American mom living in Barcelona shares her ‘culture shock’ about her child’s school

How does the school experience differ for kids around the world? One American mom is pulling back the curtain a little bit on TikTok, where her recent video went viral. She currently lives in Barcelona, Spain, and made the video to share some of the things that are most different about her young daughter’s school there, compared to the States.

“Some school culture shocks that I’m still yet to get over so many years later, being an American mom in Barcelona,” mom Alexis Charbeneau said at the start of the video, which is now making the rounds online.

@complexis Some cultire shocks about school that still shock. #AmericanMominBarcelona #BarcelonaMom ♬ original sound – Alexis Charbeneau

“Number one: The long days,” she continued. “The days are so long. My daughter leaves on her bus at 8:02 in the morning and gets back at 5:15. Yesterday she had an extracurriculare — an extracurricular activity—she didn’t get home until 7:45. The class didn’t get out until 7 o’clock. 8 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. is wild for a 6-year-old.”

While that is a pretty long day, it’s normal for kids to go to school for the full day in most parts of the world—and it’s pretty convenient, especially for working parents. And speaking of convenience for working parents, we have Charbeneau’s second point.

“Next, the grandmothers are so involved,” she said. “To an American it’s like, genuinely mind-blowing. The line pickup is more than half abuelitas.”

Honestly, we love this. Having more family involved in a child’s life is never a bad thing.

The third thing Charbeneau noted was the extracurricular activities she had mentioned earlier in the video, and when they take place.

“They do them sometimes during the lunch break. There’s a music class after lunch during the recess, so like, you don’t have to come pick your kid up [after school],” she explained. “They can still go home on the bus or however they go home, because they’re doing it during the school day.”

Again, this is so convenient for parents. We’re sensing a theme here, and that theme is that American schools could take note of a lot of this.

The last thing she points out is this: “Going home for lunch is a concept we don’t know in the U.S., and it doesn’t happen as much in the city. It happens much more in not cities, because to commute from place to place and people taking off work to get home for lunch just doesn’t happen so much, but it is an option, and many people do it. They pick their kids up for two hours and then return back to school.”

This is another concept we could definitely get on board with. Having a break in the middle of the school day, and getting some quality time with family? Sign us up.

In the comments, other expat parents shared their own culture shocks, and they were just as fascinating.

“What made my eyes wide is how physically affectionate the teachers and staff are with the kids. USA teachers would never hug, kiss a kid on the cheek etc.,” one commenter shared.

Another wrote, “Wait until exams start. Passes required every year or stay back a year, which loads of people do. Have to leave their friends behind.”

It sounds like many of us would experience a little bit of culture shock in a new country’s school system!