“We used to line up in elementary school to get vaccinated.
The same needle was used on everyone; it was just wiped with an alcoholic cotton ball between uses.
This was in the ’60s.”
There’s no question that the education system has changed drastically over generations.
In decades prior, certain things deemed “normal” at school would send parents into a frenzy today.
Here are their mostshockingresponses:
1.
Anonymous
2.
Students would bring their rifles into school slung over their shoulders and have pockets full of ammo.
This was a decent-sized city, not a rural area."
“My school used to have children from kindergarten to high school compete against each other in sports.
Imagine a little 5-year-old against an 18-year-old in a sprint.
It was wild.”
HorseyTwinkleToes
5.
Thankfully, we all returned to our teacher on the other side."
“My teacher tied my left hand to my chair to force me to write right-handed.”
starrcrossed
7.
“We had our smoking area at the high school.
“We used to line up in elementary school to get vaccinated.
The same needle was used on everyone; it was just wiped with an alcoholic cotton ball between uses.
This was in the ’60s.”
“We had a wood-burning stove to heat the classroom.”
“When I was in second grade, the teacher would give usmercuryto play with at our desks.”
“Anonymous
12.
“Probably second grade, the bus gets stuck on a snow-covered hill, fairly steep.
The driver has the kids get out, go behind the bus, and push.”
MUflash
15.“Streakers.
Yes, this happened a lot for a couple of years.
Mostly at sporting events and graduation.”
cavein59
16.
It was totally normal for the early ’80s, but man, that was completely bonkers looking back!”
“In the ’60s, girls and boys were separated at recess.
A teacher monitored to ensure girls stayed on their side and boys on theirs.
You got in big trouble if you crossed the line.
The boys had all the cool stuff on their side (basketball court, monkey bars, etc).
All we had was hopscotch squares and swings.”
icysinger34
18.
Every week, a different group of four kids would work.
Lunch had two shifts, one for 1st3rd grade and another for 4th6th.
The group of four would alternate in pairs which lunch they worked and which they ate.
“All we got for the work was a free lunch.
And we had to miss lunch recess.
I still think of those weeks as good memories.
I can’t imagine them getting away with that now, though.
“identicalsnowflakes
20.
Yeah, I don’t follow the logic either.
Small town Indiana over 30 years ago.”
kishbish
21.
“Left-handed kids sat separately.”
“Going to the principal’s office meant there was a chance you would get paddled.
Myusername
23.
The top 10 always remained the top 10 through to graduation.
The top 10 ate lunch, hung out, and didn’t talk to anyone else.
The bottom kids were shunned in very passive-aggressive ways.
The teachers would also hand back tests from lowest to highest score.”
The skirts and tops were made of wool in the Texas HEAT!
They were so afraid the girls might wiggle and unduly have an impact on males.”
“Anonymous
25.
It went like this: ‘God is good.
Let us thank him for this food.
We were allowed not to eat one item that we didn’t like.”
“Bullying by the teachers as a form of discipline.
Our science teacher was also a bus driver.
You spent lunch cleaning the bus floor with a toothbrush if you said one word on the bus.
He told a busload of 11-year-olds to go ahead and walk home unaccompanied.
Parents today would freak out if that happened.”
Olivia Moore
27.
“At my Texas public school in the ’60s, girls weren’t allowed to wear pants.
My mom was supposed to chaperone a field trip.
“Having to write ‘I will not talk in class’ enough times to fill the blackboard.”
fakebookme
Note: Some responses have been edited for length/clarity.
