of anything that isn’t perfect and is slightly inconvenient. In a world where you can be your own person and do what you want, students tend to go along with what’s cool or popular. 

Many students’ attention spans have shrunk due to short form social media content, so if an assembly doesn’t immediately entertain and spark interest, then people will walk away and leave. That’s not a school problem; it’s a technology addiction problem. 

But the blame doesn’t fall solely on students and technology. Schools aren’t dealing with the students skipping heavily, and practically everyone can do what they please. Assemblies need relevance and need to seem fun. They mostly sound boring and unengaging. When assemblies sound energetic and meaningful, then their attendance grows and becomes unforced.

Still, the solution isn’t simply to make assemblies “more fun.” It’s to restore their value. Students should learn why being together as a community matters and to show up on their own command, and restore this part of school culture. 

One way to restore value is to include student voices in planning the assemblies so it’s more relevant to all of the students. When students get to have a say in the execution of the assemblies, it gives them ownership, and most students feel more engaged and excited about the event. For example, this could involve student-led performances, games, presentations, or speeches. If these assemblies start becoming more student-influenced, then more students will start attending.

Another factor that plays a role in assembly attendance is the frequency of assemblies. If assemblies are too frequent, then they will lose their appeal because there’s just not enough important and exciting information to cover every few weeks. Not only the frequency but also the timing of assemblies is a reason for skipping. Assemblies can be long and boring, which is not fun for a student with a short attention span. To solve this problem, simply shorten assemblies and reduce their frequency. 

All of this is going into the creative energy of the student body, where schools prioritize what the students want for assemblies. Another approach that schools could take is old-school discipline. Require not only attendance but active participation by Life classes in the activities. 

Skipping assemblies may seem like kids just being anti-school, but it’s much more than that, a slow loss of one of the most historic school traditions. If we want assemblies to stay breathing, better yet grow back into the exciting thing they once were, students must start showing up, and educators need to find a way to make this happen. That means assemblies need to be spaces for student voices and ideas, where they can share meaningful things that bring interest and fun to the students’ lives.