Times have certainly changed over the past few decades, and some of the challenges that school-goers faced back in the 90s would leave today’s kids utterly astonished. Recently, Reddit users gathered to reminisce about the things that were once everyday occurrences for 90s school children but are now completely unheard of. Here are the top 13 responses:
13. Throwing Erasers
“English teacher in high school used to cuss kids out for being noisy in class and if that didn’t work, he’d throw the blackboard eraser at us. I wasn’t on the receiving end of the eraser. That chalk would leave marks on kid’s backs for the rest of the day so everyone knew who pissed off Mr Charvet.”
“Had a teacher try that in sixth grade with the kid who was the catcher for a little league team. He caught the eraser, tossed it back and told the teacher he needed to get his velocity up. He got suspended for the day but he said it was worth it.”
12. Unsupervised Transport
“Back in the early 80s, our class was to be taught tennis by a student teacher at our local university. We were told to bike there, get the lesson at the tennis courts, and bike back. No supervision at all. It was only a couple of km, and it didn’t seem like an unusual request at all at the time. We were in Grade 5 & 6 at the time.”
“If we ever had to go somewhere a bit more far and take a bus, our teacher let us go there by ourselves and come with his car. We were 9-12 years old so elementary school in US terms I guess. He would ask if anyone knew where the place was and made them a leader to take the class there.”
11. Total Lack of Political Correctness
“My first name is somewhat similar to one of the guys involved in the 9/11 attacks & I had a teacher that thought it was appropriate to call me by that guy’s last name during roll call & when I would rarely raise my hand to answer.”
“Had a teacher that would call students “Special Olympians” if anyone would make a mistake or say something he deemed stupid.”
10. Public shaming
“My fifth grade gym teacher made me do pushups in front of the class. I was overweight, so I couldn’t do any. Then she’d say ‘this is what happens if you eat too much food.’”
“In third grade we were doing math to figure out how much we’d weigh on the moon or on mars, etc. So our teacher weighed each of us. At the front of the class. As a tall but pudgy girl, it was all traumatizing. I still remember my weight. This was 2002 or 2003.”
“I had a teacher bring me up to the front of my 5th grade class to show everyone how “slovenly” I had dressed. I was one of five kids and wore thrift stores clothes. I wish I could show her how successful I have become and that I now dress much better than she did.”
9. “Birthday Whacks” From Teachers
“Oh yeah, my first grade teacher did that back in like 97/98. One spank for each year of age and a “Pinch to grow an Inch” on the face. She wasn’t actually hitting us or pinching hard, just the motions of it really, none of us thought it was weird at the time.”
“My teacher did that too! It was 99/2000, and I know she meant no harm. But noooo way can I see a teacher getting away with that now.”
8. Sleepovers at School
“If you read enough books during the year in elementary school you got to have a sleepover in the library. Like we brought sleeping bags and slept on the floor. In the morning they had griddles out and we made pancakes. I know, total nerds, but it was my favorite elementary school memory.”
7. Complete Lack of Coddling
“I told my biology teacher that I wasn’t feeling too well, he said that I didn’t look sick, and as punishment made me stand in the corner until I fainted.”
“This happened to me except I barfed on half the class.”
“…During gym class when I was 10yo and I fell wrong when doing high jumps. My arm started hurting and I couldn’t even move it without crying. I told my teacher this, he didn’t believe me and loudly accused me of lying to get out of class and I had to stay there…When I got home and told my mom she took one look and rushed me to the hospital. I had broken my arm.”
6. Being Refused Bathroom Breaks
“When I was in first grade, I asked to use the bathroom during recess. My teacher said no, I just had lunch and could’ve used it then (when I didn’t have to go). So I pooped my pants behind a tree and had to go through the embarrassing aftermath during nap time.”
5. Inappropriate Contact
“We had a math teacher at my school that all of the girls would complain about him randomly rubbing their shoulders while they were trying to work. I never had him but everyone who did would confirm. It was always like a joke and people would laugh about how “creepy” he was, but nobody made a big deal out of it for some reason. I wonder if he still works there.”
4. Crazy Punishments
“My elementary school teacher used to say to kids “you’re cruising for a bruising” and once washed out my friend Jermaine’s mouth out with soap. This was circa 1987.”
“We had a math teacher that had pots and pans at his desk solely to throw them at kids who weren’t paying attention…he’d never actually hit us with them, it was just to scare us.”
3. Painful Punishments
“It was my first grade. I shook the ruler in my hand, and teacher took my ruler and hit me with it causing my nose [to bleed]. Few years later I found out that she also had been working as a school psychologist.”
“English teacher in high school used to cuss kids out for being noisy in class and if that didn’t work, he’d throw the blackboard eraser at us.”
2. Heavy-Handed Teachers
“In high school we would sometimes play knee soccer which was…really just handball but on our knees. The PE teacher (football coach) let us play rough since it was an all-male class and we were on our knees and couldn’t do too much damage. During the game two of the students were grappling for the ball and as these things go, one of them accidentally knocked the other a little too aggressively. The kid that got hit…stood up and kicked the other kid.
The PE teacher (225lb jacked military hair cut) stormed over and shoved the kid who flew about 10 feet before crashing to the ground. The kid gets up ready to fight whoever shoved him and the teacher had closed the gap and started screaming at him. Then the teacher lectured the entire class about sportsmanship and honor. The teacher never got in any trouble.”
1. Lunchtime Outings with Teachers
“6th grade teacher Ms. Sullivan would take 3 kids every Friday to McDonald’s for lunch. She was cool as hell. Smoked during the drive and everything.”
“I had a 4th grade teacher who would take whoever had a birthday out to McDonald’s to get a happy meal. I had a summer birthday so I got to go on the last day of school.”
What Happened At Your School?
Can you relate to any of these stories? Did anything similar happen to you in your school days? Or do you have any other crazy experiences from back then that you’d be willing to share? Drop a comment below!
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