If you went to school in the 70s/80s what happened that wouldn't happen now?

[TheVampiresWife]

I started primary in 1976, left secondary in 1989. Some of mine:

Corporal punishment (the most obvious one for a lot of us I think). In junior school (early 80s) we had a headmaster who would save all the week's canings for Friday afternoon assembly. The kids lined up on stage and were caned in front of the whole school. It was fucking horrific looking back - I remember a boy in my year crying and wetting himself on stage and he never lived it down, the nicknames followed him to secondary school

Girls doing needlework/cookery while boys did woodwork/metalwork

Boy in my class whose surname was Gaye. Geography teacher used to call him 'Poof' and 'Queer' which of course other kids found hilarious and joined in. He changed his surname halfway through secondary school

In my primary class an overweight girl was made to stand on a chair so the whole class could see what we would look like if we were greedy and ate too much

The headmaster who caned kids on stage also used to get girls to kiss him on the cheek and say thank you at prize givings. He also used to make comments about how we were 'developing' and once said in a conversation with my mum that I was getting 'a broad back'. The mums didn't seem to mind his comments

In primary school the children in the SEN class were described as [vile word I can't bring myself to type] by teachers and children alike quite unselfconsciously

In secondary school an English teacher had an affair with a sixth former and she became pregnant. He left but wasn't reprimanded and got a teaching job in another school the following year. The couple are still together all these years later!

It really was a different time and not necessarily for the better, either. I do have lots of happy memories of school too though!

@TheVampiresWife

I started primary in 1976, left secondary in 1989. Some of mine:

Corporal punishment (the most obvious one for a lot of us I think). In junior school (early 80s) we had a headmaster who would save all the week's canings for Friday afternoon assembly. The kids lined up on stage and were caned in front of the whole school. It was fucking horrific looking back - I remember a boy in my year crying and wetting himself on stage and he never lived it down, the nicknames followed him to secondary school

Girls doing needlework/cookery while boys did woodwork/metalwork

Boy in my class whose surname was Gaye. Geography teacher used to call him 'Poof' and 'Queer' which of course other kids found hilarious and joined in. He changed his surname halfway through secondary school

In my primary class an overweight girl was made to stand on a chair so the whole class could see what we would look like if we were greedy and ate too much

The headmaster who caned kids on stage also used to get girls to kiss him on the cheek and say thank you at prize givings. He also used to make comments about how we were 'developing' and once said in a conversation with my mum that I was getting 'a broad back'. The mums didn't seem to mind his comments

In primary school the children in the SEN class were described as [vile word I can't bring myself to type] by teachers and children alike quite unselfconsciously

In secondary school an English teacher had an affair with a sixth former and she became pregnant. He left but wasn't reprimanded and got a teaching job in another school the following year. The couple are still together all these years later!

It really was a different time and not necessarily for the better, either. I do have lots of happy memories of school too though!

I'm the same age as you Op.

1.In Primary we had an abusive male teacher who had been there for years and every generation had horror stories about him. He sounds very similar to the teacher you describe. He would stand 9 year old children in chairs for laughing or talking. I clearly remember him hitting a boy repeatedly as he stood on the chair saying, "Laugh now" each time he hit and the boys glasses flew off. The class would just look on, terrified. Many other instances _he would also exclude children from things like plays etc as a "punishment for a minor or imagined misdemeanour. At that age I had a tiny bit of puppy fat and I will never forget he once said in front of the entire class about me and a boy (who was really just stocky) "A & B are a bit overweight but still have friends. Sickening really. My mum said that parents repeatedly went to the school to complain about him but he still worked there until retirement. Today he would be in court and potentially imprisoned.

2.In infant school there was a handpicked group of about 5 high acheivers, very bright children from good homes who were actually given special day trips out of school and other privileges. Even as a very young child I thought it grossly unfair . As an adult I have asked why they didn't take the kids who were underprivileged etc who it woulf have meant so much more to.

3.We had a lovely mumsy reception teacher and would sit on her knee.

1. A theme that ran throughout Primary and Secondary was that kids were labelled as "stupid" or "thick" and placed in the "remedial class". Shockingly, nobody thought anything of it but looking back many of those children obviously had SEN that were never addressed.

