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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."

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

Final score:

320points

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Élizaan Jansen van Rensburg 2 years ago

This is wholesome!

73points

"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.'"

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

Final score:

238points

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TheAquarius1978 2 years ago

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.

123points

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."

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

Final score:

226points

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C B 2 years ago

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

91points

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.

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

WinterWizard9497 Report

Final score:

221points

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Bonnie Edwards 2 years ago

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

44points

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.

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

Final score:

213points

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Katie Lutesinger 2 years ago

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

94points

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.

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

Final score:

201points

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Robert T 2 years ago

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.

53points

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.

Plug_5 , Nicola Barts Report

Final score:

184points

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Simon’s Cat 2 years ago

Homofobic a*****e. Glad u didn't respond to his "humorous" comment.

134points

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.

AdventureSphere Report

Final score:

174points

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Gretchen Esquilin 2 years ago

I was middle school in the early 90s & Mr. Diamond (music teacher) had us study Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are the Champions, Time in a Bottle (John Croce). Turns out a friend of mine is his cousin, so she told us a bunch of stories about him. Loved that class & he's the reason I finally explored classic rock (my parents didn't approve).

5points

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.

MamaBella Report

Final score:

165points

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Simon’s Cat 2 years ago

Lucky you had that teacher!

8points

#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

Final score:

156points

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Gwenaëlle Michaelis 2 years ago

Ok this is horrible

105points

snowfuckerforreal , RODNAE Productions 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.

Final score:

153points

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Moosy Girl 2 years ago

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!”.

51points

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.

Report

Final score:

149points

Violeta Draseikaitė

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Nunya Bidness 2 years ago

That sounds kind. When it was hot, I didn't feel like learning.

47points

#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

Final score:

145points

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TheAquarius1978 2 years ago

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 ).

53points

#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

Final score:

135points

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Bonnie Edwards 2 years ago

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

44points

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

Final score:

131points

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ScarletRos 2 years ago

What a horrible teacher!

75points

#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

Final score:

128points

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Katie Lutesinger 2 years ago

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).

81points

#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.

DirtyAngelToes Report

Final score:

126points

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Vinita Talaulikar 2 years ago

What cheap pleasures they get in torturing small children?

62points

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

Final score:

123points

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Vinita Talaulikar 2 years ago

Sicko

52points

#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

Final score:

117points

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smugdruggler 2 years ago

I wish she hadn't convinced you that the way you dress matters so much.

7points

Roscoe_cracks_corn , Nenad Stojkovic Report

#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.

Final score:

110points

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L hill 2 years ago

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.

6points

Frosted_underscore Report

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.

Final score:

107points

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Stephen OHara 2 years ago

I frankly have no issue with how this turned out.

148points

#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

Final score:

103points

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CalicoKitty 2 years ago

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

19points

#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

Final score:

102points

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Aubrey Theo 2 years ago

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

39points

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.

mjzim9022 Report

Final score:

101points

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Islandchild 2 years ago

Bit of a reverse here. Because evolution was covered, our teacher also covered religion, including having people from different religions come in to talk. Teacher was a solid atheist who strongly believed in informed choices.

22points

#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

Final score:

96points

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Anni 2 years ago

😥

24points

#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

Final score:

90points

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Jessica N 2 years ago

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

3points

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

Final score:

88points

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Cheru. 2 years ago

Are Bricks just domesticated rocks

33points

#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

Final score:

84points

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Tonya Johnson Kitchner 2 years ago

I've eaten a lot of soap. My sister and I used to sit in our rooms and blow bubbles

5points

#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

Final score:

79points

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Persephone hates Pomegranate 2 years ago

as a black person... what the actual f**k

81points

hanginonwith2fingers Report

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#31

In high school we would sometimes play knee soccer which was in our wrestling room(wall to wall wrestling mats) and 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(an known a*****e of the school) got pissed and stood up and kicked the other kid.

The PE teacher(225lb jacked military hair cut) 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 had 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.

Final score:

35points

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Pezor Zass 2 years ago

had a gym teacher who would occasionally throw balls at your, well, balls if you were talking and not paying attention. that was fair play in the 80s.

14points

#32

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now Had a teacher that would call students "Special Olympians" if anyone would make a mistake or say something he deemed stupid

ellwood27 , Mikhail Nilov Report

Final score:

34points

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Jason Marin 2 years ago

As he tried looking in a mirror?

18points

#33

When students got bullied back then one of the most common responses from teachers was "Looks like you need to toughen up." Some teachers seemed to encourage bullying.

At my son's elementary school they seem to take bullying way more serious and it is not tolerated.

In Jr high I was in band and one of the clarinet players who was a short girl, wore a denim skirt that was a few inches above the knees. The band teacher made her sit with it between her legs (proper posture he claimed) She obviously did not want to sit that way because spreading her legs would mean everyone would be able to see up her skirt. He made her do it anyway. The whole thing felt gross and weird. She was terrified.

In high school one of the teachers always assigned all the pretty girls to the front row and all of the boys to the back. Everyone knew he liked looking up girls skirts and it was just talked about like it was some kind of strange but mostly harmless personality trait.

On the plus side in high school the football coach when out of his way to get one of the poorest kids in school a football scholarship to a small college a few states over. He was like 145lbs and not very fast but a really hard working smart dude who came from a rough family. Apparently the high school coach was friends with the college coach. The kid got a scholarship for a year to ride the bench and then took over as equipment manager and got a full ride for under grad degree. Can't imagine that happening today. People take college athletics way to seriously. Even at the small schools.

JRogeroiii Report

Final score:

33points

POST

Tabitha Frost 2 years ago

One word: EW.

