To wonder about school in the 80s and 90s

[onceawhitetowel]

The reason I am asking is because I have horrific memories of school then.

Yet things on the whole seem better now.

When did things change?

I started school in the late 70s. I was bullied at secondary school, but my experiences don't sound as awful as some I read about now, where social media plays a part. Teachers were a mixture of good, indifferent and bad which is probably the same now.

In some ways it seems a more relaxed era (though perhaps that's because my knowledge of schools nowadays is more or less exclusively from Mumsnet ). There wasn't all the policing of food back then (yet very few pupils were overweight). You could bring in what you wanted for lunch, even at primary school, and the tuck shop sold chocolate bars, crisps and fizzy drinks - there were also vending machines. At Sixth Form college, it was OK for students to smoke (smoking was legal at 16 back then); at school, clouds of smoke wafted from the staffroom, which seems bizarre now.

I was in school from 84-96 and the teachers would throw board rubbers at us, single you out to answer questions, bellow at us over insignificant things...best times of my life

Nowadays little Jonny can kick off in class and five minutes later will receive a sticker for behaving for five minutes

Had a lovely time!

Not sure what you're on about?

At least little shits were dealt with back then!!

Horrific is strong word.

I remember it being a bit rough, dog eat dog and lots of shagging/snogging going on and that was just with the teachers

Primary School in the eighties - wonderful, all the teachers were hippies, it was wonderful.

Secondary school in the early nineties - like the fucking huger games, it was just an exercise in survival.

Sixth form college '95 - '97, that was awesome. It was such a relief to be able to learn without having to keep scanning for danger.

I suppose I am assuming everyone experienced similar.

Racism was so common, sexism too. Having to get changed in front of the boys. Being sexually abused by a teacher and not being able to say anything. Bullying, name calling, physical chastisement, sarcasm.

It wasn't great.

Primary from mid 70s to mid 80s - the belt, horrible school milk that you had to finish, really really shouty teachers, teachers strike so work to rule, P7 ‘treat’ getting the staff room kitchen tidied after lunchtime and not being able to find the sink for the fag smoke

High school - up til 1990 - skin heads, then casuals fighting In corridors, sit ins so the girls could wear trousers, really greasy chips and burgers for lunch, girls toilets covered in graffiti and fag burns on the walls

DDs primary years has been nothing like mine and her high school toilets are spotless with free sanitary protection

Oh god the toilets.

No toilet seats, no locks on the doors, shit, blood, no toilet roll or soap, girls smoking in the toilets.

I was at primary school in the nineties and loved it.

I went to secondary / 6th form from 79-85. It wasn't horrific. In fact I loved it. It's all dependent on your own experience and the particular school isn't it?

I started primary in 1977. There was certainly less safeguarding - so an alcoholic teacher, lots of board rubber throwing, sexual abuse from the school governor on the year6 residential trip, that sort of thing. Secondary involved lots of pupil/teacher relationships and total lack of understanding of pupils additional needs.

However the lack of safeguarding was brilliant when it came to science experiments and cross country running ie spending the morning round someone's house

I was at school from the late seventies to early nineties and have largely good memories, BUT, I was a good student with no additional needs, did well in exams and had a supportive family who could afford for me to go on trips, wear good quality correct uniform etc.

Looking back I can clearly see now that some of the ‘troublemakers’ really needed some learning support and had troubled home lives. I think it’s much better for those kids today - not perfect still and a long way to go but still better.

My school was a fairly bog standard comp with a mix of socio economic groups so I’d say reasonably representative of a lot of Midlands small town schools.

We were lucky enough that have good sports facilities and during my years there the school produced a number of sports professionals- I’d argue that’s much worse now. Recently the swimming pool (council run but linked to the school as it was gifted to the area with those conditions) has closed due to lack of council funding for repairs, some of the playing fields have been sold off for development.

OP this is about your experience and the schools you went to rather than a whole generation or so of schooling

I was at school in the 70's and 80's. Was totally shit.

I was at school until 1988 and it wasnt much different to now really - of course taking into account the modern way of life and technology!

Yeah not great. Secondary late eighties. Definitely remember the humiliation., sarcasm and favouritism. Mind you some of what my dc tell me not much has changed!!!!

No toilet seats, no locks on the doors, shit, blood, no toilet roll or soap, girls smoking in the toilets.

They had a very unique smell that I have never smelt anywhere else since.

It was a bit of a free for all, to be fair. God knows how I passed. I'd have been a fucking neurosurgeon had I been to a good school.

humiliation., sarcasm and favouritism.

^
This, really.

Yes really

Define "horrific memories ".

I was at school from 1988-2002 including sixth form, suffered no sexual abuse and nor did my friends, teachers weren't allowed to physically chastise as you put it. There was some bullying at secondary school but I'd imagine it's worse today with social media, if there was racism it's not something I saw at school, and I had a diverse group of friends, as for sexism as a female I was told I could achieve anything I wanted to if I worked for it, there were no gender split classes we all did woodwork and we all did textiles etc. My mum was at school in the sixties and early seventies and my dad fifties and sixties, they certainly had different experiences to me including the cane and being beaten by nuns (Catholic school), being told their options were trades/factories (dad) secretarial or childcare (mum), I was told nothing of the sort. I was state educated. I think it's very unfair to make sweeping statements about hundreds of thousands of teaching staff based on your experience of a handful.

Mid to late 80's here. Bullied for wearing the wrong clothes, massive disruption in class from boys who did not want to be there, supply teachers treated appallingly to the point that they were crying.

You were picked on if you appeared to be intelligent. You were bullied if you were dorky and boring.

That same school now is turning out great results, the pupils respect each other and the school. It has a great reputation now. It seems totally different and the pupils actually seem to want to learn.

They stamp down on bullying and isolate pupils who misbehave.

I'll give you one of mine.

In my school a group of kids straightened out a load of the sharp metal paperclips. They lodged them through a big lump of bluetak and then launched it across the classroom at the teacher's head. There was a lot of blood.

Not horrific but wholly unenjoyable from a social perspective. I wish I had been more motivated to work hard, rather than be accepted by girls who were fucking mean and made my life a misery. My confidence and self esteem was at rock bottom by the time I left.

The teaching was mostly mediocre and uninspiring too. There's no doubt that teachers make more effort these days.