I'm sure there's lots more I have forgotten. I did, actually love my school years!

I was hit by the school bus driver, early secondary school mid 90’s. My dad rang and complained, he admitted it but kept his job. Wasn’t a big deal at all.

Secondary school in the 70s: supervised communal showers, PE teacher standing at the end of the showers to make sure we were wet all over. If we forgot leotards for dance or gym, we would have to do it in our pants and an aertex shirt. If we yawned in any PE or dance class we would have to room round the school grounds in leotards or shirt and pants. The school was alongside a main road

We had to stand if the headmistress came into a lesson; she would not open a door for herself and once spent an entire lesson outside our classroom door because none of us spotted she was there. She was incandescent with rage. She forced us to learn chunks of the bible off by heart and recite them in front of the class.

Primary - corporal punishment was normal, ruler across the hand in what would now be year 1, the plimsoll was reserved for the boys. Our headteacher lived in a house on school grounds and we had to tend her garden and tidy her house at dinnertime. My best friend went through her linen basket to see what pants she wore (big ones), which was hilarious to us 9 year olds.

Also at school discos, 11 and 12 year olds all sitting in a row down a corridor ‘getting off’ with each other and teachers just walking down ‘supervising’ not trying to break it up or anything 🤮So weird.

Primary 1973 - 79 ... the same children (usually boys) slippered every week for not performing in their spelling tests. Apart from that, my Primary was actually quite progressive. We had younger teachers who really cared and I remember most of November and December being taken up with rehearsals for whole school performances which ran for three successive nights. We did everything including lighting, make up and making the props. It was brilliant. We also made some records ... (not St Winifrids!) And we were working class kids from a deprived area. Secondary was as described by PP ... casual violence from teachers such as pulling boys out of seats, slapping, the throwing of chalk and board rubbers etc (this from our retire military Maths teacher who was actually ace), rumours of relationships between some of the younger teachers and older girls and when puberty came, all girls seeming to be fair game for comments and touching from boys and teachers alike. All quite seedy really and falling far below what we should expect from teachers. Also have to agree about male PE teachers. They were awful and some of them were creepy.

I started primary in 1975 and am really shocked by some of these.
Teachers were certainly less encouraging and more critical on the whole, but I don’t remember anything abusive or hugely insensitive.
Perhaps I’ve blanked it out..

Communal showers were the worst thing as an 11-14 year old. Half of us had never had a shower before, as they weren't a thing in most homes for some years (it's only in the last 10 that they've started to be installed as standard in new social housing) but on our third day at secondary, we found out that we had to do it whilst being supervised/watched or would get detention.

Having to walk across the school grounds in our swimming costumes in the snow and rain for lessons in the unheated and untreated pool. No towels allowed.

As long as you were there for registration in the morning and after lunch, nobody seemed to notice or care where you were - which meant a peaceful protest about a shit teacher where we voted with our feet and occupied the library to get some work done rather than go to his lessons wasn't noticed for about two months.

If there was a fight/bullying and the initial aggressor got the worst of it (as verified by other kids or staff), you were patched up and nothing more happened to you - a male teacher who had boxed professionally sitting in the girls toilets with me checking my teeth, lip and knuckles whilst explaining to me what I'd done right and how to improve my right cross if he couldn't get her expelled was an example of care, not inappropriate. These days, I'd have been at least temporarily excluded for acting in self defence.

Being treated to a pub meal (with optional pint and fags) when helping a teacher voluntarily after school and four of us being given a lift home by another when it was pissing down with rain.

On the other hand, there was also none of the kids texting or calling Mum from the toilets to come and get them because they felt a bit out of breath from PE or had just realised there was a maths test after break. And certainly no Mums turning up at the office demanding their 'seriously ill' child was brought to them immediately as they couldn't possibly be lying or overreacting.

I also think that although we had the constant hassle from boys trying the doors to the girls' changing rooms, we at least didn't have them all equipped with cameras to share our assaults and humiliations.

This is horrendous! No wonder so many adults have issues

I do wonder, when I hear people talking about how getting caned/forced to shower en masse/all the rest of it 'did me no harm' if that's true. Also those who would like to bring back corporal punishment because it teaches respect - bonkers!