9points

TerrificDestruction Report

#34

My 8th grade English teacher (female) grabbed my a*s and my 12th grade English teacher called me sexy in front of our class and then told me I had beautiful eyes when we were alone in her car together.

I'm a guy though, so that actually might still fly today.

Final score:

31points

POST

Vinita Talaulikar 2 years ago

Not a good gesture.

21points

#35

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now Had a pretty awesome old school art teacher that was also a boy scouts leader and usually chaperoned school camping trips, he loved to use Indian/Chinese accents when talking to kids from there. Was all in good fun and everyone thought it was funny but looking back wonder how it made them really feel.

hotdogginon , Karolina Grabowska Report

Final score:

30points

POST

LoneTomato 2 years ago

I imagine they didn't think it was as funny as everyone else did.

7points

#36

I had a teacher that would throw foam balls at students when they fell asleep.

Cuesport77 Report

Final score:

29points

POST

smugdruggler 2 years ago

Better than a blackboard eraser.

14points

Formal_Condition4372 Report

#37

uh, molested me?, wouldn't of gone over well then either but back then ''men/boys can't be raped by women '' was pretty evident as was the ''lucky you/was she hot?'' s**t i put up with when i bring it up nowadays.

Final score:

28points

POST

Dispatcherqueen 2 years ago

I'm sorry that happened to you

27points

#38

This happened when I was in 4th grade (1995-96). We were taught fractions in our math class, and our teacher assigned us a set of problems from the textbook.

For once in my life, I understood the concept really well, and solved an additional set of problems (which we were meant to be solved in class the next day). Needless to say, my mom was super proud of me when I showed her my work, and she wanted to hear my teacher's feedback the next day.

Back then, we had a system where we would submit our notebooks to the teacher at the beginning of the class, and she would call us to her desk (one student at a time), and correct the homework. The next day, when the teacher called out my name, I was excited. Ran up to her desk and waited eagerly for some praise... She finished correcting my work, and noticed there were additional problems that I'd done.

I looked at her beaming, but stopped when I saw her reaction. Her face turned red with anger and she yelled "You think you are so smart that you had to do all the problems? I had asked you to solve only the first set right? Why did you solve the other problems?" The whole class went silent.

She proceeded to rip apart the pages (containing the extra home work), crumpled them into a ball and flung it on my face. Worse, I got a tight slap, and got sent out of the class to kneel down. I could feel my ears burning, as I sat outside the class, sobbing silently for the rest of the class.

I am pretty sure something like this would never fly in schools today!

sinesquaredtheta Report

Final score:

28points

POST

Jessica Wood 2 years ago

I don't understand why teachers are less interested in actually teaching and more in being dictators of their own little kingdom.

31points

#39

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

Thephilosopherkmh Report

Final score:

28points

POST

Ronda News Channel 2 years ago

It's so cruel

15points

#40

8th grade science teacher calls a kid to the front of the room for some minor infraction, have him bend over, then kick him in the a*s. However…. 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. F*****g chaos.

DLiltsadwj Report

Final score:

26points

POST

smugdruggler 2 years ago

Sounds hilarious 😂

11points

#41

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now My first name is somewhat similar to one of the guys involved in the 9/11 attacks & I had a teacher that thought it was appropriate to call me by that guy’s last name during roll call & when I would rarely raise my hand to answer.

A_R_K_S , Vanessa Garcia Report

Final score:

26points

POST

Gil Heuvelmans 2 years ago

Something about this strikes me as non- eighties

41points

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

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Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

#42

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now Punishments in my elementary school:

Standing with nose in corner.
Bending over and touching toes for a long time.
Paddling with a thick wood paddle from principal.
Knuckles rapped with ruler.

Edit: Forgot one.

Long white cloth banner with "tattletale" emblazoned vertically that was pinned to back of shirt and worn for duration of day

Ornery_Tackle_767 , cottonbro Report

Final score:

25points

POST

Jason Marin 2 years ago

Opposite with me on the knuckle one. It wasn't a ruler but a paddle board. And it was the principal who did it if you were sent to her office.

8points

#43

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now We had a math teacher at my school that all of the girls would complain about him randomly rubbing their shoulders while they were trying to work. I never had him but everyone who did would confirm. It was always like a joke and people would laugh about how “creepy” he was, but nobody made a big deal out of it for some reason. I wonder if he still works there.

Viiibrations , Yan Krukov Report

Final score:

23points

POST

Amy 2 years ago (edited)

I had a gym teacher (also the girls' track coach) who was always trying to see up the girls' shorts while we were doing situps or stretching. He also stared at butts constantly. It was creepy and disgusting. People reported him but the school wouldn't do anything because he hadn't touched anyone, at least not anyone who had come forward.

0points

#44

My English teacher looked at my 10th grade self that was dripping wet after walking to class in rain and said, "I don't find wet hair on women attractive" completely unprovoked.

Scars-on-my-heart Report

Final score:

23points

POST

smugdruggler 2 years ago

It makes me so sad that there doesn't seem to be a single female out there that hasn't, at some point, been made to feel uncomfortable - or worse, threatened - by a man in some sexualised way.

18points

Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

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“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

#45

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.

BangBangMeatMachine Report

Final score:

23points

POST

Moosy Girl 2 years ago

Things like this still fly (here at least) with the difference being kids’ consent is more important and there are more rules to ensure safety for everyone.

