Childhood injustices you can't forget

[TheScurrilousFunge]

Please tell me about your childhood injustices.

I was just reminded of one by something on the TV - I found my classmate's bag strap behind a loo at school. It had clearly been hidden there, but not by me - and yet, I got the blame for it! It rankles TO THIS DAY.

Tell me I'm not alone in not letting this stuff go!

During a quiz at primary school I gave the answer 'titchy' as a synonym for 'small' to be told it was not a word. It was, is, and will always be a word, I had read it in a book. Still bitter 35 years later!

In second year history we had to draw a poster about the Crusades. I drew one in the style of Uncle Sam, but with a white robed Jesus saying ‘I need you!’ and pointing at the reader. The history mistress gave me a D and said it was offensive.

Fuck you Mrs Goulden. It’s been thirty years and I still think it was a decent piece of work.

Right, this still winds me up.

About 6 years old, playing in playground with two other girls. They start playing a two-person game I can't join in with so I move off to play with other friends.

One of the two girls runs crying to playground supervisor (frequent crier this one) and I get in trouble?? Still have no idea why I was in the wrong - I was the one left out! Fuming.

My 11th birthday. We were staying at my grandparents' cliffside chalet and I was playing tag with my father and brother.

I was 'it', so Darling Daddy locked himself and my brother into the car so I couldn't tag them. Laughing, he then drove my brother off to the nearest pub for crisps and coke, leaving me alone sobbing on the chalet steps.

My parents had a huge row when my mum came back from shopping and found me there on my own. Even my little brother was apologetic and didn't gloat as younger brothers are wont to do. It was my birthday ffs!

My father never liked me. In my own defence he always was a grade A shit, as I know both his wives would have readily agreed.

This one is ds and it still really bothers him now to the point he's terrified it'll come up and prevent future job opportunities.

Ds had to move schools after he was victim of knife crime at his previous one (while other unfair story)

Some boys there instantly started to pick on him as the new kid. Ds was an easy target as was petrified of school after what he'd been through.

3 weeks in I get a call from the school to say ds had called another lad a racist name. I was surprised as ds isn't like that but they were adamant and he was being excluded for a period of time.

I drove to pick ds up and didn't even give the poor lad a chance to say hello before giving him absolute hell and continuing all the way home. Get home and a pale and terrified looking ds slopes off to his room.

An hour later comes out and asks me what the word he's accused of using means. Well - poor sod got an even bigger earful about using words he doesn't know what they mean blah blah. Off he slopes again after asking me if he really could be arrested as I've told him.

Over dinner I decide to act normal and chat thinking point made. DS is clearly remorseful I think as quiet and did look so very upset.

Then he suddenly asks me why he's been accused of saying this in X lesson to a black child (I wasn't told who and ds said he didn't know who) when there aren't any black children in his class. Or any of his classes.

So confused myself at this point I ask ds what happened during that lesson. He gives a completely different story of being in toilets and these lads throwing his stuff etc. He said as he left school he saw them talking to the teacher.

So following day I speak to school and explain I absolutely do not condone what ds did if he did it but ..... the only child in question it could have been isnt in any lessons with him.

This is acknowledged but they go on to say if any racism is reported they must deal with it and report to La - and yes apparently even if what ds is saying is true

In year 9 these boys admitted to making it up and finding it hilarious ds got into massive trouble. A teacher overheard this but ds was told "it's over now"

Not for ds it isn't

Same teacher have these children a detention when I pushed it for writing on the school whiteboard "miniweird is a retarded spastic" (ds has a physical disability and autism)

Apparently disability hate crime isn't as serious

[quote olderthanyouthink]@CranberryCaballe but how does that make you a danger? I went to school with someone who like to swing the stick around a lot and I got a hit to the head one time, he was a danger! (Primary, mixed sex PE) [/quote]
I don't know. I stood in the middle of the field, cried and refused to move. Suppose danger if I got hit by the ball or someone tripped over me.

It was great, I was allowed to be at the edge of the field sort of catching the ball or whatever you're supposed to do. I used to walk off if it came near me.

