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The 80s were a magical time. Cyndi Lauper, The Police, and The Cure were at their peaks, and we were blessed with classic films like The Breakfast Club, Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Ghostbusters. Today, we love to relive the nostalgia through watching Stranger Things and blasting 'Running Up That Hill' while biking through our childhood neighborhoods. But while we tend to recall all of the wonderful things about the 80s, we often forget that it was a completely different time, particularly in the way that children were treated.

One curious Reddit user recently sparked a conversation by posing the question, “80s/90s Kids: What’s something a school teacher did to you that would not fly today?” Hundreds of people who attended school during the 80s and 90s started spilling their wildest and most shocking stories about teachers doing things that would definitely get them fired, and maybe even arrested, today. So whether you think the younger generations are snowflakes or you’re thankful that your kids won’t be subjected to being smacked with rulers in school, we hope you can get a kick out of these crazy stories from school days. They may not paint teachers in the best light, but thankfully, times have definitely changed since then.

Be sure to upvote the stories you find most shocking or that bring you back to your school days, and then feel free to let us know any wild stories you have from being in class back in the day. Keep reading to also find an interview with 80s enthusiast and co-host of the podcast Stuck in the 80s, Steve Spears. Then if you’d like to further your studies about school, you can check out another Bored Panda article featuring anecdotes from teachers’ perspectives right here.

#1

Not a teacher, but school one. If you read enough books during the year in elementary school you got to have a sleepover in the library. Like we brought sleeping bags and slept on the floor. In the morning they had griddles out and we made pancakes. I know, total nerds, but it was my favorite elementary school memory.

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To gain some insight from an expert on the 80s, we reached out to Steve Spears, co-host of the Stuck in the 80s podcast. Steve has been recording Stuck in the 80s for 17 years now and has recorded over 640 episodes, many of which include interviews with the icons of the decade, including Steve Perry, Huey Lewis, Martha Quinn, Nancy Wilson and many many more. "For our 500th episode, we did a live interview with MTV veejays Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood and Alan Hunter onboard a voyage of The 80s Cruise," Steve told Bored Panda.

When asked what sparked this fascinating podcast in the first place, Steve says it was his 20th high school reunion. "I built a website for the reunion, gathering memories of our time together in school, and the nostalgia was almost like a drug - I couldn't get enough and I didn't want to quit it," he explained. "As soon as the reunion weekend was over, I was plotting a way to keep the momentum going. A podcast - they were pretty rare back then - was the perfect vehicle. What began as a small hobby really took off when we started getting emails from listeners around the world, including Russia, South Korea, Croatia and even the South Pole."

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#2

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 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.

Cambot1138 , RODNAE Productions Report

"For my generation, the '80s were when we first accepted music as part of our lives - our teen years," Steve shared. "When you're 14 years old, nothing's more important than MTV, an REO Speedwagon album or tickets to the Duran Duran concert. The '80s were the first time when I had something personal - my connection to those musicians and the music. It was also perhaps the last era of innocence."

"Back in 2006, I interviewed Rick Springfield backstage before he played a big '80s show in Tampa Bay," Steve told Bored Panda. "Loverboy, Eddie Money and Scandal featuring Patty Smyth were also on the bill. When I asked him about the enduring appeal of the '80s, he said: 'It was really before all the crap hit the fan, you know, worldwide, I think it's a last safe time. I don't even think you can call the '90s a last safe time. I think the '80s is the last safe time. The wall fell. You knew by that time that no one was going to be dropping any nukes, but now we don't know that.'"

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#3

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now My history teacher had a set of pillories in his room. Misbehave? Your head and hands went in and the top board clamped over. No pain or anything. Just had to stand there and feel the shame. Awesome guy and it was an interesting and educational punishment. Rather than sit in the principals office you had to stay in class and learn about colonial punishments.

I’m assuming todays parents would try and kill him with sticks over that.

NightEmber79 , Dimitris Kamaras Report

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TheAquarius1978
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You just reminded me of my 6th grade history/science teacher Mr. Victor Hugo ( yes that was his name ) One day the girls acused a group of boys of grooping them ( which they indeed did because i saw them doing it, normal kid behavior in late 80s early 90s, at least in my school ) so Mr Hugo asked the " perpetrators to stand face forward tô the black board ( there where 5 kids ) and then he told them to grope each other's butts like they did to the girls, which they did and was hilarious, if he tried that today he would probably be arrested and would surelly lose his job, and yet he was by dar One of the best teachers i ever had, só much só that Over 30 years later i still remember him.

