Covering books. AIBU to think we were had at school in the past

[Hottubtimemachine]

My kids are at senior school and there has not been one mention of covering their books. I remember spending literally HOURS doing this and even got a detention once for not covering my French book.
Why were we made to do this? What was the point? Does anyone still do it? AIBU to think teachers robbed me of hours of my life 😉

Used to love doing this! Did my own with wrapping paper and did my older kids books too, with the sticky stuff.

I remeber getting in trouble using toilet roll to cover my maths book 😳

I did mine with tin foil in 3rd year (secondary). My mate thought it looked great and wanted to put her name and a lads name inside a love heart on it totally ripped it. Had to redo it.

@HumbugWhale I can't imagine school without exercise books! I definitely learn by writing though it's part of how I process it. I don't think I'd achieve it the same with handouts or typing it up. I'm sure it's a recognized form of learning too.

I was constantly in trouble because my mother refused point blank to spend money on wrapping paper and sellotape, never the holy grail of neatness that was sticky back plastic.

Still think it's better than the 'Ofsted will only accept plastic removable covers with working at and target levels slapped on the front so everybody sees those with SEN or lower ability aren't at the same level when they're handed out in class and detentions for doodles or not using five different colour pens' approach.

Can't remember the last time I saw an actual textbook, though.

Yes - always covered jotters as well as text books at school.

Nowadays you can buy clear or even patterned covers that your book just slips in, like the covers you get on hardback novels almost.

Sooo much easier and smarter

@woodhill my mum made me use brown paper. She said that wallpaper was common and not a mark of someone very educated. We had to cover exercise books, text books stayed in school usually.

I bloody loved this at school as I wasn't allowed magazines, except for once a year I was permitted to get Smash Hits in order to have a poster to wrap a book in. The rest of my books were leftover wrapping paper, half the time bloody Christmas paper

I came across my late mother’s school report books when I cleared my parents’ house last year. They were covering report books with brown paper - in 1937.

At my tender age in the 1970s, I thought it was an utterly pointless activity to cover my exercise books. Having found the above, I’m now convinced it is an ossified tradition that has carried on so long no one actually remembers why they do it any more!

I’m actually amazed it still goes on!

Ahh memories! It had to be a mitre corner and wallpaper was favoured

I can’t fathom the point of exercise books, at least past infant school. Especially when they seem to spend inordinate amount of time cutting out work they’ve done on paper and sticking it to the pages of an exercise book. Why? What’s the point?! Why can’t they just use ring binder(s) and hole punched paper?

And why must they have a totally new set of exercise books every year when there’s almost always three quarters of the old one left because they just don’t do a whole exercise book’s worth of science in a year at junior school.

Millions of pounds (and trees) must be wasted in schools with all these flipping half used books full of glued in paper! I’m sure there’s some ofsted related reason why it’s essential to my child’s learning…

I used to cover my books with full page film adverts from Smash Hits, one page for each side. I remember one was Pump Up The Volume with Christian Slater.

Ah, covering my books in posters of my beloved Bon Jovi.

From Smash Hits and Kerrang.

Omg and at our school you could always tell what type of decor people had by the wallpaper they used on the books I haven’t thought about that for about thirty years

I used to love it at school but it’s environmentally unfriendly. All that waste… (we had to use clear plastic)

I’m at the ones allowed to use Smash Hits posters too

God, I don't think I would remember how to do it now! Hopefully my kids never need to come and ask me for help

Ahhh the memories. The look of sheer horror when I handed my biology book in to my very Conservative biology teacher, all freshly covered with a W.A.S.P poster I'd gleaned from that weeks Kerrang magazine.

Not sure what horrified her more, Blackie Lawless' cod piece, the chainsaws or the blood.
I failed biology. I don't think it was connected 😂

@KilledByWitches I LOVED Blackie Lawless and his exploding codpiece

I used to cover my books in brown paper, voluntarily. I was the only person in the class who did this (I was a horrible child) so when the teacher was giving them back, I could see where mine was in the pile.

DS has to cover one of his books when he started year 7 last year. I bought some sticky back plastic and was going to do them all but I made a right mess of it and ordered some plastic covers (a4 and a5 size). The best thing is that he is reusing them for this year’s books so it’s less wasteful.

I love covering books - usually wargaming manuals. But also really happy to cover school books. I've got A Method and it's very satisfying.

I was telling my kids about this only this week, they looked at me like
My mum went out and bought a roll of paper just to cover our school books, it was white with tiny roses all over it, it lasted mine and my sister’s entire time at high school, I was really good at it and I took pride in my books looking neat with their little mitred corners

We never did this ever.