13points

#46

In 5th grade, I was called to the office at my public school. I was a goody two-shoes so I had no idea why I was called, so I started tearing up thinking something bad must've happened to my family. Eventually, I was ushered into a room as my two best friends left. The principal and 2 other staff members then sat me down and showed me a piece of paper. It was a silly poem I wrote one of my friends about a good witch who granted wishes by mixing together some mundane ingredients. Apparently, their mother found the poem and complained to the school. Their resonse was to interview my friends about MY RELIGION.

They asked stuff like if I drew any "weird symbols" and one friend said yes because I always drew the school symbol for Balamb Garden (Final Fantasy 8) on my notebooks. So by the time they got to ME, they were basically trying to get me to admit practicing witchcraft at school. PUBLIC SCHOOL. Which I was not. I was a church every Sunday Christian and knew nothing of actual witchcraft (not that it should matter), but they said they could tell BY MY TEARS that I knew I did something wrong. They put me in detention for the day in the principals office and NEVER INFORMED MY PARENTS.

Ironically, the year prior, I had drawn an angel in art class during some fundraising event where you could get your kids art put on merchandise. Right next to me on a file cabinet was a magnet of my angel drawing that the principal who put me in witchcraft jail had bought for herself. Lol

ktbunny Report

Final score:

22points

POST

Hobby Hopper 2 years ago

Two reactions to this: 1) why is it any of their business, and 2) something tells me it wasn't a Biblically accurate angel, because if it was, they would've had a problem with that too.

10points

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

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French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

#47

My fourth grade teacher was a softball player in her younger years. When you weren't paying attention she'd hurl a stick of chalk at you. She rarely missed. She was awesome too.

optimaloutcome Report

Final score:

21points

POST

#48

Saw one of my teachers make fun of someone's stutter in front of the class. He said "whatever you fat b***h" and nothing further happened.

janmichaelvintage Report

Final score:

21points

POST

We_Are_Watching_You 2 years ago

>:(

3points

#49

Third grade teacher used to kiss us when we interrupted her or were bad

Insipid_Pedantry Report

Final score:

21points

POST

Monday 2 years ago

We had a high school teacher that did something similar. If you misbehaved or were generally disruptive she'd hug you and pat your head and ruffle your hair, and then cheer you on as if you were a small child (think "can you read the next part for me? Oh that was excellent Jack! Good job!). It was a very effective...everybody was so embarrassed they'd never act out again xD

26points

#50

We had an enormously large principal. When we were bad, she'd threaten to sit on us. She was very soft and it didn't hurt at all and just made us laugh our a**es off. I really don't think anything bad of it, or her, but that wouldn't fly today.

wylderpixie Report

Final score:

21points

POST

Tabitha Frost 2 years ago

Wtf

7points

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

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Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

#51

Had my chair taken away for half the year by my 8th grade teacher I could stand or had to sit on the floor

Coyote-Most Report

Final score:

21points

POST

We_Are_Watching_You 2 years ago

WHY?

5points

#52

I'm honestly trying to think of something but really the only thing that comes to mind was that school took us to the cinema to watch Gremlins.

perfota Report

Final score:

19points

POST

Tired_Panda 2 years ago

That sounds awesome!

4points

#53

Now is my time:
I had a 6th grade teacher who would always say the Germans would come back and have a 4th Reich. He talked about it like it was an inevitability. He said the Germans were great fighters and if they wanted to they could do it now.

One of the other teachers said he was a "weirdo" for saying it all the time.

Pretty sure that wouldn't fly today. Pretty sure.

Now to his credit he wasn't openly racist, he didn't treat Mexican kids any differently or anything.

He was just incredibly pro-German.

roger_27 Report

Final score:

19points

POST

El Dee 2 years ago

Strange how the US thinks of Mexican people as different to them..

0points

Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk

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“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

#54

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.

HutSutRawlson Report

Final score:

19points

POST

El Dee 2 years ago

No doubt very much needed lol!

4points

#55

Teachers definitely used to make fun of gay kids.

I can’t even imagine what they would publicly say about transgendered individuals.

Btw, WASN’T even gay. F**k, I’d probably have a family by now if I was😅😅

TakingL0sses Report

Final score:

19points

POST

Hobby Hopper 2 years ago

I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought I was gay. I'm not, but I always thought the whole gendering of likes and dislikes was stupid. Like, dude, if I wanna soak in my bubble bath with a chardonnay and listen to Enya, that's exactly what I'm going to do (except that I didn't drink back then).

5points

#56

My first grade gym teacher called me chicken legs until my mom told the principal. His brother later was our teacher in eighth grade and would come in the locker room and just stare at us quietly while we changed.

sirkibble14 Report

Final score:

18points

POST

Vinita Talaulikar 2 years ago

Another Sicko

12points

"I Didn't Start The Dryer": Karen Gets Taught A Lesson After Throwing Out Neighbor's Wet Clothes

#57

Bad kids in elementary school used to be spanked in front of the entire class. This was back in the 80s in a private school.

mmmagic1216 Report

Final score:

18points

POST

See Also on Bored Panda

Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

#58

My high school Study Skills teacher used to A. Throw your bookbag over the railing outside the class to the first floor below if you fell asleep B. Threw chalkboard erasers at you if you were caught talking during his lectures C. Got a megaphone in your ear if you fell asleep and didn't notice your bookbag tossed. Funny thing is, Mr Stuart was somehow one of the most liked teachers in school. Circa 1997

chefboyardeejr Report

Final score:

17points

POST

Niki A 2 years ago

I lightly pile things on them until they wake up....am I a meanie?

1point

“All Three Shot Out Pink”: Triplets' Baby Shower Turns Sour, Pregnant Wife Wants A Divorce

#59

90’s kid. If we ever had to go somewhere a bit more far and take a bus, our teacher let us go there by ourselves and come with his car. We were 9-12 years old so elementary school in us terms i guess. He would ask if anyone knew where the place was and made them a leader to take the class there.