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When asked what it was like to be a student in the 80s, Steve shared, "I love to romanticize my school days in the '80s - all you needed was a set of encyclopedias at home and a public library card to get all the research you needed for any class project. It didn't hurt to have a home computer - the likes of which couldn't power a toaster today. No cell phones, no Twitter, no TikTok. You needed a driver's license, access to a car, and a tape deck to play your Men at Work and Billy Idol albums. As a result, I think we were more focused."

We also wanted to know if he ever witnessed any wild things at school. "The craziest thing I saw with teachers at my high school actually happened right after graduation," Steve said. "Two teachers served as chaperones for several dozen newly graduated students for a 'Senior Cruise' on a cruise ship that sailed from Miami to Mexico and back. It was a total booze cruise once we reached international waters. It all started when the two teachers came around with boxes of liquor and handed out a bottle to each cabin. That really set the tone. These were the days when the drinking age was still 19 - and most of us were legal adults - so it didn't seem totally insane at the time. Also, overindulging in booze didn't have the stigma I hope it has for teens today. I still feel bad for the cabin stewards who had to clean up after our group."

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#4

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 6th grade teacher Ms. Sullivan would take 3 kids every Friday to McDonald’s for lunch. She was cool as hell. Smoked during the drive and everything.

SigP365SAS , William F. Yurasko Report

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C B
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Middle school 2001-2002 ish our bus driver treated us by taking us to McDonalds because we were running early. Some buzzkill in the community reported her

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We also asked Steve if he thinks kids are better or worse off today than they were in the 80s. "I'd like to think kids face a different set of challenges today," he said. "They have all the world's knowledge available to them 24/7 through smartphones and the Internet. But they also have the distractions and potential dangers that come with social media. I don't think teachers could get away with nearly as many stunts now that any anonymous social media post could effectively turn them in. All things being even, give me my times in the '80s back."

If you'd like to learn more about the 80s and hear personal stories from Steve and his fellow co-host Brad, be sure to check out Stuck in the 80s right here.

#5

When I was in first grade for the last day of school my first grade teacher took us to her farm. She gave us a ride on the back of her tractor, root beer floats and even gave us all a pair of binoculars. Honestly those days were the happiest of my life

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Bonnie Edwards
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can see this still happening. Of course, there will be all sorts of parental permissions.

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There are plenty of things that were different in the 80s and 90s. Without cell phones, kids were often able to run around unsupervised until it was dinner time or bed time, and there were not as many discussions about children being protected, from strangers, bullies or teachers. It was assumed that adults always knew better than kids, so even if a child complained about a teacher, it was not likely that their parents or the principal would take their side. Kids today have much less autonomy, as they are typically supervised at all times, but they also have more power in other ways.

If a child came home from school today and complained about a teacher rubbing their shoulders in class, there would immediately be a phone call made to the school, and that teacher’s job would be in jeopardy. It could become national news, and Netflix would release a documentary about it one year later. In the 80s and/or 90s, however, teachers could get away with striking kids, washing their mouths out with soap and publicly humiliating them without any repercussions. Ah, the magic of the past.

#6

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 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.

jonahvsthewhale , cottonbro Report

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Katie Lutesinger
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Someday you're gonna get bitchslapped, and I'm not gonna do a thing to stop it."

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Obviously, not every teacher back in the day was a menace to their students. I’m sure there were plenty of wonderful educators, but there just were not the same systems in place that we have today to ensure kids are safe and cared for. The general opinion back then was that adults know best and that if something happens to a kid, they probably deserved it. I’m not talking about the extreme examples such as assault and abuse, of course, but if a teacher decided it was best to dump out a kid’s desk or force them to stand in the corner, well, they probably knew what they were doing.

Helicopter parenting was also not a common thing back then, or it had not been 'invented' yet, so it’s likely that parents just did not know what was happening when their kids were away learning. Today, many parents keep a close eye on their little ones at all times and even take an active role in their education. Although the PTA, or Parent Teacher Association, has been around since 1897, it has become much stronger in recent decades. Parents are taking a much active role now in their children’s lives and working hard to ensure that their kids are treated much better than they were in school. 

#7

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 7th grade science class, the teacher walked around with a beaker full of mercury and told us to stick a finger in it to feel how dense it was. Then he gave us each our own penny-size drop of mercury to play with at our desks, so we could see how it moved. I’m sure we were poisoned that day.