And to confirm, corporal punishment absolutely did happen in schools up until the early 80s, at my schools at least. My first year of secondary (83-84) was the last year for it at my school - there was a piece about it in the local paper and the older teachers were quoted as saying it was a terrible idea, the children would grow up without discipline. I remember it distinctly because it was the first time I'd heard the phrase 'spare the rod and spoil the child' and asked my mum what it meant.

The head and deputy head did the caning at secondary school but at least it wasn't on stage on a Friday afternoon. They used to do it in their office and wear their capes and mortar boards while they did it - they also used to be worn for parents evenings and assemblies. Basically anytime they wanted to look all authoritative. Do teachers ever wear them today?

Can I just draw people's attention to the difference between corporal punishment and capital punishment

I laughed long and hard at this. I’m glad that I’m not the only one who noticed! I wanted to ask the posters assuring us that their primary school had capital punishment what the preferred method of execution was. Scaffold? Guillotine?

Year 6 Students picked to go round the school selling Seabrook crisps and peanuts.

Students having their mouth washed out with soap and water if they used a bad word.

Walking round the hall with a lit candle when it was your birthday, whilst the whole school sang happy birthday. Then getting to choose a chocolate bar from the special tin including those with nuts.

Having the best tasting, unhealthiest desserts.

Multiple school trips, I’m not always sure how robust the risk assessment process was.

@Iamthewombat

Can I just draw people's attention to the difference between corporal punishment and capital punishment

I laughed long and hard at this. I’m glad that I’m not the only one who noticed! I wanted to ask the posters assuring us that their primary school had capital punishment what the preferred method of execution was. Scaffold? Guillotine?

It's funny you mention the guillotine.

Was anyone else's primary classroom equipped with a paper guillotine, basically an exposed long, sharp blade with a handle used to cut reams of paper? Which everyone (even nine year olds) was allowed to use, ostensibly with supervision but nobody was too bothered in practice whether you were supervised or not?

No such thing as health and safety in my day etc

Girls doing needlework/cookery while boys did woodwork/metalwork

I’m the same age as you OP and yes, I remember this. For the firs5 two years boys and girls did the same ‘craft’ subjects, then from third year girls did the girly stuff and boys were in the workshop.

I almost kicked off about it (bolshy thirteen year old, consciousness raised by reading my aunt’s Fay Weldon books) but decided against it on the grounds that (1) I hated woodwork and metalwork and (2) Ihad no intention of working in any discipline related to woodwork, metalwork, needlework or cookery, so what did it matter?

Also, aged 13 and before choosing O level options, all of the girls in the year - just the girls! - were sent to the school hall to be informed by an ancient typing and shorthand teacher that we should all choose to do both subjects because then “the world will be your oyster”. Even in 1985 that was pretty unlikely! I blithely ignored her and chose science.

Oh yeah, those paper guillotines! I’m surprised that there weren’t more accidents!

Also laughing at capital punishment - execution for not knowing your spellings is a bit harsh even by 70s standards!

I was terrified of someone who worked at my nursery school circa 1973 - she used to shake "naughty" children and shout at them. I could verbalise my fears so all I could say was I scared of her curly hair (think shampoo and set) - my mum thought this was hilarious.

You could get the cane from age 7 which I was terrified of, but I don't actually remember anyone getting.

There were quite a few Jewish children at the school and I remember the teachers interrogating them about why they didn't want to go to assembly. Apparently "my mum doesn't like me singing about Jesus" wasn't a good enough reason !

Worst physical punishment I remember was a boy in one lesson (age about 14) getting his head smashed on the desk. He wasn't a bad boy, the teacher had lost control..of course no one ever told their parents what had happened as 1) you'd be in more trouble 2) it would be humiliating if a parent complained.

OP I wanted to cry reading about the poor boy who wet himself.

*couldn't verbalise

Going on a week long residential that was mainly chaperoned by Catholic Priests.

Naked PE showers, once under the pretext of us being too noisy we had to line up , strip off, naked shower , get dressed and repeat over and over again for two hours non stop.

@tenredthings

Naked PE showers, once under the pretext of us being too noisy we had to line up , strip off, naked shower , get dressed and repeat over and over again for two hours non stop.