An art teacher that couldn’t stand me repeatedly told me to shut up when everyone else was speaking, I know I’m loud and talk a lot and I even knew back then. However, one day I went to school with a bad case of laryngitis and couldn’t speak at all and when the class was talking she shouted in front of everyone “PROBLEMATIC SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU STUPID CHILD, YOU’LL NEVER BE ANYTHING IF YOU DON’T JUST SHUP UP”... I haven’t drawn as much as a line since that day.

At home we had a Birds of the World book and I'd been reading about blackbirds,(I was about 9-10) so when we had to write about what we'd read in the holidays, I wrote about blackbirds and wrote "not all blackbirds are black. Female blackbirds are brown", and drew a picture of one. Best handwriting, traced picture,coloured in, everything.
Mr.Williams, the ornithologically challenged, chain smoking teacher with stinking breath, drew a thick red line through it all, even the picture, the bastard, and wrote RUBBISH.
But it WASN'T rubbish.

I was best friends with a girl who was bullied quite a lot as we grew up and I'd stick up for her. Our parents were friends and we'd have sleepovers when parents were working late, etc. Anyway one day I found out she'd told her Mum that I'd accused her Dad of molesting me a few years before. Not true at all. Mum has arranged for us all to meet up to clear the air and I remember sitting on the opposite settee to her with a coffee table in the middle and she denied saying it. Her Mum was furious. Next school day I saw her I broke her nose. The one and only time I've ever been physically violent. Parents are still friends with each other, but I will never get over that. She could have ruined her Dad's life ffs.

I got accused of bullying once because I made friends with the new girl and my other friend was jealous. It was the biggest lie ever and I got a bollocking by the teacher. She then told the teacher I was ignoring her... obviously because she made up I was bullying her. makes me angry that I didn’t stick up for myself more

I was in the 2nd year of secondary school ( now year 8) & I suggested that electric hand dryers should be installed in the toilets. When it happened, the school council got the credit for it & I wasn’t even mentioned. It was over 40 years ago & still rankles!
Also, I was in a drama class ( same year I think) & I had a crush on the male teacher. I moved my chair which scraped on the floor & it sounded like I’d farted. Mortifying, especially at that age. I tried to explain but nobody believed me & the teacher was no help. I didn’t fancy him after that!

My daughter's teacher asked in class if there was anyone who didn't celebrate Hallowe'en. My daughter raised her hand, then the teacher handed out sweets to everyone else, but not her! She was gutted! He was a lovely teacher, so I'm sure only did it so as not to offend (like not giving Christmas cards to people who don't celebrate Christmas or whatever), but my poor daughter was very sad to miss out and forever regretted that raised hand!

My one and only detention. I was off school one day ill so I didn't know we had been given homework that day for food technology lesson. The next lesson I didn't hand in homework. Teacher knew I hadn't been there but gave me detention anyway along with other students who hadn't done it on purpose

problematicbehaviour that’s appalling! Can’t believe a teacher would speak to you like that!

1st year of high school. English teacher said my essay was so good she would have given me an A+ but she knows someone at home must have helped me with it so she gave me a C it was all my own work.

@Tempusfudgeit

During a quiz at primary school I gave the answer 'titchy' as a synonym for 'small' to be told it was not a word. It was, is, and will always be a word, I had read it in a book. Still bitter 35 years later!

Ooh something similar happened to me! Y8, we were playing a general knowledge quiz in school for small prizes as an end of term thing. Verbal questions. The question: What is the name of the Queens youngest son? My answer: Prince Andrew No. Apparently the "correct" answer was the Duke of York, and smartarse me decided to point out that it wasn't his name, it was his title. Reader, I was disqualified.

@AliceSprings123

At home we had a Birds of the World book and I'd been reading about blackbirds,(I was about 9-10) so when we had to write about what we'd read in the holidays, I wrote about blackbirds and wrote "not all blackbirds are black. Female blackbirds are brown", and drew a picture of one. Best handwriting, traced picture,coloured in, everything. Mr.Williams, the ornithologically challenged, chain smoking teacher with stinking breath, drew a thick red line through it all, even the picture, the bastard, and wrote RUBBISH. But it WASN'T rubbish.

