424Kviews
30 Facts From The ’70s And ’80s That Seem Unbelievable Now, Shared In This Online Thread
Kids in the '70s and '80s had a different experience when growing up. No wonder your auntie Betsie never misses a chance to tell the same old story of her 10-year-old self walking 5 km to school in freezing winter. “These days kids, they don’t know!” she mumbles.
But she must be right. This illuminating thread shared by Dan Wuori, the senior director of early learning at The Hunt Institute, shed light on what kids in the past experienced in their daily lives and most of it is simply hard to imagine.
“My high school had a smoking area. For the kids,” Wuori tweeted before asking everyone to share “What’s something you experienced as a kid that would blow your children’s minds?” Below we selected some of the most interesting posts that reveal just how much times have changed.
Image credits: DanWuori
This post may include affiliate links.
Trawling through the library index first to find the right encyclopedia / reference publication then building your footnotes / bibliography to support your submission. Roughly 30 minutes for per reference...
Childhood memories are something most of us cherish throughout our lives. Prof. Krystine Batcho, a scholar in science of nostalgia and licensed psychologist, has developed a tool to measure our emotions towards the past using the Nostalgia Inventory Test. The tool shows how strongly and how often people feel nostalgic.
In a previous in-depth interview with Prof. Batcho, Bored Panda asked the professor about the role our childhood memories play in our lives. According to the professor, childhood memories can influence our adult lives in a number of ways. “They can contribute to our overall sense of happiness in life.”
This was "normal" in the UK in the 80s and 90s. Uniform was a skirt for the girls. In winter they simply wore woolly tights, which was also part of the uniform and had to be a certain colour. Boys wore trousers and it was only if it was really hot we could wear shorts and very occasionally it would be declared a "no tie" day.
Moreover, Batcho argues that social experiences we had when little are crucial to our development and adult lives. “Positive childhood social events, such as family get-togethers during the holidays or parties to celebrate birthdays or achievements, help establish good self-esteem and healthy social skills in adulthood,” she told us.
Prof. Batcho’s life-long research suggested that “positive childhood memories are associated with more adaptive coping skills in adulthood.” For example, people with happier memories of childhood were less likely to turn to counterproductive ways of dealing with stressful situations, such as substance abuse or escapist behavior.
The amount of times I would burn my hands on the monkey bars from the hot Aussie sun 😤 the blisters! But my god was it fun!!!
That means that healthy coping is not something we’re born with, but rather “it is learned during childhood by role modeling trusted adults, and memories of how respected adults coped with adversity,” the professor explained.
If you deeply cherish your childhood memories and carry them throughout your life, you’re not the only one, Batcho argues. The professor explained that this phenomenon is called “rosy retrospection,” and it refers to a tendency to remember the past as better than it really was.
Ha. There was one bus stop in the entire village. Apart from the one and only school bus, the remainder of the bus service flipped between one an hour to two busses a week! I walked to primary school, including on my own from about aged 7 or 8, and cycled to secondary school which was 3 miles away in the nearest town. This is probably why I have such little patience with the Chelsea tractors (SUVs) doing the "school run".
“There might be an evolutionary reason for it, because a favorable focus on the past helps most people remain healthy and happy despite the practical and emotional challenges of adult life,” prof. Batcho explained. Having said that, it’s also important to note that memory retrieval and the way we feel about them is directly influenced by a person’s current mood and state of mind. It turns out that when we are sad or depressed, we are more likely to remember negative events in our past and remember past experiences less favorably.
The one I remember was mostly a toy: molded plastic seat, one inch plastic strap with a buckle, and a plastic steering wheel with a squeeky horn button.
Probably because they were hunting rifles, used for hunting and not assault rifles, used for God knows what.
Well at least the nurse tried to calm her down, though a newborn should not be near smoking!
We had Nitty Nora the head explorer. You were treated then and there. The shame of going back to class was dreadful.
I'm also from Raleigh. My second grade teacher's wooden paddle was made by her husband and he'd even done fancy burn in lettering to put her name on it. Good times
Two guys that got caught fighting in my high school were sent to the principles office and he decided that each of them should spank each other. I've never seen bruised butts like they had after it was done. This wouldn't happen today.
