The sound of silence

I try to pick Sara up from school in the evenings. The school lets parents and care givers proceed to an area near the school compound to wait for the kids, after the kids have sung the national anthem. The classes are then moved into groups to be brought to the different gates around the school, depending on where the students will be picked up. Everything is orderly.

But I get amused when the teacher who has the microphone in hand, would order the kids to "keep silent!". She would actually detain the class which she deems as making too much noise. And this happens almost every time I pick Sara up. I don't know of any school that can get kids to be silent all the time so the teacher's efforts may be futile, I think. Anyways, aren't normal happy kids supposed to be boisterous?

So this is something I don't get. I can understand if the teachers insist the kids walk instead of run - to avoid accidents. But to make sure the kids are quiet even after school hours? I don't think its necessary.

Anyhow, much to the teacher's dismay, once the kids leave the compound, you can hear laughing, talking. And that's the sound I prefer to hear.