Seniors Share the ‘Normal’ Things That Happened in Schools That Would Make You Say ‘Wait, WHAT’

Education has changed dramatically over the years, but you might be surprised by the absolutely crazy things that were once considered “normal” when your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were in school.

I recently asked older adults in the BuzzFeed community, “What ‘normal’ things used to be common in schools that we don’t hear about today?”

Here are their pluses shocking answers:

1.“When I was in grade school (1963-1966) in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, the local power company gave a presentation on the wonders of nuclear power and passed around a piece of radioactive ore so that children can handle it.

-Anonymous

2.“When I was in 5th/6th grade, I was asked to manage the principal’s office during the principal’s/secretary’s lunch breaks.”

-Anonymous

3.“In our small rural Kansas town, which was mostly farm kids from all over the county, the older kids, juniors and seniors, were allowed to drive the buses on the rural roads. One of our drivers, who was a senior, had the habit of hitting a big hill at full speed, and it would cause the fire emergency door at the back of the bus to fly off.

-Anonymous

4.“In elementary school (1961), when I was sick, my father would send the teacher a glass jar of whiskey and honey, with a tablespoon attached, with dosage instructions.”

-Anonymous

5.“Middle school, New Jersey, early 1970s. Girls were automatically assigned to sewing (7th grade) and cooking (8th grade). Boys automatically got a carpentry workshop and mechanical drawing.

-Anonymous

6.“After finishing kindergarten, our teacher had a sleepover at her house and invited all the kids in the class. We camped out in her living room, got to play with her baby, and hung out with her husband watching movies. movies after dark The next day, after breakfast, we went to the park and hung out until our parents picked us up from the town we lived in 20 minutes away.

-Anonymous

7.“In the early ’70s, if a child’s name was difficult to pronounce, the school changed its name. Enrique became Henry.”

-Anonymous

8.“We went on a field trip to see a cow being slaughtered.”

-Anonymous

9.“My high school also had a 10-minute mid-morning smoke break. This was in the mid-to-late 1990s.”

—francesjoys

ten.“My high school had a daycare, and I remember teachers being upset they couldn’t use it. But it definitely helped teen moms stay in school.”

—randocalrissian

11.“Class of 1986 here. For a class presentation of Shakespeare in English, I used one of my real swords as a prop. I just walked down the hall to class, blade in its sheath, no problem !”

—majorh

12.“My mother was a teacher, and when she became pregnant with me, she was expected to stop as soon as she started showing things because it was ‘inappropriate’ to be pregnant in the presence of “She refused to do it, and that really made her principal angry.”

—anniemh

13.“In the 1960s, our high school (Ontario, Canada) received a bomb threat and all 1,100 students were evacuated. Ten minutes later, the principal rounded up all the final year boys and sent them back to school to do a thorough search. As expected, the bomb did not exist, but we were potentially unusable. Not a single student or parent has commented, let alone complained.

-Anonymous

14.“When I was in elementary school in the 1970s, we gathered every morning in the auditorium to take the Pledge of Allegiance. Every year a nice lady would come to our school and give everyone a Bible. students; I still have mine. We received fluoride treatments at school. Also, once a year, a nurse came to school to examine us for scoliosis.

—monicaj411ddc5d1

15.“A carton of milk for lunch costs three cents.”

-Anonymous

16.“It was 1969. The 8th graders went on a field trip to Washington, D.C. The teacher took us off the bus at the Smithsonian, told us what time to return, and let everyone wander around, without any chaperones .It was exhilarating.”

-Anonymous

17.“My middle school, in the 70s, required boys to swim naked during swimming lessons. I still don’t know the reason.”

—young octopus13

18.“In the 60s and 70s, my stepfather was a primary school principal and used to take school boys to the hairdresser if he thought their hair was too long.”

—937kim

19.“In central Florida, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, our elementary schools were holding drills. All students were loaded onto buses and taken to a “safe” location. The safe place was about 15 miles away. My younger sister was afraid she would never see our parents again. I was afraid we were still in the bombing zone.

—furry cake18

20.“In high school, boys had to carry their football or basketball during the sports season. If they had a girlfriend, she had to walk one meter behind the athlete.”

—impassive wolf40

21.“If you said a bad word, the teacher made you put a bar of soap in your mouth. You had to sit on a stool until the teacher felt you were punished enough.”

-nugget744 glitter

22.“I remember the punishments in class for anything the teacher didn’t like: we had to hold four books of books in each hand, arms outstretched.”

—magic knight55

23.“My husband had undiagnosed ADHD in elementary school, and a teacher made him sit at a desk in the back of a classroom, wearing a dunce hat that said “baby” when he was unable to focus. This was in the 60s. Can you imagine the trial if this happened today?

—SoOverItAll

24.“Shopping for the teachers during class! We were sent into town several times to deliver or pick up things or even pay their bills at the post office. I remember going to get a dry cleaner, handing over documents to a teacher at another school, and to buy eyeliner and mascara for my German teacher, who came to class one day with only one manicured eye.”

—himalayatous

25.“I remember I was in first grade and the principal was saying a prayer over the intercom because the United States had just entered the Gulf War.”

—Swiftheart83

26.“1987: My guidance counselor told me to drop my computer classes and take a home economics class, something useful and appropriate to help me attract a husband. When I said I wanted classes that would prepare me for college, she didn’t understand why I “I would go to college if I didn’t have to.”

—xouielée

27.“My first country school in the 1940s had an outhouse. It was very cold in the winter and very bad in the hot weather.”

-Anonymous

28.“In the mid-1960s, I was in fourth grade, and while learning weights and measures, they weighed the lightest and heaviest students in front of the class so we could tell the difference.”

-Anonymous

And finally…

29.“Back in the 80s, my elementary school used fifth graders as crossing guards. We 10-year-olds rightfully stood there with our bright orange seat belts and were fully expected to stop traffic and guide the younger kids children safely across the street My I was blown away the first time I saw an “adult” crossing guard.

-Anonymous

As adults who went to school in the 70s, what “normal” things happened that are unheard of today? Let us know in the comments below or use this Google form to stay anonymous.

Note: Some answers have been edited for length/clarity.