I bet it was hilarious, though. For it's time, anyway.
Load More Replies...
Too much chance of some pervert with a spanking fetish. Dont touch other people any age.
This happened to me and a couple of other kids. After roughly 15 years I still haven't gotten over it.
Load More Replies...
My elementary teacher refused to give my my ADHD medicine during school, and when I'd fail to listen or follow directions, she'd throw a glass of water in my face in front of the whole class so I'd have to sit there wet and be reminded all day of how I misbehaved.
If sent to the headmaster for the cane, upon entering his study he’d first tell you to “Say hello to Denzil” (one of his fluffy toys on his shelf). He would tower over you yelling about whatever crime you’d committed. He’d then talk you through his collection of weapons neatly displayed upon his wall and their properties: the thin whippy cane than would sting for hours; the 2 inch wide leather strap that would leave a burning red mark until the following day; the inch wide oak walking stick that would “probably break every bone in your hand”, and so one. Finally, he’d sentence you to six of the best, often chuckling, shouting out with each stroke of the weapon, “ONE! TWO! THREE!…” etc. After the sixth and final stroke, just when you thought it was over, he’d bellow “And one more for talking to toys!” Whack! If you didn’t greet Denzil, you’d get one more for disobeying him.
Man, did anyone ever check this guy's crawlspace? He truly sounds like a serial uh unaliver.
Load More Replies... We had a wooden paddle (like a big table tennis bat - but no rubber) and the teacher would put a big cross on it in chalk before wacking you, so everybody could tell who had had the 'padda bat'!
In Junior High I had a teacher with a wood paddle. One day he announced he had taken it down to the woodworking shop and drilled holes in it. He said it cut down wind resistance and he could swing it faster.
My mom was a 6-7th grade Math teacher. She was well known for the ruler she used to pop the students knuckles. Those same students would come see her at her PT job at KMart near the high school. Over the years, they'd bring their wives and children to meet her. Years later the Principal threatened to fire her for popping their knuckles. She decided to retire early..
Spanking kids doesn't do any harm. <-- people I know. 🤔 Let's just ask some grown ups, or read these answers. They remember decades afterwards... spanking is illegal were I live, I think that's good. Children should respect their parents, not be afraid of them. It's a big difference.
I'm 43. I got paddled for fighting in school. Never fought in school again. Wouldn't do the same to my kid now, though. We learn from what was done to us and try not to repeat those mistakes with our own children.
I had a friend who went to catholic school. He said the nuns would make him pull up his pants leg and they would hit his calf with a thick wooden ruler real fast. Like 20 times in 5 seconds. Then he'd get a second beating when he got home for getting in trouble with the nuns.
My 3rd grade teacher put girls over his knee, up with the skirt, and used a slipper on our backsides. Boys got the cane. Pervert!
I had a teacher in Fayetteville, NC that whacked anyone across the back if they didn't write their name on their homework. I only had it happen once, but another boy in my class got it all the time. So wrong.
We had that at my school too. My mom about lost her mind when she found that out. Went to the school and told teachers they do not have permission to put their hands on me.
Yeah, they did that in my elementary and junior high school. The holes were to allow the air to pass to reduce wind resistance and let the teacher swing faster. Most of the kids, if they got paddled at school could expect a second paddling, whipping or switching when they got home. My mom used to have a big leather belt, and she'd make us go get it. She used to say "The fastest way to a kid's brain is through their butt." She thought "switches" were too much though. I had a friend whose Mom would make him go outside and tear a "switch" a narrow, slinder branch, off a tree, and then she'd whip him with it.
I got 5 licks for extra credit in Algebra I. The teacher was sone of the coaches. Sadistic bastards, all of them with us chubby, non-sports kids.
My elementary principal had one with holes in it. Not only did it sting more but also made a whistling sound so you heard it coming.
In 1st grade (catholic school), I was hit across the knuckles with a wooden ruler. The kind with the metal strip in it. Ouch!
If teachers could still do that maybe we would have so many a**holes in school
I got paddled in third grade in the front of the class cause I did the wrong page in my math workbook for homework.
