What used to be common in schools that would never happen today?

[abacucat]

There are lots of things that were common when I was at school, that would cause outrage if they happened today. For a start -

• Teachers giving kids the belt from 5 years old
• Dinner ladies in primary making you eat everything on your plate
• Teachers in -primary making you drink your bottle of milk
• Teachers in secondary throwing blackboard rubbers at kids heads

Being told to stand on your chair if you got your maths question wrong. Oh the fear!!

Having a pen and paper homework planner, it seems like.

I remember being made to kneel in the school hall to check if my skirt touched the floor, along with 120 other girls in year 7. Can't imagine that happening now.

I would hope there are less rape myths taught now. My memories of PSE are that it was less informative and far more victim blame-y than I'd like.

And yeah, blackboard rubber chucked at the head. Bet there's lots of teachers now who regret the passing of that custom

Having to shower naked in front of each other at the end of PE

Turkey twizzlers... I used to hate them with a passion but they were often the choice and sad grey peas.

I don't know if it was because I was oblivious due to my age but I only remember there being 1 diagnosed case of adhd and no one at all diagnosed with autism in my school. I'm sure that's definitely not the case now.

I also used to go to school in the days when teachers could give you a hug if you were upset etc. Doubt they could now.

Smoking with teachers at the school gate.

Definitely the showering after pe. With utter bitch of a pe teacher shouting and balling at us. DS1 is now at secondary school, they play rugby, hockey and swim at school (no time for showers) ...no wonder teenage boys stink

How old are you OP? Im in my mid 50's and that never happened when I was at school

Fog of smoke in the staffroom.
Throwing of board rubbers.
Offal.
Showering after PE definitely.
Some of the science department were very lax with EHS as well
Massive school-wide snowball fights.

Also at 4 and a half when I started school, we all sat at individual school desks and were taught to read and write. Only play apart from playtime was playing at your desk with plasticine for a small break. Although we had a nap on camp beds. Now days parents would be complaining that it was far too much to expect a 4.5 year old to sit at a desk most of the day without play and largely being expected to be quiet.
Also at home time they just opened the door. If parents were there to collect great, if not it was nothing to do with the teachers. And the school was on busy main road.

I had a teacher who used to make children retrieve their sandwich crusts from the bin and eat them if she caught them throwing them out 🤢

Macosie Mid 50s.

Toilet roll that resembled tracing paper 😱

Also when i was at high school (1996-2001) there were 2 staffrooms. One being the smoking staffroom 😱

Playing conkers in the playground

I remember the scratchy tracing paper toilet roll!

In my infants school of you had a wobbly tooth and was playing with it with your fingers or tongue, you was were sent to the headmistress who would pull it out !!

Ick, that tracing paper toilet paper was horrible. Ditto the compulsory bottles of milk. Yuck.

The cane was still used until I was midway through primary school.

I remember boys being slippered at secondary school.
There were 44 children in my Year 6 class and, I presume, a similar number in earlier classes.
Much less primary school homework - tables, weekly spellings and a weekly write down any words which might come in useful when writing the weekly essay on Monday morning, Nothing else at all.
Blackboard and chalk, rather than whiteboards.

Surely that tracing paper toilet roll would block the toilets. I unfortunately remember that too.

We used to have cups of tea! I remember feeling so grown up!

Having to change into "pumps' indoors. Probably to save the carpet!

In my junior school, badly behaved boys got the cane and girls got the ‘knuckleracker’ which looked like an instrument of torture for wacking people on the knuckles. My year 6 teacher would take people into the store cupboard to administer the punishment. Only one girl got the knuckleracker in the time I was there. This was in the early 80s.

Getting free time at 12 years old in secondary school residential trips where we could go where we wanted.

Being allowed to slide on the ice in the playground at primary school.
Class pets (guinea pigs, hamsters, etc)
At senior school, going out at lunchtime to the chippy or local shop to buy fags sweets
Kids smoking on the school bus
Tuck shop at break where you could buy doughnuts, cakes, pizza, etc
Ice cream man parked just outside the gate at lunchtime, used to sell 1p bubble gum
Teachers smoking in the staff room
Kids smoking in the toilets