21 Things Teachers Did In The ’80s And ’90s That Would Be A Whole Incident Today
The older I get, the more I realize “that’s just how it was” is doing a lot of work. Someone will casually mention something their teacher did in 1987, and halfway through the story you’re wondering if we should file a report or something.
One person remembers a teacher who made childhood fun. The next person probably has a story.
I remember one time a kid in my class asked to go to the bathroom. The teacher kept refusing until my classmate couldn’t hold it any longer. It was a scene. It was so bad that no one even made fun of him, which you’d think would be low-hanging fruit for a room full of 9-year-olds. Even we knew the teacher was the problem there.
These adults shared things their teachers did in the ’80s and ’90s that would be hard to imagine happening today.
Some make the parent who emails about everything seem pretty reasonable.
1. Friday Lunch Came With A Ride From The Teacher
“A 6th grade teacher would take three kids every Friday to McDonald’s for lunch. She was cool as hell. Smoked during the drive and everything.”
via u/SigP365SAS
2. This English Teacher Made Bathroom Breaks A Whole Production
“One of my English teachers smoked a joint in his car every day during his planning period. Same guy had a hall pass that was a sandwich board reading ‘I am missing out on a valuable educational experience because I have to tinkle.’ He also called me a sarcastic little shit, which I totally deserved.”
via u/Arg3nt
3. A Science Teacher’s Attempt At Discipline Backfired Spectacularly
“In 8th grade, the science teacher calls a kid to the front of the room for some minor infraction, has him bend over, then kicks him in the ass. However, the student stepped out of the way just in time, and the teacher kicked the blackboard’s chalk tray, sending chalk flying everywhere. The humiliation was on the other foot then as the teacher chased the kid around the room a few laps. Chaos.”
via u/DLiltsadwj
4. The Spanish Teacher Had An Unofficial Policy For One Bully
“I had a high school Spanish teacher tell me after class one day that she wouldn’t say anything if I sucker punched this one annoying bully in the class that she also hated.”
5. The Principal’s Office Offered An Unexpected Service
“My elementary school principal would pull loose teeth. You could go to his office, have him pull your loose tooth and he would give you a lollipop.”
6. The Last Day Of Third Grade Turned Into An Overnight Event
“My 3rd-grade teacher had the whole class camp in her backyard after the last day of school. She took us to see the original TMNT movie in the theater, then we stayed up late telling ghost stories. One of my absolute fondest memories.”
via u/Cambot1138
7. Field Trips Started With Finding A Kid Who Knew The Way
“’90s kid here. If we ever had to go somewhere a bit far away and take a bus, our teacher let us go there by ourselves and come with his car. We were 9–12 years old. He would ask if anyone knew where the place was and made them a leader to take the class there.
“Also, because the school pays for these trips, he would give the school’s bus card that had like 500€ loaded into it to someone so we can pay for those kids who didn’t have the bus ticket.”
via u/laihaluikku
8. Getting In Trouble Left Evidence For The Rest Of The Day
“English teacher in high school used to cuss kids out for being noisy in class and if that didn’t work, he’d throw the blackboard eraser at us. I wasn’t on the receiving end of the eraser. That chalk would leave marks on kid’s backs for the rest of the day so everyone knew who pissed him off.”
9. The Reward For Doing Well Was A Strange One
“I had a second-grade teacher that everyone LOVED. He told hilarious stories and he had great games to help us learn. He was genuinely a great teacher. And one of the rewards that you could earn if you did well was a ‘Charlie horse’ where he would basically hit you on your leg (roughly just above the knee) in a way that felt like hitting your funny bone but in a more mild way. So many kids were so excited to do this. As far as I can tell, nobody was traumatized by this and nothing creepy was going on, but he was hitting students for their amusement. No way that would fly today.”
10. A Confiscated Lunch Became The Teacher’s Lunch
“My middle school teacher confiscated my lunch after catching me trying to eat some of it during class and then he ate it in front of everyone and sent me to lunch with nothing. My mom cried when I told her what happened and complained to the school but nothing happened to him.”
via u/csh213
11. The Biology Teacher Demanded Proof Someone Was Sick
“I told my biology teacher that I wasn’t feeling too well. He said that I didn’t look sick, and as punishment, made me stand in the corner until I fainted.”
via u/AustrianReaper
12. Learning About This Teacher’s Other Job Made It Even Worse
“It was my first-grade teacher. I shook the ruler in my hand, and the teacher took my ruler and hit me with it causing my nose to bleed. Few years later, I found out that she also had been working as a school psychologist.”
via u/Arkhidexx
13. A Sportsmanship Lesson Got Physical In PE
“In high school, we would sometimes play knee soccer which was in our wrestling room (wall-to-wall wrestling mats) and it was really just handball but on our knees. The PE teacher (football coach) let us play rough since it was an all-male class and we were on our knees and couldn’t do too much damage. During the game, two of the students were grappling for the ball and as these things go, one of them accidentally knocked the other a little too aggressively. The kid that got hit (a known asshole of the school) got pissed and stood up and kicked the other kid. The PE teacher (a 225-pound jacked military haircut) stormed over and shoved the kid who flew about 10 feet before crashing to the ground.
“The kid gets up ready to fight whoever shoved him and the teacher closed the gap and started screaming at him. Then the teacher lectured the entire class about sportsmanship and honor. The teacher never got in any trouble.”
14. Desk Inspections Became A Public Event
“If my teacher thought your desk was too messy she’d flip it over and dump out all of the contents in the middle of the classroom and then make you pick them up while everyone watched you. We were six years old.”
via u/Heretic_Red
15. One Classroom Punishment Lasted Half The School Year
“Had my chair taken away for half the year by my 8th-grade teacher. I could stand or had to sit on the floor.”
via u/Coyote-Most
16. Leaning Back In A Chair Had A Dangerous Consequence
“In elementary school, we had a teacher who, if you leaned back in your chair with your chair on two legs, would sneak up behind you and kick the chair out from under you causing you to fall and possibly smack your head in the floor. He could have seriously hurt or killed a kid by doing that, but no one batted an eye at it.”
17. A Denied Bathroom Break Had An Entirely Avoidable Ending
“When I was in first grade, I asked to use the bathroom during recess. My teacher said no because I just had lunch and could’ve used it then (when I didn’t have to go). So I pooped my pants behind a tree and had to go through the embarrassing aftermath during nap time.”
18. The Classroom Threats Weren’t Always Empty
“My elementary school teacher used to say to kids ‘you’re cruising for a bruising’ and once washed out my friend Jermaine’s mouth out with soap. This was circa 1987.”
via u/chefboyardeejr
19. The Teacher’s Office Doubled As A Smoking Lounge
“Not something done to me per se, but my 3rd grade teacher had a little office with a door inside our classroom, and she would smoke cigarettes in there while we were at lunch/recess.”
via u/HutSutRawlson
20. Dodgeball Didn’t Require A Trip To The Gym
“In the early ’80s, our teacher let us play a modified version of dodgeball… in the classroom.”
via u/zim1109
21. Falling Asleep Made You A Target
“I had a teacher that would throw foam balls at students when they fell asleep.”
via u/Cuesport77