Nowadays if a thermometer breaks they clear the school.

weirdkid71 , wikipedia.org Report

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Robert T
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have also stuck my finger in a beaker of mercury and was surprised when it didn't feel 'wet'. However, our teacher was sensible enough not to give us any to 'play' with.

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#8

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now One of the kindest, most well-liked teachers in my high school was a gay man named Mr. McCreary. One day after school,he walked by a group of us, and the health teacher/wrestling coach says "there goes Mr. McQUEERy!!!" Even back then, we all just kind of looked at him blankly.

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#9

A lot of people are posting bad stuff, so let me share a good one.

In 9th grade, in 1984, I had a class analyzing lyrics in pop music. Students brought in records by Led Zep and John Cougar and we'd discuss what they meant. Seriously a life-changing class.

It makes me sad that younger students in America are so caught up in the rat race that they never had experiences like that.

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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Similar thing in the UK in an English class in the 80s. Was a fantastic way to get kids engaged in the use of words and their meanings etc...

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Some of the things on this list were dangerous or borderline abusive, while others were mostly harmless like seeing teachers smoke during recess. Then there are some that address cultural sensitivity. Over time, society is constantly becoming more progressive and understanding how to address sensitive topics, and some of the things on this list that teachers said, whether they were intended to be offensive or just jokes, would definitely be deemed discrimination today. That’s one of the great things that has changed over time; teachers today cannot get away with spouting ignorant, ableist, racist, xenophobic or homophobic rhetoric. And although I went to school in the early 2000s, I vividly remember all of us kids dressing up as either pilgrims or Native Americans for a Thanksgiving feast at school… Thankfully, that does not happen any more. 

#10

So my mom was… maybe not the most observant. I love her to pieces but…. Yeah. When I was ten, the neighbor’s dog bit me, like grabbed and shook my hand, really bad. I went home and told my mom, who was like ‘oh, it’s fine, let’s clean up those puncture wounds, no big deal. Don’t tell Dad’ (my dad was a cop and a mandated reporter - we literally just didn’t want the dog to be in trouble it had never happened before and that poor baby was so sorry. Turned out he had an ear infection and when I went to scratch his head like I’d done a million times before, and it hurt him. The neighbor forgot to tell me his ear hurt it wasn’t his fault at all.)

The next day was Monday, and I tried to tell mom that my hand was bad- really bad. She said I still had to go to school, and man. When Mrs. Messenger, my fifth grade teacher saw me, she flipped her s**t. She was so upset she was gonna call my mom and give her what for and on and on, and I was like “oh s**t, I’m in big trouble now!” She marched me down to the office and I sat near the school secretary while she went in to the principal’s office and rained all manner of holy hellfire and brimstone on my mom’s head. Screamed bloody murder at her. She came and picked me up and took me to get an X-Ray. I had six broken bones in my hand. Oops.

Can’t even see a teacher raising their voice in an email nowadays. That lady saved my pitching hand.

Edit: punctuation because I’m a**l retentive.

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#11

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 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.

AustrianReaper , Pavel Danilyuk Report

#12

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 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.

snowfuckerforreal , RODNAE Productions Report

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Moosy Girl
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That still flies today. I had a kid come up to me with his mouth wide open at one of my schools just as I was leaving, with a teacher running after him going „He wants you to pull his loose tooth out but don’t worry Ms. E said she’ll do it during lunch break if you don’t want to!”.

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Joni Edelman wrote a piece for Scary Mommy titled “13 Ways School Was Different In The 80s”, and she brings up several of the things parents, teachers and children were never scared of until recently, including sending kids home from school alone. “We walked both to and from school. ALONE,” Joni writes. “And we wore our house key around our neck. We got home and ate Twinkies and watched TV and talked on our corded phone and never did homework. No one thought this was a bad idea.” As a kid, I never even lived close enough to my school that I would have been able to walk. But even if I did trek the hour or two there, the roads would have been extremely dangerous to walk on, let alone without an adult. “Didn’t kids get hit by cars?” You might be wondering. And the answer is yes, they did. In fact, my father got hit by a car walking to kindergarten the very first week and ended up spending his first couple months of “school” in the hospital. 

#13

I had an awesome teacher who would send one of us to the shop (just a minute’s walk away) with enough money to get ice creams for everybody whenever it was hot and she didn’t feel like teaching.