Elementary school. 7th grade. Just moved from VA to GA. I got sent to the principal's office. (don't remember why.) He was supposed to paddle me. I told him No. No one spanks me but my mother. Made him call my mom. She backed me up (thanks Mom!) I was never paddle in school. But my mom at home... Belt in the closet. Got my share of sore bottom.
Wearing a Dunce Cap while seated on a high stool in front of the class...
We had the "BIG" paddle with numerous holes drilled into it. It didn't sting it hurt like ........
Yep, our VP in middle school was the official swatter. Big paddle with big holes. Yes, it hurt.
I grew up in Raleigh- some of the paddles were some kind of thick plastic that had holes and kind of bent, a little, too (Martin Jr High, I'm lookin' at you...). This was back in the '70s. I think they could make them (wooden and plastic) in the shop class.
Getting licks with the paddle in the principal's office always resulted in more licks with your father's belt when you got home. I don't understand why we abandoned corporal punishment. There is a big difference between discipline and abuse. Personally I think it is abusive to the child not to spank them when they are doing something they shouldn't do. Pain is negative feedback that teaches you not to do something because it hurts. It has been perfected over millions of years of evolution. But the "intellectuals" seem to see it as abuse. Their "revelation" con-insides with the rise in things like teachers getting beat up and school shootings.
10 Straps each hand for throwing snowballs. 22 of us lined up in the hallway.
I grew up a few hours from Raleigh during a time when the furniture industry was big in NC. One of the local factories built sturdy paddles with a beautiful furniture finish (just like a high-end coffee table!!) and gave them to all the school principals.And, they were stingers!
In Australian schools we had the cane. A long thin stick of sugar cane or bamboo on open palm hands. I remember in 2nd grade I got 5 raps from a wooden ruler on top of your hand (for girls). I beat up a boy who hit my friend.
My first grade teacher had one of these on the wall back in like 2012. Never used it but it was a threat.
My sister still has my mom's paddle. I think it was a rite of passage to get paddled by my mom, especially the football players.
We had the same wood (oak) paddles in a private school in the ‘80s. Our paddling’s were done privately hands over the desk at the parents office. Our parents had to sign a consent form which my parents did. I remember realizing on the last one that it didn’t hurt but I was afraid and embarrassed. That fear of the very few I ever had were, generally speaking, enough to keep me in line the rest of the time. I really don’t have a problem with it as no real harm came of it. I felt then as I do now, that deserved what came to me as I broke rules willingly with known consequences if caught. I remember one time thinking to myself that it wasn’t hurting as much as I feared. I wanted to laugh but was a fraud he would hit me harder. Ha! Anyway, my point ways, I experienced something similar and I think having a physical punishment is not necessary a bad thing if applied fairly and not excessive.
I had a teacher that let you sign her paddle after you got a whooping. It was an honor to sign it, so we cut up in class so we could sign it.
Note: this post originally had 41 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Bigotry, racism, homophobia, and bullying were acceptable then. Really glad things changed.
Things are much better but i am afraid that we are going backwards.
Load More Replies...
My seventh grade school field trip was to a state prison. When we entered the prison, the prisoners on the upper floors threw lit toilet paper at us. We ate lunch in the cafeteria with the prisoners with very little supervision, and we got a tour of death row. John Wayne Gacy was there.
I would love that tour as an adult! Probably a bit frightening for younger folk, though
Load More Replies...
Our school bus driver kept a leather belt hanging on a hook beside his seat as a warning not to misbehave. We knew he would gladly use it on a student.
Ours was always tipsy or stoned. Made for some interesting bus rides...
Load More Replies...
I sat in a smoking seat once on a flight to Mexico. With all the 2nd hand smoke haze hanging there in the section it was like you were smoking, you didn’t need to actually light up.
Load More Replies...
I don't know why people are downvoting peoples' experiences. Telling an experience does not entail endorsing it. If you keep downvoting people they get banned from BP. Please think before you downvote. You should downvote if someone ADVOCATES something horrible like child assault, racism, etc. Not if they say they were a victim of it. Sheesh.
Milk being delivered to houses via a delivery van with teen boys hanging off the back, driving down our street to bring you fresh milk in glass bottles. I’d stand outside and listen for the cow horn and grab the milk from one of the lads and bring it up to the house :)
did you have those weird tokens to pay for the bottles?
