Teachers Need to Stop Using Icebreakers

The start of the school year is always an exciting or nerve-racking time. Some students can’t wait to start learning, while others can’t wait to go home. However, the feeling for every student is universal when they hear their teachers utter the word “icebreakers.” 

Icebreakers are interactive games that ask the players about their hobbies, interests, and other questions that reveal their personalities. They’re mostly used in schools and are a way for students to get to know each other by sharing things about themselves and breaking the ice. Oftentimes, teachers encourage the students to walk around the classroom to meet different people. Not only does this help people familiarize themselves and feel comfortable with others around them, but it could also help them become fast friends. 

This all sounds like a great idea, except nobody is willing to become friends with somebody just because they have the same favorite color, like the same show, or any other useless topic that is asked. Instead, most students will walk over to the people that they already know or awkwardly stand in a corner until the teacher tells them that it's finally over.

Oftentimes, students tend to not take icebreakers seriously because of the questions that are being asked. Most of the time the questions asked feel childish or lame to the students playing them. Sure, kids in elementary school might have a blast asking each other what their favorite color is, but high schoolers couldn’t care less about these topics. 

Even if students took icebreakers seriously, the topics asked aren’t enough to reveal what each student is actually like. It’s almost like teachers expect students to instantly become best friends because they have similar hobbies, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, friendships are built upon shared experiences that will naturally occur in the classroom if given the chance. 

Not only are icebreakers incredibly boring and useless but they can also be extremely stressful for some students. Students who are introverted or have social anxiety often struggle to talk to a single stranger, so forcing them to walk around the room and make small talk with 30 random people can feel like torture. These students then have to repeat this task five more times, before they can start learning. There can also be things that students feel uncomfortable sharing with the rest of the class, but feel pressured to, leading to embarrassing moments for them. 

Instead of doing anything meaningful, the first two days of school are wasted by implementing these “fun” activities. Oftentimes, icebreakers are such a waste of time, that students will ask themselves why they even bothered to show up to school.

However, there are multiple solutions that teachers could use to engage their students. A method teachers already use is offering a prize, such as candy, to people who win or at least participate in icebreaker activities. However, many students still tend to mess around during these games even when prizes are at stake. 

Another method could be to add more enticing and intriguing questions. As mentioned previously, the questions can seem incredibly juvenile to high school students, but if teachers were to create more interesting questions they will most likely see more participation. Teachers should also be mindful not to include certain questions that might seem embarrassing to some students. 

However, the best solution to this icebreaker problem would be the outright removal of icebreakers. Schools could instead implement an all-class or minimum day, where the focus would be on the teachers, the curriculum they will teach, and them as a person. Creating a school environment where students could feel comfortable around the teachers, and eventually their fellow students. Having a shortened day will also ease the transition from summer break to school since students haven’t adjusted to the six-hour school days yet.