Edit. Also because school pays these trips so 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.

laihaluikku Report

Final score:

17points

POST

See Also on Bored Panda

College Student Does Exactly As Told After Roommates Demand They Keep Their Stuff In Their Room

#60

Threw a pencil at my head / grabbed a friend by the collar of his neck and dragged him into school / referred to those of us in flags as “flaggets.” Oh gosh I could go on but it was all standard / not that crazy for the time. School chaperones got wasted with us on a school trip to France and hit on students lol. Lots

IceCreamDream10 Report

Final score:

16points

POST

#61

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now Birthday whacks from the teacher. As odd as it sounds, the teacher would 100% get fired for doing that. Even though she never touched me, it just seemed normal and this was in like the mid 90s.

jarrettbrown , Keira Burton Report

Final score:

15points

POST

Jason Marin 2 years ago

My kindergarten teacher would give students the choice of being spanked or having our ears pulled. Everybody always took the ear pulling.

8points

#62

Mom and dad were both born in late 70s so they were students in the 80s-90s. That time was when my country went from communism to freedom. During communism my parents say (even though they were 3rd and 4th grade when communism fell) that teachers were allowed to hit children with rulers or wood pointers and everyone including parents accepted this as something normal, because if children are punished this way it means that they deserved it. When the punishments were not working the way they were supposed to, the child would be sent in a special school for troubled children without any notice to the parents. Like you would misbehave one day and the other day you are in this school. I am actually currently living across the school that used to serve this purpose in my town and my parents say that this school worked even after communism and then it closed down in the late 90s/the beginning of 2000s. Ever since I was born, I have never seen the school serving that title anymore but instead they use the building as a school for kids with special needs. So yes… physical punishments were a thing and it was normal for the society back then. 😬

duckybucky8403 Report

Final score:

15points

POST

#63

Apparently they still do this, but lock you in a closet with a small desk. I talk about this indepth with my peers, but we are baffled about how it never constituted as child abuse, and the school continues to do it to this day

anothersatanist89 Report

Final score:

15points

POST

CalicoKitty 2 years ago

Hey, we didn't touch him! Look, no marks! /s

7points

Decent-Ground1260 , Ayesha Firdaus Report

#64

In middle school, I moved from one state to another, and after extensive testing at the new school I was put in a gifted class. On my first day, one of my new teachers scoffed that I was put in his class and said, in front of all the other students, "Gifted in [my home state] means you can read and write."

starbunny86 Report

Final score:

14points

POST

Pumpkin Spice 2 years ago

I guess that 'normal' in that school was being able to say the alphabet up to G?

5points

#65

Throw a book at kids

kramer2006 Report

Final score:

14points

POST

#66

30 Crazy Things Teachers Did In The 80s And 90s That Seem Unbelievable Now The principal made this fat kid eat an entire chocolate cake in front of the entire school.

Final score:

14points

POST

Blurryface 2 years ago

Was the kid’s name Bruce Bogtrotter? (Did I spell that correctly?)

43points

#67

She emptied my school bag in the middle of the classroom and locked me in the room by myself unsupervised during our lunch break to tidy it up. I was 8 and a bit messy, but it felt a bit harsh at the time. Was in there for an hour, had no lunch that day, and had to hold my pee till the next teacher unlocked the door.

schaweniiia Report

Final score:

14points

POST

Tabitha Frost 2 years ago

That's horrible :(

6points

Previous_Practice738 Report

#68

Called me stupid - yelled it at me - in front of the whole class.

Animlfarm Report

Final score:

14points

POST

Pumpkin Spice 2 years ago

"YOU'RE STUPID!" "Yeah, I'm being taught by a s**t teacher right now..."

5points

#69

I got slapped for not doing my homework. 3rd grade

WinterOk6398 Report

Final score:

14points

POST

#70

My kindergarten teacher straight up slapped me across the face for shrugging my shoulders when I didn’t know the answer.

Same teacher. When I wasn’t feeling well and asked if I could use the restroom she said no. I ended up throwing up all over myself and the rug.

Same teacher. Would slap a student on the head with an eraser to ‘mark’ the bad kids with chalk.

ownersequity Report

Final score:

14points

POST

Jason Marin 2 years ago

I once got slapped in the face by my homeroom teacher when I insisted that I did an art project correctly.

8points

#71

I had a teacher mock me while we were doing outload reading in 7th grade. It was a couple points extra credit to read a page to the class. I was a little nervous and new to the school so it didnt go well and made worse when he started being a d***head. I have a hard time remembering the really great teachers and how they shaped me be a better person but I vividly remember Mr Hanson and wanting to cave his skull in with a hammer...

Nasty----nate Report

Final score:

14points

POST

Himory TheDreamer 2 years ago

I looked like I was about to faint when had to read a sexual poem to class and teacher was more nice than I expected of her actually. She was very no-nonsense, I thought she'd make me stand through it like everyone else but she let me sit. It might also have been only I researched enough to understand how dirty what I was reading was.