What?!

Most of these tales ring true for me. At least the teachers in most of your schools waited for the pupils to reach 6th form. Our music teacher had a relationship with a 14 year old girl, school and parents knew and approved! Most of her friends including me went to their wedding when she got married at the age of 17! They divorced when she was 20.
The worst thing for me was the sexism, no girls allowed to do woodwork /metal work or engineering or even play football or cricket!
No one's mentioned all the teachers going to the pub on Friday lunchtimes, leaving just the HT and lunchtime supervisors in charge. I was one of them up until the 1990s. Unthinkable now.

@C0RINNA

When I was at school it was ok for girls to be lesbians. I mean no one thought it was cool but you didn’t have to hide It. No one suggested that you were born in the wrong body and should be sterilised, put on drugs for life or bind your breasts.

Yes some unpleasant boys might suggest that you should have sex with them to sort you out. But that was seen as a nasty comment from bigots.

Now saying that is seem as progressive and lesbian girls are told THEY are hateful bigots for not wanting to have sex with men. Schools encourage lesbians to self harm.

What years did you attend secondary @CORINNA? In my secondary school NOBODY came out as gay or lesbian. Wrongly, it just would have been social suicide which is sad. Of course, looking back there must have been gay pupils. "Homoe" or "Hom" was a horrible insult flung around by very unpleasant people. Anyone actually being gay wasn't on our radar though (except for the female pe teacher) and it just wasn't an environment anyone could have come out in comfortably. My ds it at the same school and it's gone totally the other way it would appear. Multiple gay males, every other girl it seems claims to be to Bi or Lesbian and there an trans student going male to female. I am all for people expressing their sexuality but it has most definitely, especially among girls become cool and a badge of honour to say you are bi or lesbian. I'll await my flaming

The physics teacher (male) telling us abortion was wrong and girls should live with their mistakes

I attended a grammar school 1971 - 1976.

• Male teachers having relationships with girls (I can think of at least two examples). I don't recall thinking it was a big deal.
• Corporal punishment, blackboard dusters and chalk thrown across the classroom - saying that, there weren't many problems with discipline. Again, it was accepted and not a big deal. My school always felt safe and secure.
• Girls did needlework, boys did metalwork and woodwork (although that did change after I'd been there a couple of years).
• No drugs - it just didn't seem to be a thing then.
• Communal showers - although they stopped after my first year.
• Girls played hockey/netball, boys played football/rugby/cricket.

I wonder if my school was quite progressive for the time - I eventually did do woodwork and metalwork and played cricket, so maybe they were trying (and I do remember in my first year my whole class [boys and girls] used to play mixed rugby at break times for some weird reason).

PE in our knickers if you forgot your kit

one primary school teacher took an instamnt dislike to me got told off all the time for no reason got called a liar and got held in on many lunchtimes for made up reasons

Definitely was corporal punishment in my school, whether formal or informal.
I remember being hit across the bare legs with a wooden ruler by a male teacher in juniors.
No idea what I did, but I don't expect it was too awful.
I managed not to have a single naked shower although they were compulsory after PE.
I think I should have got an O level in shower avoidance as I must have been quite inventive.

Sadistic PE teachers. Talking to my brother recently, he remembers how the boys were petrified that the female PE teachers would take their classes because of how bad it was for the girls. They would have us out on the hockey pitch in freezing temperatures in just t shirts and gym knickers and would not let us back inside unless our fingernails went blue, refused to allow a girl with a broken finger to go to the nurse, deliberately throwing netballs and hockey balls at girls heads without warning to make you pay attention (I remember one concussion). They kept a record of periods and if your dates didn’t match their records (what teen has a perfect 28 day cycle) you had to drop your pants to prove it. They were complete monsters and other teachers knew but did nothing.

And the Business Studies teacher who had a relationship with a Fifth former but didn’t have sex with her until her 16th birthday. It was openly discussed and he was praised for his self control by other teachers! In retrospect, he groomed her and I think he may have done it more than once.

I left school in 1987. Safeguarding protocols were overdue when they finally came in and, if they are weakened, this sort of thing will become acceptable again.