Student Frustration, Packets, and the Meme That Says It All

Some memes are just jokes. Others are a wake-up call. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the viral Friggin’ Packet Yo meme and what it reveals about student frustration with passive learning. This episode dives into why the meme has stood the test of time, how memes serve as a raw and unfiltered form of student feedback, and what school leaders can learn from them. Instead of dismissing student frustration, how can schools create classrooms where engagement is the norm—not the exception?

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Transcript

There’s a reason some memes stick around for years while others fade in a matter of days. The ones that last aren’t just funny—they strike a chord or hit a nerve. They tap into something people have felt but maybe haven’t said out loud. And in the world of education, few memes have done that as effectively as Friggin’ Packet Yo.  Let me repeat the topic of today’s episode: Friggin’. Packet. Yo.

Okay, if you haven’t seen the clip, it’s from 2013, and it features a high school student, Jeff Bliss, who had enough. He gets up in the middle of class and tells his teacher—frustrated but not disrespectful—that just handing out packets isn’t teaching. That students need engagement, interaction, a reason to care. His words, his tone, the way he spoke from the gut—it resonated. And it still does. 

The meme has had a resurgence this year, popping up on TikTok and Instagram, because a whole new generation of students is watching and saying, “Yeah, exactly.”

It’s easy to dismiss moments like this as just another internet thing, but school leaders would be wise to pay attention. When something like this goes viral, it’s a signal. It’s telling us something about the student experience, and that’s something we should never ignore.

Jeff Bliss wasn’t railing against worksheets. He was railing against disengagement. And that’s the part school leaders should focus on. Kids don’t resent hard work. They resent feeling like school is something being done to them rather than something they’re an active part of. And when students feel disconnected, they check out. They’ll do the minimum or nothing at all, not because they don’t care, but because they don’t see the point.

Think about the classrooms where students are most engaged. It’s not about whether there’s a packet or not. It’s about the energy in the room. Is there a conversation happening? Do students feel like their voices matter? Are they being challenged in a way that makes them think, rather than just fill in blanks? Because that’s what students want. And when they don’t get it, well, that frustration spills over. Sometimes in a viral rant. Sometimes in quiet disengagement that’s even harder to notice.

Now, let’s step back and talk about memes in general. Because it’s not just this one. Students use memes all the time to express how they feel about school. Some are just for laughs, but the ones that spread the fastest—the ones that stick—are often telling us something real. And if we’re paying attention, they can be one of the most honest forms of feedback we get.

Traditional student surveys are fine, but students don’t always answer them honestly. They might say what they think administrators want to hear. But the memes they share with their friends? The ones that blow up on social media? Those are the unfiltered versions of student experience. They tell us what’s frustrating, what’s boring, what’s inspiring, what’s making them roll their eyes.

School leaders who ignore this cultural language miss out on a huge opportunity. Because memes don’t just capture emotions—they spread them. When students see others feeling the same way they do, it reinforces those emotions. If the dominant memes about school are about boredom, frustration, or feeling unseen, that should be a wake-up call. If students are creating and sharing memes about being engaged, excited, or motivated, that’s a sign something’s working.

So what do we do with this information? First, we take it seriously. Not in a heavy-handed, “let’s eliminate all the memes” kind of way, but by recognizing that they offer real insight. If students are complaining about disengagement, leadership should be asking: where are we losing them? If they’re mocking a school policy, is it because the policy is actually ineffective or outdated? And most importantly, are we creating the kind of learning environments where a student like Jeff wouldn’t have to stand up and call out a teacher in frustration—where students feel heard before they reach their breaking point?

The Friggin’ Packet meme isn’t going anywhere, and that’s the point. It’s still relevant because the problem it highlights is still real. But it doesn’t have to be. School leaders have a choice—to see these viral moments as just internet noise, or to take them seriously as windows into student experience. Because the best schools, the best leaders, the best educators—are the ones who are paying attention.