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#14

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now It was in the early early 80s (maybe even late 70s) and my aunt didn't know her right from her left. She was in middle school back then I believe and her teacher was yelling at her and at one point he painted her face, arms and clothes red on one side and blue on the other and told her "that way you'll know which is which". She still didn't know which side was left and which was right, she just knew one side was blue and the other red... She got home that evening and next thing I know my grandfather was beating the teacher's a$$ in front of his wife.

jewishpocahontas , Phil Hearing Report

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TheAquarius1978
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good, don't embarass the kids, he could do the exact same thing widout embarassing her, in front of other kids, just put a red dot and a blue dot in the back of her hands and explain which One is which. I say this because i Also have isues with my left and right lol, and during my driving exam it was the worst, só i memorized a form o never getting it wrong lol, " right - upwards, left - downwards " ( Turn signal handle lol and it worked ).

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#15

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now When I was in first grade, I asked to use the bathroom during recess. My teacher said no, 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.

theSandwichSister , Lucas Metz Report

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Bonnie Edwards
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the schools I've been to, the whole point of recess (15min break) was to goto the bathroom and have a snack/ drink.

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Joni also writes about how physical education, or PE, was a completely different beast back then. Today, there are not always winners, and only the teachers get to pick teams to spare everyone’s feelings. But as Joni says, “In PE in the 80s, we pelted each other with dodgeballs. Ruthlessly. Get hit in the face? Too bad. Remember Red Rover? Yeah. You’re going down. NATURAL SELECTION.” Even in the early 2000s, I thought PE was brutal. We had rules that you couldn’t aim for people’s faces or heads, but accidents happen right? I can’t tell you how many times I sacrificed myself during dodgeball so I wouldn’t be caught off guard by a bouncy ball to the face. 

#16

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 6th grade 2001: she saw me having a panic attack during class. (I didn’t know what was happening because it was the start of my anxiety disorder.) Instead of asking me if I was okay, she called me out in front of the class, told everyone to look at me, and said “act like that if you want me to fail you.”

She was a b***h.

Ivedonethattoo , Mikhail Nilov Report

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#17

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now It was my first grade. I shook the ruler in my hand, and teacher took my ruler and hit me with it causing my nose bleeding. Few years later I found out that she also had been working as a school psychologist.

Arkhidexx , Christian Kaindl Report

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Katie Lutesinger
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mother told me when she was a kid at a small country school the teacher had two kids she didn't like: my mum, and her Aboriginal classmate. So she would call them up the front of the class on the least excuse and flog them in the back of the legs with the belt from a sewing machine. (No doubt the Aboriginal kid's crime was persistently and aggravatingly being black in public. Ugh).

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#18

Elementary school was particularly traumatizing.

One of my teachers refused to let one of my class mates use the bathroom. A bathroom that was in the same room as us. He ended up pissing his pants and I'll never forget watching it puddle off the chair because of how much he'd been holding it. Instead of sending him to the office to get new clothes, she made him take his pants off inside of the bathroom to hang off a tree outside...he was forced to wait in that bathroom for hours.

All the students saw it and you can probably guess how they reacted toward him.

This same teacher refused to let me get medical help for my migraines that I started to have around age 11. She told me I was lying/faking it, and it got so bad that I was forced to switch teachers. It got so bad that I was terrified to ask for help, and passed out in class.

Needless to say, of course she taught for another few years before finally getting fired.

F**k you, Mrs. Alexander.

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Today, teachers tend to have a reputation for being gentle, nurturing and caring, even if they are strict. Back then, however, it sounds like teachers were more like prison guards or military generals. While most of the stories on this list are shocking or horrifying, some things teachers did that were kind can’t even happen today. For example, when I was in school I remember having a bus driver who would make cupcakes every time it was one of our birthdays. In hindsight, that was incredibly thoughtful and took so much effort on her part. Today, however, people have to be so cautious about allergies to gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, etc. And you cannot feed a child anything without their parents' consent. I can just imagine that sweet bus driver receiving angry phone calls today from a parent whose child is vegan and took a cupcake or a parent who does not allow sweets in the house. No good deed goes unpunished.  

#19

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now My Math teacher in H.S was very handsy. A hand on the shoulder; or a bit lower. Patting thighs of students who'd be asked to come sit next to him at his desk under the guise of helping them with their schoolwork. Inappropriately long gazes given to the girls.

Every single female student was extremely uncomfortable in his class but he was universally described as 'harmless'. He wasn't.

