In their daily lives, children spend a large amount of time at school in the company of peers
(Dijkstra & Veenstra, 2011; Steinberg, 2013). Outside of the classroom, they can decide for themselves
who to hang out with and sit next to. In class, however, desks are arranged in a certain way and students
are assigned to seats by their teacher. Various types of arrangements are used—groups, rows, Ushaped
seating, and even an open-plan classroom with undivided flexible arrangements (Wannarka &
Ruhl, 2008). Regardless of type, seating arrangements determine students’ proximity to each other.
When teachers place children at specific positions in the classroom, they determine who children
sit next to, who children are frequently exposed to, and who children interact with the most. Given
the impact of exposure and interpersonal contact, researchers have argued that proximity to peers
and teachers in the classroom should be studied in relationship to students’ social functioning
(MacAulay, 2006; Wannarka & Ruhl, 2008).