Load More Replies...
My only weird memory from the 80's is addressing the kindergarten staff as "comrade" - that's because the communist regime had not collapsed yet (that was in 1990).
That's cool, you'll be interested to know in South Africa our politicians (except the whites) still call each other comrade.
Load More Replies...
In the 80's I could take a note to the liquor store and buy cigarettes for my mom.
Some things are much better. Some things are much much worse.
Load More Replies...
The gym teacher was on cafeteria supervision duty & didn't like one kid tipping back on his chair. He warned him once. Next time he kicked the chair right out from under him. This would be mid seventies.
When my mom was 16 she had to take a permission slip to Girl Scout camp from her mom saying it was ok for her to smoke.
When I was little, everyone sent to the nurse at school for a big plastic spoonful of Pepto Bismal. Bug bite? Pesto. Headache? Pesto. Broken arm? Yep, you guessed it,Pepto!!
We always joked that our school nurse asked everyone if they were pregnant.
Load More Replies...
A couple of these were still happening in the 90's... or even early 2000's if you lived in the middle of nowhere
That was a different time. In today's reactions, the teacher wasn't fired. Shockingly. In the mid-80s, she was probably written up. I should ask the girl - we occasionally see each other.
My mum had one of the early ATM cards, although they weren't called that at the time. It was plastic, with punched holes in it, £10 printed on it and that was what you got out of the machine. The machine ate your card and the bank sent it back to you in the post. True story
In grade 4 we had a great teacher (for once). He had a small farm and all kinds of animals and pets. End of year he was actually allowed to have us for an overnight stay at his house. Now, there was (as far as I knew or knowto this day) nothing nefarious in his invitation, just a treat. EXCEPT, it was only the BOYS allowed, because having us girls there too would have been unseemly. I mean, wt heck?
I was born in 1980. One thing I know from my mom was that in the 70's, a lot of school bus drivers were high school kids! We didn't have smoking in my high school, but our church camp still allowed it up until my senior year ('99). I don't know if smoking age is a state law issue, but it used to be 16 (though you had to be 18 to buy them). Parents would have to sign a permission slip and campers would get a bracelet. Half the kids either forged the permission slip or they'd trade the bracelets around. When they moved the age to 18, my camp cut it out because less than 1/4 of the kids would qualify.
We had a smoking area at my high school too. It was called "the hole" and the school security guard (before there were resource officers in schools) would hang out out there with us to make sure there was peace. There always was. We were just smoking cigarettes, talking, and playing hacky sack.
Ha. Ours was called "the pit" and it was exactly the same.
Load More Replies...
I was born in '93 and some of these still aply to me! Like we had smoking area for my countrys version of high school (ages 16-18 so technically the older ones were adults) and when I was a child we only had 4 channels in TV too. Did the 70's and 80's come to Finland in the '90s? :D
Parental living like they didn't have children. Adults doing whatever they want. No wonder people want a return to those days. Nothing weird about hitting a kid on thei a*s with a wooden paddle.
My science teacher smoked 19 cigarettes inside the classroom during a 100 minutes class.
My science teacher would leave the room whenever my class frustrated her. Always returned reeking of cigarettes.
Load More Replies... Several of us had wednesday afternoons off in HS. We would all being our rifles to on the bus and leave them in our lockers. One of us had a car and we would take off at noon to a gravel pit for an afternoon of target shooting. Only comment I ever got was one teacher asked to see what type of rifle I had.
Bigotry, racism, homophobia, and bullying were acceptable then. Really glad things changed.
Things are much better but i am afraid that we are going backwards.
Load More Replies... My seventh grade school field trip was to a state prison. When we entered the prison, the prisoners on the upper floors threw lit toilet paper at us. We ate lunch in the cafeteria with the prisoners with very little supervision, and we got a tour of death row. John Wayne Gacy was there.
I would love that tour as an adult! Probably a bit frightening for younger folk, though
Load More Replies... Our school bus driver kept a leather belt hanging on a hook beside his seat as a warning not to misbehave. We knew he would gladly use it on a student.
Ours was always tipsy or stoned. Made for some interesting bus rides...