Ooh now I can relate to this.

I had lots of animal/nature books that I just hoovered up. I remember reading in one about lion/tiger crosses either being Ligers or Tigons depending on the sex of the mother. I told my primary teacher this. HE LAUGHED AT ME.

Didn’t laugh the next day when I dropped the book on his desk and tapped on the chapter. He did have the grace to apologise to be fair.

Damn- Edward is of course the youngest son! Replace York with Wessex and you get the drift!

@itsgettingwierd very slightly related but funnier, we got a worrying message from holiday club supervisor saying DS had used a racist word. I had no idea how he would even know that word.
In the car on the way home he was giggling and eventually told me "on the film you could see their KNICKERS"

I just remembered a worse one. It was my birthday and it was tradition if we got any money for our birthday we went to toysrus that day and got to spend it before going out to dinner. So off we went to toysrus. My older sister on the way got bad car sick and threw up on herself. My sister threw the biggest fit since she couldn't go inside. So my mum made me give her my dress so she could go inside and I had to wait in the car. So my birthday, I was sat in the car waiting for my brother and sister to come out of the toy shop. My mum said they'll go another day for me. Never did. This happened a lot with my sister and brother. As I was quite quiet so got pushed aside a lot when they shouted loudest

I had moved to a new primary school as my parents had split up. I have always struggled with spelling but read at a higher level and was a good pupil overall!

My year 3 English teacher was horrific to me because I wasn’t very good at spelling and was usually bottom (but top in every other aspect of school! The class was higher set. She made an absolute show of me every week for months causing me to stress and struggle more.

My mum had just just been sectioned and my dad always helped with our homework and spellings (co parents) but i just struggled with them.

Last resort was when she made me have a wall detention one lunch time for getting 2/10. I told my Nan everything that day and she went and kicked off big time! I got an apology and moved to the lower set class with my actual class teacher for a few weeks to separate us after her treatment of me.

Due to my mum being sick I moved back to my old school shortly after but the damage was already done... even to this day I have a science degree but can’t spell!

Same horrible teacher also gave gelatine sweets to a boy in our class who was fasting causing him to go into a crisis and be so overwhelmed with what he had done...

Another. In Grade 4 we had a spelling test every week. If you got perfect scores all year the teacher would reward you with a big chocolate bar.

I had made all the way to probably the end of April or early May.

On the day in question it was pouring rain. Really pouring. There were big puddles and floods around the drainage grates.

The word was sale. I knew how to spell sale for heaven's sake. But silly me overthought and concluded the teacher was making a little joke when the sentence he used was "the merchants are having sales all around town".

I chuckled to myself and wrote "sail."

I will never forget the outrage I felt. I pleaded my case but no deal.

No chocolate bar for me. The injustice!

Someone had bitten into the coffee chocolate in a chocolate box that we probably weren't allowed into and presumably, because it was coffee flavoured, put it back.

Sister (as she always did) immediately pointed at me and said I had done it. I got a good hiding and bollocking off dad. Through the tears I managed to tell mum that it couldn't have been me because I.had lost both front teeth. Mum told dad that and instead of sister getting a hiding and me getting an apology, dad just said to Sister, "oh. Don't do that again."

DSis was one year older and I took the blame for everything and I don't think I did much at all. It was always her. My very own Nellie Olsen. By the time I was 10 I'd started nicking pound coins cos if I was going to get a tanned hide most days then I may as well enjoy some sweets from the shop for it.

When I was 5 I accidentally took a work sheet home that we were meant to be working on the next day in class. When confessing to the teacher the next day, she made me stand up in the class and literally shouted in my face that I was a stupid girl for what felt like 5 minutes until I was in tears. I’d finished the fucking work sheet the day before anyway.

Being put over the teachers knee and spanked in front of the class, for supposedly copying maths from the boy sat next to me. I only copied because I didn't understand and she wouldn't explain. I still remember it so clearly, I hated her.