YOU CAN’T DO THAT IN SCHOOL ANYMORE

(March 2023) Buzzfeed asked, “What ‘normal’ things used to be common in school that are unheard of today?” Some of the responses:
– “In elementary school, I used to bring teachers their cigarettes from the cigarette vending machine in the teachers’ lounge so they could smoke outside while we played at recess.”
– “When I was in elementary school, our principal would pull out your loose baby teeth if you asked.”
– “My teacher tied my left hand to my chair to force me to write right-handed.”
– “Our high school had a rifle range on the fourth floor for our school rifle team to practice after school.”
– “When I was in the fifth grade (1997), we went to the Bronx Zoo on a class trip. We weren’t allowed to go into the bat exhibit as a whole group, so our teacher paired each student with a stranger to go into the dark, cave-like exhibit with. Thankfully, we all returned to our teacher on the other side.”
– “Naughty children in my fifth-grade class were made to sit or stand in the trash can because they were acting like trash.”
– “We used to line up in elementary school to get vaccinated. The same needle was used on everyone; it was just wiped with an alcoholic cotton ball between uses. This was in the ’60s.”
– “When I was in second grade, the teacher would give us mercury to play with at our desks.”
– “In second grade, the bus got stuck on a snow-covered hill, fairly steep. The driver had the kids get out, go behind the bus, and push.”
– “In elementary school, ’88–’94, they would have fifth and sixth graders working in the cafeteria. Every week, a different group of four kids would work serving food, collecting the dirty trays, using the industrial washer for the lunch trays, and cleaning. All we got for the work was a free lunch. And we had to miss lunch recess. We all looked forward to doing it in the younger grades. I still think of those weeks as good memories.
– “Left-handed kids sat separately.”
* PHONE TOPIC: “What was common in your school that are unheard of today?”