1point

#72

I went to a Catholic primary s hood in England in the mid 90’s. There was an assistant principal that was mad at the world. He seemed to hate kids and I have noooo idea why he had the job he did. There was to be absolutely no talking at lunch if he was in charge of lunch duty that day. This rule didn’t exist for any other teacher during their lunch duty. We had to be at a reasonable level but could chat. So, one lunch I opened my mouth to yawn. He saw and said “the only reason your mouth should be open is to put food in it.” I had to spend the rest of lunch in detention. I still remember you Mr Young, you f****r.

henrythe8thiam Report

Final score:

14points

POST

#73

My teacher outed me to my parents 🙃

Final score:

14points

POST

Raven Null 2 years ago

That's literally illegal

7points

#74

Late 90's my 1st/2nd grade teacher would punish the "talkative kids" by putting us against the wall with our arms up and beat us with a ruler if we put them down due to pain, numbness or being tired. I don't think that would be acceptable nowadays.

innana25 Report

Final score:

13points

POST

LiuLiu 2 years ago

you were children, that is sick

1point

#75

70s 80s kid
4th grade Ms Hardy atleast 400lbs would sit on us during recess.
8th grade coach Van wagoner would whip us with his whistle cord leaving marks.
Entire school career during football practice we had a 5oft piece of pvc with holes drilled in it and a garden hose hooked to it, during water breaks we would drink very hot water out of this contraption until the coach wasn't thirsty anymore. Let me tell ya his thirst was quenched very fast lol

GatorBallz Report

Final score:

13points

POST

Tabitha Frost 2 years ago

Why is there multiple stories of teachers sitting on students!?

6points

#76

I'm late to the party, but my precalc teacher, literally, kicked a kid in the stomach for getting out of his chair.

hiccamer Report

Final score:

13points

POST

#77

Well not to me,but my teacher used to twist ears of the naughty boys and gave them some corner time.

Sarayka81 Report

Final score:

13points

POST

#78

In the early '80s, our teacher let us play a modified version of dodgeball... in the classroom.

zim1109 Report

Final score:

12points

POST

Mistiekim 2 years ago (edited)

We had a “study hall” with a teacher and there weren’t many of us in there. I went to a very small school so he knew us all and besides being a math teacher he was a coach. He basically let us do whatever we wanted. He had a Nintendo set up in his back office, my friend and I played board games, etc. The only thing he asked us to do was roll quarters from the vending machines since that money went to the school.

4points

#79

Once in sixth grade we were on an outdoors trip with one teacher going first and another one last. The last one was kicking the last 5 kids to make us go faster.

dr37295 Report

Final score:

10points

POST

#80

In 6th grade I had a science teacher that was a little unhinged, she was never physical with us but blew up quite frequently. In her early days of teaching (mid 90s) she hit a kid over the back of their head with a laptop and broke a clipboard hitting a different student

spartanleaves Report

Final score:

10points

POST

Hobby Hopper 2 years ago

Should have been her last days of teaching.

6points

Howdy, I'm Adelaide! I'm originally from Texas, but after graduating from university with an acting degree, I relocated to sunny Los Angeles for a while. I then got a serious bite from the travel bug and found myself moving to Sweden and England before settling in Lithuania about two years ago. I'm passionate about animal welfare, sustainability and eating delicious food. But as you can see, I cover a wide range of topics including drama, internet trends and hilarious memes. I can easily be won over with a Seinfeld reference, vegan pastry or glass of fresh cold brew. And during my free time, I can usually be seen strolling through a park, playing tennis or baking something tasty.

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Gabija is a photo editor at Bored Panda. Before joining the team, she achieved a Professional Bachelor degree in Photography and has been working as a freelance photographer since. She also has a special place in her heart for film photography, movies and nature.

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What do you think ?

POST

Aiden Brough 2 years ago

I was an 80's kid in the UK. Quite a few to tell! A PE teacher kicked a pupil square in the chest because he was messing about (he flew across the changing room and broke a tile with the back of his head). Another teacher enjoyed 'tweeking' boy's nipples (oddly, no one thought ANYTHING of this!). Just after my Dad died I remember not handing in some work and the Geography teach got mad at me and demanded my Dad signed my homework and wondered why I started crying. For me the worse was during my careers interview for college the person started to laugh at me when I said what A-Levels I wanted to do ("You've no chance son" was his reply - I proved him wrong by getting 2 B's and 8 Cs was a pretty good for GCSE's back in 1989, but I still didn't go to college). BTW, the nipple tweeker is STILL serving time as a serial pedophile...

14points

Kate 2 years ago

In second grade (1987-88) I stayed after and helped my teacher with stuff. I was a latchkey kid, so it was okay. Once a week, she took me out for ice cream!

9points

RafCo (he/him) 2 years ago

I ended up getting a data entry job with my middle school for the same reason. My brother would beat me up at home, so didn't want to go, and my parents didn't get home until very late at night. I got paid $3/hour entering data in a spread-sheet for the principal's assistant, and didn't have to go home until after my brother had left to go out with friends. Minimum wage was actually a bit higher (like $3.35 I think), but I wasn't legally allowed to work anyways, so it was a wash. I got really into computers at the time, and I ended up building a tool to automate a lot of the process. Most of the data was just copy-paste from one system to another. So I made something that read the files of the first system, and inserted the data into her spreadsheet. She gave me $400 for that, which for an 11-12 year old was huge amount of cash in the late 80s. I've been a programmer since 1989, lol.

14points

Jason Marin 2 years ago

From first grade all the way through highschool I was bullied by other students. The elementary students who bullied me were simply told to knock it off but, they never did. As for middle and highschool, the teachers did nothing at all.

7points

Ingrid Smith 2 years ago

when I was in 7th grade I was miserable and getting bullied all the time. I had this English teacher named Mrs C. She was mean to the kids most of the time and yelled all the time. I was scared of her generally. One day, I stayed after class to have work corrected, and we were alone. Another teacher walked into the room, and Mrs C said, "Mrs M, I would like you to meet a very nice, very smart girl, who is a pleasure to have in class" and she said my name! It meant the world to me, not only because she did something nice and everyone thought she was a witch, but because I was so low that year and I really needed someone to say something nice about me. It was over 40 years ago and I am still incredibly grateful to her.