Load More Replies... I sat in a smoking seat once on a flight to Mexico. With all the 2nd hand smoke haze hanging there in the section it was like you were smoking, you didn’t need to actually light up.
Load More Replies... I don't know why people are downvoting peoples' experiences. Telling an experience does not entail endorsing it. If you keep downvoting people they get banned from BP. Please think before you downvote. You should downvote if someone ADVOCATES something horrible like child assault, racism, etc. Not if they say they were a victim of it. Sheesh.
Milk being delivered to houses via a delivery van with teen boys hanging off the back, driving down our street to bring you fresh milk in glass bottles. I’d stand outside and listen for the cow horn and grab the milk from one of the lads and bring it up to the house :)
did you have those weird tokens to pay for the bottles?
Load More Replies... My only weird memory from the 80's is addressing the kindergarten staff as "comrade" - that's because the communist regime had not collapsed yet (that was in 1990).
That's cool, you'll be interested to know in South Africa our politicians (except the whites) still call each other comrade.
Load More Replies... In the 80's I could take a note to the liquor store and buy cigarettes for my mom.
Some things are much better. Some things are much much worse.
Load More Replies... The gym teacher was on cafeteria supervision duty & didn't like one kid tipping back on his chair. He warned him once. Next time he kicked the chair right out from under him. This would be mid seventies.
When my mom was 16 she had to take a permission slip to Girl Scout camp from her mom saying it was ok for her to smoke.
When I was little, everyone sent to the nurse at school for a big plastic spoonful of Pepto Bismal. Bug bite? Pesto. Headache? Pesto. Broken arm? Yep, you guessed it,Pepto!!
We always joked that our school nurse asked everyone if they were pregnant.
Load More Replies... A couple of these were still happening in the 90's... or even early 2000's if you lived in the middle of nowhere
That was a different time. In today's reactions, the teacher wasn't fired. Shockingly. In the mid-80s, she was probably written up. I should ask the girl - we occasionally see each other.
My mum had one of the early ATM cards, although they weren't called that at the time. It was plastic, with punched holes in it, £10 printed on it and that was what you got out of the machine. The machine ate your card and the bank sent it back to you in the post. True story
In grade 4 we had a great teacher (for once). He had a small farm and all kinds of animals and pets. End of year he was actually allowed to have us for an overnight stay at his house. Now, there was (as far as I knew or knowto this day) nothing nefarious in his invitation, just a treat. EXCEPT, it was only the BOYS allowed, because having us girls there too would have been unseemly. I mean, wt heck?
I was born in 1980. One thing I know from my mom was that in the 70's, a lot of school bus drivers were high school kids! We didn't have smoking in my high school, but our church camp still allowed it up until my senior year ('99). I don't know if smoking age is a state law issue, but it used to be 16 (though you had to be 18 to buy them). Parents would have to sign a permission slip and campers would get a bracelet. Half the kids either forged the permission slip or they'd trade the bracelets around. When they moved the age to 18, my camp cut it out because less than 1/4 of the kids would qualify.
We had a smoking area at my high school too. It was called "the hole" and the school security guard (before there were resource officers in schools) would hang out out there with us to make sure there was peace. There always was. We were just smoking cigarettes, talking, and playing hacky sack.
Ha. Ours was called "the pit" and it was exactly the same.
Load More Replies... I was born in '93 and some of these still aply to me! Like we had smoking area for my countrys version of high school (ages 16-18 so technically the older ones were adults) and when I was a child we only had 4 channels in TV too. Did the 70's and 80's come to Finland in the '90s? :D
Parental living like they didn't have children. Adults doing whatever they want. No wonder people want a return to those days. Nothing weird about hitting a kid on thei a*s with a wooden paddle.
My science teacher smoked 19 cigarettes inside the classroom during a 100 minutes class.
My science teacher would leave the room whenever my class frustrated her. Always returned reeking of cigarettes.
Load More Replies... Several of us had wednesday afternoons off in HS. We would all being our rifles to on the bus and leave them in our lockers. One of us had a car and we would take off at noon to a gravel pit for an afternoon of target shooting. Only comment I ever got was one teacher asked to see what type of rifle I had.
