Dealing With Social Loafing
When I was in 6th grade, way back in the 1980s, an odd educational fad swept into the rural school district where I lived. Suddenly we found ourselves being put into groups on a daily basis for our various subjects. Whether it was science, history, English, or social studies, we were told to find groups or to count off and form groups around numbers, then do whatever assignment there was. I hated it. Always there was at least one who was highly motivated and took charge, one or two who helped with whatever the leader(s) said was needed, and a slacker or two. I hated being the primary one pushing to get things done, and I also despised being the lazy member. You would think that a person could simply decide not to be lazy, but apparently that's not how it works. In some groups I simply got the feeling that everyone else had a job to do and there was no place for me, and that my contribution wouldn't mean anything. Still, I felt guilty every time it happened. This dynamic plays