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?

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.

Nope, no horrific memories for me. Went to school from ‘77-‘90 and most of my memories are good. But I was a bright popular child and had lots of friends so I guess my perspective is somewhat skewed by those circumstances.
Obviously describing myself as ‘a bright popular child’ makes me sound like a twat but just trying to give some perspective. I suspect that some of my peers had a miserable time though and I know that some of my friends were desperate to leave school and the social hierarchy that existed there.

The teachers varied from totally lovely and competent (most of the primary teachers) to utterly filthy and useless- high school science teachers were a particularly unkempt lot.

Creepier pervier teachers (Or was that just my School?) I still have a picture I took of a teacher nude. Long story.

The milk was horrific but I think that was the 70s

halfwitpicker
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.

^^ same for me. My schooling was terrible in every sense of the word. The bullying. The sexism. The racism. The smoking (also in the toilets). Very poor teaching with no outside scrutiny.

The worse thing is my parents could have sent me to private school but my father didn’t want to and my mother didn’t fight his decision. So I sat 5 ‘o’ levels - the maximum I could take in that school and struggled at ‘a’ level because the schooling I had was so much lower than the one I transferred to. i lacked all self confidence and it was an impossible task to bridge the gap. Despite this I managed to go to university. But I’ve since been told how intelligent I am bla bla bla. But I felt thick as pigshit for most of my life and became a consummate underachiever.

Awful in primary school due to bullying - I was the youngest in my year, spoke “posh”, and was bright. A terrible combination. In secondary the classes were far too big until Highers, and the teachers spent all their time on crowd control or focusing on the less able students. Those of us who were clever were just left to get on with it. I absolutely hated school, and only felt like I became a real person when I started university.

I started primary in the late 70s, left secondary in the early 90s.

I left school in 83 I remember walking home on the last day crying because I couldn't believe that the nightmare was over. I detested it sarcastic bullying teachers, it's really left me with issues with teachers

I was at senior comp school 78/83 I remember the boys always touching us
Leaning forward in class behind you and unhooking your bra through your shirt

I remember being in the fifth year and the male gym teachers just walking through the girls changing rooms all the time, especially when we were in our underwear

I remember my male physics teacher asking me all the time to take nude pics of me
and constantly trying to look down my top. Had to get my parents involved with him

I remember being in the 3rd yr. and walking in to the school disco and being accosted by the head of lower yr, complementing me on my boob tube and how much I had chest wise to,put in it.

Other than that it was a right laugh 😖

I finished my A levels in '93 so was at school all through the 80s, I don't have any awful memories. I loved infant & primary school - the most shocking event was a teacher who smoked in class (!) and my parents moved me as a result.

The worst thing about secondary school - all girls, fairly religious grammar school - was that it was deathly dull. There was nothing like the academic pressure that's put on children now, though we were all expected to go to university. No smoking in the loos though there was a bit of after school snogging with 6th formers from the local boys' school. No physical chastisement, we had one fairly unpleasant teacher (physics) but nothing traumatising, PE was torment but that's no different now!

Very little drinking & far less access to drugs than at my dd's school.

I was at school from 1977-1991. I went to an inner city comprehensive.

The good:
Really characterful teachers who were inspiring and talented
Teaching felt very creative not prescribed
No social media
simple pleasures like school discos instead of over the top proms
Not much homework or exam pressure it was kind of in the background

The bad:
Bullying was completely overlooked and allowed to go on
Cruelty and humiliation
A complete lack of safeguarding
Hardly any awareness of health and safety
Awful teachers who got away with it
Racial tensions
Sexism
Scant resources

So a mixed bag for me!

1977-`1984 comprehensive with a mixed catchment; massive council estate and massive stockbroker belt houses.

Teachers smoking in the classroom
HMI wearing black uniforms and having to stand up when they came in the room
The cane
Being told you were thick and a waste of time for the teachers
fights most days
bullying being ignored - having sanitary towels shoved on your face whilst held against the wall

private, selective primary

being told you weren't the kind of child they wanted at their school because you stopped at the sweet shop on the way to school - age 7, taking two buses across the city to school and changing buses outside a sweet shop

being told you had to leave because you weren't clever enough
being told you'd end up on the local council estate and never achieving anything

I'm now a teacher with a 2:1 from a well respected university and two degrees

I was in school until leaving 5th year in secondary in 1985, which was around the time the belt with withdrawn.

The belt was an excellent, and only occasionally used, deterrent and children were much better behaved in school. Good behaviour was expected and mostly given apart from a small minority that were not allowed to disrupt or distract whole lessons.

We were pretty tight for money, I was from a family of 5 siblings and wore my 3 older brothers hand me downs. Winter coats were either way too big or lasted until the sleeve cuffs were a good inch or two above your wrist. Shoes were practical and durable never fashionable. I was never bullied for the clothes I wore.

Any real bullying, and there wasn't a lot, was sorted out amicably between the parents directly, they mostly accepted their child wasn't perfect/innocent/wrongly accused. If you did get up to anything your parents would hear about it as everyone lived near the school and their were eyes everywhere, they knew each other and usually socialised in the local pub, they would be mortified if their child was branded a bully and would sort it out.