10points

CT 2 years ago

My first grade teachers team-taught, meaning both of them taught a class of 50. If you told on someone, you had to wear a paper version of a tail all day. If you talked in class, you had to wear a pair of red paper lips all day. If you said something Mrs. Bowers or Mrs. Williams thought wasn't too smart, you had to wear a DUNCE cap all day. This was late-70s, early- 80s. My sister had them as teachers and wore the lips almost every day! She is still a motor-mouth today, and we're in our early-50s. RIP Mrs. Bowers. You and Mrs. Williams were awesome!

5points

Melissa TO 2 years ago

First grade teacher (6 yr olds) was kinda old and had zero patience and couldn't keep control of the class. There was one boy who gave her the most trouble and I remember her chasing him around the classroom and hitting him with a broom. This was early 80's. Parents all got together and demanded her retirement. So we got a new teacher halfway through the school year, and she was awesome! She made me a needlepoint bookmark with my name on it, still have it.

5points

Mz Phit 2 years ago

My 1970's second grade teacher would do the duckling project every spring- each kid got a hatchling to raise for the rest of the school year, and we brought the little ducklings home in paper bags. She sold us containers of duck food and hutches for the ducks to live. (It was a little cottage industry for her)....there were a bunch of kids in my neighborhood who had ducks that had imprinted on them, and followed us around. Yes, duck parades were a thing.

4points

Abnus 2 years ago

Aww, that is so cute.

1point

Shane S 2 years ago (edited)

My 8th grade female science teacher taught us that condoms didn’t work and used a balloon deflating overnight as proof that condoms leak. She also said you could get AIDS from kissing. You can’t, btw, and the science that proved it was available at this time. And my freshmen health teacher (a football coach) said, among many things, that he believed the worst thing that happened to this country was the lesbian and gay rights movement. Oh, Texas…

4points

Suzi Q 2 years ago

In 1983, i had a high school craft class teacher who would leave his keys on his desk and let us know, "My keys are here on my desk. If they should disappear for a bit, then return with a dozen donuts, I wouldn't mind." He didn't leave money though. We still took the keys and brought back donuts. This continues every Friday for months. Then he told us his wife cut his donut eating out because he got diabetes. It was fun while it lasted. He was lucky we never wrecked his car.

3points

BonnyDK 2 years ago

In 7th grade I had a horrible teacher for home room. He was in his twenties and all the students hated him. He would come in late to class every day and pick out the same guy to paddle in the hallway because he said we were all talking. At the end of the year he had a pool party at his apartments for our class. He was sitting in lounge chairs with some guys he knew and critiquing all the kids bodies. I had on a bikini and was very self conscious of my developing figure. The kids went because none of us had pools and the idea of getting to swim in one was to much to resist. However when I heard what they were saying it creeped me out and I asked to call my mom to come get me. I was there not even 15 minutes.

3points

Ellie 2 years ago

My great uncle got slammed in the back of the head with a dictionary by his teacher because he wasn't paying attention (5th grade) his head slammed into the desk and he ended up severely mentally challenged and died really young because of it. This was back in the 1940 btw

3points

James Suttle 2 years ago

My 2nd to last year of primary school (UK) - 1990 I think - was summoned to Miss Harpers class and made to do Ishihara tests (colour-blindness) in front of everyone as a "demonstration" of someone with a "disability".

3points

VM37 2 years ago

As a teacher of HS kids, all I can say to most of the bad ones, sorry this happend to you and What an actual F! Those people are insane and should be banned from schools.

3points

Casey Payne 2 years ago

Late 70's. Fellow student died in a car crash and everyone had just got the news that morning. Of course there were several kids not taking it well and there were spontaneous displays of grief. The teacher got increasingly frustrated and finally told the entire class that the kid didn't feel a damn thing because their head was crushed when the car rolled over them. This was 2nd grade. I don't think I had a good grasp of human anatomy because I had some grotesque nightmares after that.

3points

Kenny Kulbiski 2 years ago

In the early 60s students ( me included) and teachers used to gather in an outside shed to smoke. I'm not sure why the teachers came outside, the teachers lounge was as smoke filled as a dive bar.

3points

Den Ver 2 years ago (edited)

I visited a former teacher in the teacher's lounge in the mid 80's. I remember my clothes smelling like an ashtray when I left.

4points

Elliot Fowler 2 years ago

My 6th grade english teacher was crazy. Every day he would choose a student to give him a shoulder massage while he teached from the comfort of his chair. And he punished us by having us get under his office desk during class and taking of his shoes while we were there. He then proceeded to place his feet in-front of our faces and force us to suffer the stinky feet smell for 10 min. He rubbed his feet on you if you were extra disruptive. He also used to throw makers at our heads. The crazy bastard actually bought metal markers because in his opinions the plastic ones did not hurt enough. Plus, he once gave a purple nurple to a student that left a mark for a week. He was awesome besides that. He made us do breakfast parties every week (which may have been his way for getting free food from us) and he allowed us to have roast battles were we insulted each other until he crowned a winner.

3points

Lucky2BAlive 2 years ago

Back when I was in elementary school teachers still wrapped knuckles. But I had more than one teacher say I would never be my brother, and one say they weren’t going to waste their time on me. I even had an art teacher who said I couldn’t be that good of an artist when I handed in projects because I was such a bad student in general. (For the record, not long I just gave up my dream for a really long time)I already had a hard time at home. BUT, I did every finally find a teacher who believed in me. Who ultimately changed my world. My 10th and then 12th grade English teacher. She was engaging, caring, and above all instinctive. And bullies? Nearly my entire academic career.

