To think school is more enjoyable for children now?

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I hated school growing up, but lots of children now seem to enjoy going and are disappointed if school is closed (lockdown / snow days etc.)

Was it just me who hated school in the 80s/90s or has school become more enjoyable for children now that some of the issues I had to contend with (bullying and awful teachers) are better dealt with?

I agree in most cases. Schools are on the whole much kinder I think and the way subjects are taught is much more engaging.

However, some children still suffer terrible bullying, and I think there is unnecessary pressure in some schools on children around attendance even when ill and performance.

One thing that is clear is that there are far too many young people with poor mental health, so whilst some thing are better, it is not all roses for our young people.

But the teachers I speak to about my kids are amazing. Some of my teachers were horrendously unprofessional, that is not the case with the teachers I speak to these days. They work really hard in general.

The one notable exception is PE - it is still crap and something most kids endure rather than enjoy. I wish PE would sort itself out!

Well, we never experienced extended periods with limited access to education and only our immediate families for company.

School is the main point of socialisation now. They don't get the same freedom out of school.

Plus Lockdown demonstrated to many what an alternative is!

I loved school in the 80s/90s & loved PE. 😆

No, although I honestly would have preferred that to school (not intended to undermine what children have been through with the lockdowns, more to emphasise how much I loathed school!)

Absolutely. Mine love school! The things they come home and tell me they’ve been up to are just fantastic.

Lessons are far more engaging.

I remember ours being the OHP and worksheets!

However I also remember far less pressure for it to be all so academic.

Schools are also far too underfunded nowadays which is bringing a lot of problems to the system.

I think schools are much more concerned with pastoral care that they were and although I quite enjoyed lessons were we copied from the board teaching has moved on and is much more engaging.

It varies massively, some children hate school, some love it. I guess it has always been that way. I loved school as a kid, my dc don’t go to school so can’t comment from their perspective but from home ed groups it is clear many children are not ok in school.

Well my kids are seriously bullied and have some really, really crap teachers. One has self excluded and come home in tears countless times.

There's too much homework and pressure around exams.

Covid has been a shit show. I imagine those trying to homeschool with one mobile phone between four kids wouldn't find it that great.

So I'm on the fence

My daughter likes school and is excited for parts of it. She still preferred lockdown and definitely prefers holidays. I'm impressed some kids are sad about a snow day. (Thinking of those with a nice home, I understand why you would prefer school if home is tricky or worse.)

You don’t know whether or not you’d have preferred lockdown to school, we didn’t experience that.

I hated school in the 90s. Classmates were nice but the teachers seemed to enjoy humiliating pupils and we were all scared of them. There was probably a lot more screaming and shouting and punishments than there are now. Also school dinners were so bad when I was a kid (think liver and swede and rubbery potatoes). I remember walking to school every morning with a knot in my stomach. A lot of my classmates were the same but some obviously took it better and were probably less anxious.

My DC started Reception in September and I'm constantly in awe by how friendly and supportive the school is. It just seems like a proper little community and the teachers make so much effort to make the children feel comfortable and confident. They encourage friendships and always ensure no-one is left out, and I'm utterly delighted with them. The school is a tiny little village C of E though, and maybe a larger school might be different?

I enjoyed school in the 80s and 90s. Much more than dd1 does now. Some things are better now, but there is a lot more pressure on children and teachers now I think. Secondary school seems to have a lot more behaviour issues than when I was there.

I went to school in the 50s and early 60s and my children went to school in the 80s and 90s.

From seeing how my grandchildren's school is now yes, schools have much improved and are wonderful compared to how they were when I was at school.

The teachers at my grandchildren's school all seem lovely and really caring about and engaged with the children they teach.

School in my day was pretty awful. In infant and junior school teachers could, and frequently did, hit children.

I was a very shy, nervous child and spent most of my primary school years in fear of the teachers or the bullies I had to deal with - one child would delight in stabbing the lead of her pencil into my leg - but you never said anything because 'telling tales' was considered a far greater crime than bullying.

Things very much improved in my senior school which was a great deal better.

But even in the 80s/90s when my children were at school things, certainly at their schools, were nothing like they are now.

Obviously, my experience of schools today is very limited but I wish my children, who all hated school, could have had the same school experience as my grandchildren.

100%. We teach in a much livelier, active and engaging way now. Kids are taught how to achieve what they need to - we model it, support it and teach them to evaluate what they're doing. They have every opportunity to succeed.

In my late 80s/90s secondary school experience there was none of this. One especially lazy teacher used to sit in her chair and nap while we got on with some utterly pointless poster advertising e.g. a fair (this was English). One particularly spiteful one goaded my utterly angelic friend constantly, once even accusing her of smoking because a cinder jumped out of the fire onto her maths exercise book. I never pursued science because the chemistry teacher was so openly hostile and dismissive of us.

My parents' experiences in 60s secondary moderns were very much worse than that in every way.

@Ionlydomassiveones

I think this might be true of primary but secondary schools are a level of hell for many teenagers.

Not in my classes they're not. I go out of my way to ensure it.

I find it hard to say

I think so but I did boarding which meant i was away from home

I enjoyed learning in the most part when streaming happened and we could just get on with it

Dc do enjoy it now though which is good.

Definitely more behaviour issues - or maybe more accurately described as criminal behaviour - when I was at school. I witnessed arson, knife carrying, regular drug taking, unopposed truanting and loads of fighting on school premises. None of my children have had similar experiences, there have been fights and vandalism of course.

The one thing that is definitely worse for young people now is social media bullying.

Not sure. I'd say most kids love the socialising part of school, if they have friends and aren't being bullied.

Loving school as a whole (lessons, etc) is a different question and most children don't.

I had a discussion with a primary school friend recently. We both agreed most of our teachers were horrible and school was an ordeal.
I tell my dds often how lucky they are to go to schools they genuinely like. I can't fault our primary school for nurture and pastoral care and lots of fun.

My kids' primary teachers were all really engaging and knew the pupils on a much closer level. School lunches were ok, PE made to be fun and if a child needed extra help, it was managed by the TAs. Plus the SENCO support was always there.

To contrast, my primary was v much marred by teachers scolding and shouting, boys getting the belt, girls got lines and some teachers ruled by fear and totalitarian authority.

Glad teaching has progressed & corporal punishment now banned.

My school experience was very unusual so I can't really compare, but teaching styles are much more engaging now. At my secondary we also had a sixth form and there were a lot of inappropriate relationships with staff that just wouldn't happen now because of the change in the law, what was a bit of a grey area is now very clear. I think if you are an average kid with everything generally going well school is better now. The school did pretty much nothing to help my child who was self harming at age 8 because of undiagnosed SEN. £1k of private assessments and two lockdowns (the first break was a big help) later its all going much better but if people don't have the money or the knowledge to get support privately I can see how things very quickly spiral out of control. There just isn't enough help available for children that are struggling, especially if they aren't already flagged as vulnerable through by receiving pupil premium etc