I would hate to go to school now with the lack of available direct action for teachers to stop troublemakers causing distractions for whole lessons, with the issues of mobile phones, much more materialistic children that put too much value on looking fashionable and competitive parents more interested in playground politics.

I experienced awful bullying from teachers and struggle badly with self esteem to this day, even though i have an outwardly very successful life and career by society standards (whatever that means ). The others kids were never that bad, but the teachers encouraged them. I also went to what was considered an above average comprehensive. I went to school in the 80s and mid 90s.

One teacher made all the others pupils call me by quite a derogatory nick name as I was very shy. They weren't meant to use my real name in his class. Then one of the PE teachers actively encouraged the other girls to laugh at me doing Pe. looking back I was hyper mobile and possibly had other things. When I was in my early 20's I ran into her outside a gym class and she started abusing me in the street - shouting I can't believe it, well wonders never cease, she can do it - etc etc. She wasn't talking at me, she was mocking me today her friend. I regret not standing up for myself but I was too shocked.

There's more, but those two stick out as being the worst. They were using things like this to gain popularity with the other kids.

I didn't really feel there was anyone I could mention it to at the time.

There were also several pupil teacher relationships with six formers! To give them their dues, one pair did become a couple for 15 plus years

Came to the UK mid 80s (7
Years old So straight into
Juniors ) Life was miserable till li left school and met my boyfriend (now husband) and started to enjoy life. I was bullied. Then I became a semi bully to
Survive my years there. I went to a catholic
School but I wasn’t a catholic myself so had
No idea what was going on. PE was absolutely hell. Teachers watched us have showers and smelled our armpits to make sure we were clean. It eased up a little at sixth form but I just couldn’t fit in. I thrived
Once I left.

I do notice a massive difference in my own children’s experience though. Which I’m very happy about.

Secondary school in the late 90s. Absolutely hated it. Some great teachers, but some who seemed to really hate kids and I still wonder why they were there.

Boys were just horrendous. There’s a lot of focus on “mean girls” and girl on girl bullying, and whilst there were obviously bitchy and nasty girls, in my experience the boys were far worse. Sexual assault, violence (the only times I experienced violence at school were at the hands of boys) and repulsive comments and name calling. I’m by no means easily shocked, but even now I feel sick at some of the revolting comments boys made to girls at school.

Things only got better in 6th form, when the rough kids left as they were too thick to stay on. I loved 6th form, such a nicer atmosphere.

I’m currently pregnant and the thought of my potential DD going through what I went through at school with boys makes me feel ill. I think I’d send any DDs to all girls school as a result of my experiences.

At primary school in the 90s on the annual cycle home from school event I got left behind in the remote country lanes by the staff. I was only 6/7 and had learnt to ride a bike especially for it. I don't think you'd get away with that now!

I was at a grammar school in the seventies when they were closing and merging grammar schools with other schools. My experience was awful', a lot of teachers left and the school we merged with was very different school where the kids seemed to fight all the time and were taught subjects with the word "remedial" in front of it. It ruined my education because of the disruption.

Went to school in 70š and 80š. Nothing horrific though there are things that would be frowned on now. Calling children with Sen 'remedials', a Primary teacher who actively promoted his political views (fab teacher), bopping kids with rolled up sugar paper (not hard) and the staff room being engulfed in fag smoke. Some things have changed for the better - but it was a lovely time when teachers were allowed to teach and kids allowed to enjoy Learning.

High school in the 80s wasn't a good experience for me. Bullying that got physical at times.

Also recall a teacher making a derogatory remarks because "a girl" dared to get top marks in physics exam.

One teacher used to get angry and throw things, too.

I didn't feel safe at school.

Jesus @onceawhitetowel it sounds like your school was really not a great environment. Having to get changed in front of the boys?! Sexual harassment that you couldn't report? That's totally horrendous.

I didn't really like school until I got to a-level (born in 83 so schooled 80s and 90s and 00s) but it was mainly just because I was an awkward kid. Never experienced any bullying though.

It seems like there has been a bit of a culture shift, if you asked any kid in my day if they liked school they'd say no. Nowadays kids love school. And fruit and veg. It's all for the best

Primary 78 to 83 then secondary.yeah horrendous..massive comp ,bullying was normal...I'd agree with horrific,I still have nightmares I'm still there...but I don't think about it ever ,it's gone ,you move on..it's life,sometimes life is shit.

It's only as an adult I can recognise the awful sexist, sexually abusive day to day, behaviour of the boys in my high school. And the constant low level scraping away of confidence that was part of my everyday life there.
It's only recently (I'm late 30's) I have realised the effect that it had on me throughout my life. The school was a good one, very large though. I was very bright and capable, I had good friends but it wasn't enough to stop bullies. I didn't really see it for what it was at the time. It left me having a breakdown at 19 and my life went on hold for a decade whilst I got back together. School environments are so complex, socially especially for all who go there, and when it's wrong it can cause real damage to people.