3points

Dee 2 years ago

My chemistry teacher would give you an extra 10 % on your grade if you brought in a science related comic (from the newspaper). That kept me from failing!

2points

Leilani Lily 2 years ago

In a Catholic school the principal was a nun with a paddle. One day kids were told not to play in a puddle underneath the swings but a few did. When class resumed Sister A came in, lined up 3 kids in front of the class and proceeded to whack each on the butt with her paddle. I'm still walking around puddles.

2points

Tree P 2 years ago

My mother's best friend went to a Catholic school, and the nuns used to smack her left hand when she used it. It got so bad, she didn't want to go to school, until her father paid a visit to school and bitched the nun out. Stupid penguin!

1point

PazDores 2 years ago (edited)

My first grade teacher put me against a wall behind two bookshelves so she couldn't see me. I couldn't read all that well because I have dyslexia. I was also being abused which didn't help with my fears. When it was finally reported to the school by another kid's parent, after no one in my family believed what I was saying, the school kicked me out (private school). It's one of the reasons I hated both home and school for a long time. No place was safe for me. Didn't have to many friends either because I was the weird child and my family wouldn't let me go over to other people's houses as much unless they picked the friends. And the new coach at said private school would always tell me what a disappointment I was because both my mom and my sister played over 10 sports and I couldn't even do a push up. Needless to say I still have nightmares about all of it.

2points

Heather 2 years ago

I had a teacher in 91, 8th grade, who would send kids to the Ben Franklin store 2 blocks from school to buy candy for the class. RIP Mr Warren, Central Junior High

2points

O.M.Miki 2 years ago (edited)

elementary school late 80's my principle ( vietnamese) told me (after i felled a spelling test )that asians are just smarter in nature. I never forgot that and now i'm a book author. Sometimes I want to see her again just throw my book and success in her face.

2points

Sammie 19 2 years ago

70's UK. I learnt how to read and write at 3 and I was left handed. First grade I had a teacher who said people who were left-handed were from the devil and we were evil so every time I had my pencil in my left hand she would hit me on that hand really hard with her wooden ruler till I dropped the pencil and used my right hand to write with. I had bloody knuckles and bruises on my hand for almost 6 months until I could write with my right hand. I'm 49 now and still right handed. When my sister, also left handed started first grade my old teacher had retired and a new young teacher, also left handed, was her teacher so she didn't go through what I did.

2points

Shine Chisholm 2 years ago

Bathroom breaks still blow my mind. Teaching children to ignore their bodies!

2points

SAF saf 2 years ago

This was 6th grade english class during the early 90's in West Texas. He would basically drink beer during class out of a coffee mug. Dude wore cowboy boots and had a mullet that was always slicked back. Kinda' an angry, aggressive dude that would put hands on the unrully kids but he was pretty cool to the rest of us. Same part of the U.S. Semi-positive one, An 8th grad math teacher convinced the school to let her teach a computer/art and music appreciation period. We would discuss famous art work she brought photos of, we'd learn about classical music composers and three times a week we'd learn how a computer worked. This was in the 92' btw, she showed us how to compile a simple data base and then how to search through it. She taught some basic DOS commands and finally introduced the class to something called C programing language. Class was deemed impractical and was canceled the next semester. It's hard to express what a positive that class was in my life.

2points

HoRace 2 years ago

In 4th grade (1982-83), we had an OLD, retired teacher for a substitute. One day, she told a kid to shut-up, then proceeded to hit him with a ruler. One of my Jr. High PE teachers (1985-87) used to wear REALLY tight sweatpants so everyone, especially the girls, could see the bulge of his crotch.

2points

Doc Thissen 2 years ago

A good story. I had a teacher in 8th grade who used Stan Freberg's United States of America recording, (it was originally released in the early 1960's) as the way to introduce her students to U.S. history. Even though I dropped out at the beginning of my 11th grade year, I still ended becoming a local historian. 8th grade was about 40 years ago, and I still thank Mrs. Fitz for instilling a love of history in me. Nothing else took quite the same way.

2points

PandaPops 2 years ago

Went to an all girls secondary school and you were not allowed to wear a black bra under your white shirt. If you did you had to remove it...

2points

Angie 2 years ago

5th grade and had a teacher named Mr. Schrall. Whenever he would get irritated at a student, he would scrape his fingernails down the chalkboard. Total d**k

1point

CH1990 2 years ago

Something really cool I remember: our whole class got invited to our teacher's wedding. I was 6 (1996). I'll never forget this

1point

Seedy Vine 2 years ago

I attended catholic grade school. The religion class teacher would ask us questions about Jesus and if we didn't know the answer, he would thump us on the head with a bible.

1point

removebeforeflight 2 years ago

I really hated school and the whole system around it. I was a kid who stood out because of the way of thinking. Also, I was always being laughed by my know-it-all classmates and teachers for having low grades and not doing homework properly or not doing it at all. Everything changed with the final exams. Everybody was taking private tutoring and other stuff to pass it. I did nothing. Just because I was paying attention at the classes and was able to follow simple instructions and to switch on my brain when it was needed, I have passed the final exams with one of the best results for the whole school that year - I was roughly missing 4-5 points to the highest grade, when those of them who did tutoring all year round were sometimes missing more than 60 points. I went to study abroad. Graduated with merit. Now I am in my early 20's, having my badass career in aviation and earning more than every single person in my class. Bye, m*********rs.