Flicksterea , Tra Nguyen Report

#20

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now I had a teacher bring me up to the front of my 5th grade class to show everyone how “slovenly” I had dressed. I was one of five kids and wore thrift stores clothes. I wish I could show her how successful I have become and that I now dress much better than she did.

zabrakwith , Kamran Ch Report

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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So sorry you had to endure such humiliation but delighted you've made such a success of your life. Doesn't matter that you can't show her. You've shown yourself and those that know you what you've achieved. And that's what matters. You should be incredibly proud.

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#21

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 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 off Mr Charvet.

Roscoe_cracks_corn , Nenad Stojkovic Report

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L hill
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

7th grade algebra teacher. Older than Methuselah, couldnt see a thing but had ears that could hear a mouse fart. If he heard you he would turn around and throw the eraser and got the culprit every single freakin time! He was a Jedi.

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Teachers were not always attuned to the emotional state of their students either. I remember in high school having an acting teacher who would intentionally make us dredge up our most traumatic stories (they were called ‘emotional memories’) and share them with the entire class to 'bond' with one another. We would have to sit in front of the class under stage lights and share these stories while everyone else acted as an audience and watched. He would also intentionally get us to think about these traumatic moments when working on pieces, and force us to stay in the room while crying in front of everyone. I specifically remember being told I had to come back into class while I had taken a moment to go bawl in the bathroom, but that didn’t matter. This same teacher would regularly tell us that “virginity is boring”; it was a motto of sorts in his classroom. And all of this happened between 2011-2015, so I can’t imagine how it was 30 years before that… 

#22

Seventh grade teach threw a chair at a student. Kid wouldn't stop calling her the N word. He stopped saying it after that day.

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#23

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now My first grade teacher: Mrs. Smith.

If she 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.

Heretic_Red , Frans van Heerden Report

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CalicoKitty
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not me, but I remember some kids having this happen to them back in... I dunno... must have been the early 2010s?

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#24

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now Electrocuted the entire class as a demonstration of high resistance circuits

Item_Successful , Filter Forge Report

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Aubrey Theo
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

just got electrocuted with friends by my physics teacher last year for science

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While many people complain about how terribly technology has rotted the minds of the younger generations, it has had its perks too. Kids today can keep in contact with their parents much more easily, and being able to take photos or videos or unjust actions at school makes it a lot easier to get these things shut down. Teachers are always held accountable for their actions now, so they are held to a much higher standard. And because we have access to such a wealth of information on the internet, issues for young people such as bullying in schools are actually being talked about. We know bullying is a widespread issue, so it’s no longer taboo to bring it up. In fact, when it is happening, especially when there is proof of it online, it can be eradicated much faster than it would have been several decades ago. 

#25

I remember in 5th grade, we'd go to the classroom next door with the other teacher for Science class. When we started the section on evolution she started the whole thing off with a speech about how she was being compelled to teach this to us by law, but that she personally believes that it isn't true and that we were made by God.

To her credit, she went on to teach evolution to us.

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New Nemo
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had the opposite. My teacher was forbidden to talk about evolution but he did it anyway. Great science guy

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#26

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 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

csh213 , ready made Report

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#27

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 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 s**t, which again, I totally deserved.

Arg3nt , Craig Adderley Report

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Jessica N
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I loved the creative hall passes. My favorite English teacher's was a toilet seat. I don't get why some people were embarrassed to carry the weird hall passes, it was more fun than having to dig in your pocket for a paper one

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Being a teacher never has been and never will be an easy job. However, today, there are a lot more restrictions on what teachers can get away with, for better and for worse. I hope you cannot personally relate to the most horrific stories on this list, but if you were a kid in the 80s or 90s, feel free to share all of your wildest school stories below. Keep upvoting the replies you know would not fly today, and then if you'd like to read another Bored Panda piece featuring stories from inside school classrooms, be sure to check out this article next.

#28

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now My fifth grade gym teacher made me do pushups in front of the class. I was overweight, so I couldn't do any. Then she'd say "this is what happens if you eat too much food." There were other, even heavier kids in class, but she never chose them for this activity; just me.

LowBarometer , Mikhail Nilov Report

#29

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now 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

chefboyardeejr , Sincerely Media Report

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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The "mouth cleansing with soap" was a regular punishment at my junior and infants school in the 70s and 80s.

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#30

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now While talking about slavery went down the rows and pointed out specific people in class whose ancestors would have been either slaves or slave owners based on their last name and / or skin color.

tfbillc , Yan Krukov Report

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