1point

Jill Rhodry 2 years ago

In the 70s - 3rd grade, head mistress tied a classmate to his chair to make him sit still, I guess we call that ADHD today - 5th grade, the teacher who would walke around the classroom and chicken peck (strike a pointed knuckle backhanded on the head) the head of students who he didn't like the work they were doing.

1point

Den Ver 2 years ago (edited)

(Part II) [doesn't have a bad ending] ... As the kid threw, I followed the arc of the javelin and saw it was going to go right through the back of one of my best friends. He was oblivious ... and it was going to skewer him. There was no way it was going to miss and I was horrified. Then he suddenly bent over and picked up his javelin and the one that was thrown whizzed 1 ft./30cm over his spine and head as he reached to the ground. I immediately looked toward the PE teacher to scream that someone was almost killed, but, he had seen it all. He looked so shaken that I had an idea of how I must have looked. He shrieked, "Stop", blew his whistle, and in a semi-panic started shouting about us not following directions. He told us to put all the javelins back. There was no way we'd be throwing those again. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Years later, when I read the book, The Giver, I couldn't decide if this was a memory I'd choose to keep or erase. My memory is vivid and horrifying, but everything worked out okay. ... I also know, however, that in an alternative timeline things weren't okay. I have a sickening "imagined memory" of what that that alternative scenario looked like and how I felt. I think it's okay that kids in the 2020's don't throw javelins.

1point

Erlend Sørli 2 years ago

In 5th grade Elementary school I was in the school band. One day we were to perform at a neighboring school. For some reason only half of the band was going and the whole thing was in retrospect poorly organized. Me and another guy went along, but when we got there it was clear that we were not supposed to be there. The principal drove and picked us up and it was no big deal for her. We had an english-teacher who was a real c*nt. Picture a 50-something typical conservative woman with a green dress, bad perm, stinging piggy-eyes, screechy voice, and huge a$$. The day after this ordeal the english-teacher (in front of the whole class) asked me why I was not in class the day before and I told her the story. She proceeded to use atleast 10-15 minutes of class-time to yell at me and berate me about "beeing that stupid", wasting the principals time, and what not. This in front of the whole class and I was almost in tears. F**k you Mrs. Bell.

1point

Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

Known pedophiles working as teachers.

1point

Daniel Yamada 2 years ago

How long have you been a teacher?

-3points

AndThenICommented 2 years ago

I’m remembering why I was so distrustful of adults as kid.

1point

Tree P 2 years ago

My 6th grade teacher had us write who we'd invite for Christmas dinner, and all the kids who said him were taken out for lunch. You were the best, Mr. Skinner!

0points

Bingo Queen 2 years ago

My elementary school guidance counselor would come to my house in the morning if I didn't show up on time, toasted cream cheese bagel in hand, ready to drag my a*s to school. I love you, Mary Ann Wright 💜💜

0points

m L 2 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

0points

Steve Kenney 2 years ago

First grade teacher used to me smack in the back of the head with a yardstick for "daydreaming" which was actually ADHD

0points

Den Ver 2 years ago (edited)

[doesn't have a bad ending] UK, April 1973, 2nd Form (like Potter yr. 2 ... 13yo) PE teacher got out javelins. All 30 in the class stood at one end of a football/soccer pitch and on his command threw downfield as far as we could. Then, we were told to go retrieve the javelins. Return, practice throwing again. Seems simple, but for some reason the teacher stopped paying attention and some of the kids just wanted to throw as many times as they could -- instead of trying to get better. Pretty soon kids were throwing while others were retrieving. I needed to get my javelin, but was carefully selecting my moment to run out and run back since I could see how dangerous things were getting. I just had to wait for one kid to throw, then it would be "clear". ... continued ...

0points

pico diablo 2 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

0points

Mistiekim 2 years ago

I got two: A couple guys pulled the fire alarm as a prank in high school. Their punishment was to stay and clean the whole school overnight and still go to school the next day (I think it was shortened day though). The other was that in high school my friends and I were bored and decided (for some reason) it would be fun to go to our math teacher’s house. He let us in and we stayed for awhile. Yeah that was weird.

0points

CT 2 years ago

In sixth grade, the entire school watched Tron. I'm still confused as to why...

0points

Daniel Yamada 2 years ago

One of our teachers would go to the bar during lunch every day and have a couple beers.

0points

Daniel Yamada 2 years ago

Our school allowed some of us students to have time off during a school day to do a shooting competition at a farm owned by one of the teachers. On the morning of the event, those of us who were participating did a group photo holding our rifles in the main entrance to the school. The photo was published in the school yearbook.

0points

Lisa Owen 2 years ago

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pico diablo 2 years ago

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POST

Aiden Brough 2 years ago

14points

Kate 2 years ago

In second grade (1987-88) I stayed after and helped my teacher with stuff. I was a latchkey kid, so it was okay. Once a week, she took me out for ice cream!

9points

RafCo (he/him) 2 years ago

14points

Jason Marin 2 years ago

7points

Ingrid Smith 2 years ago

10points

CT 2 years ago

5points

Melissa TO 2 years ago

5points

Mz Phit 2 years ago

4points

Abnus 2 years ago

Aww, that is so cute.

1point

Shane S 2 years ago (edited)

4points

Suzi Q 2 years ago

3points

BonnyDK 2 years ago

3points

Ellie 2 years ago

3points

James Suttle 2 years ago

3points

VM37 2 years ago

As a teacher of HS kids, all I can say to most of the bad ones, sorry this happend to you and What an actual F! Those people are insane and should be banned from schools.

3points

Casey Payne 2 years ago

3points

Kenny Kulbiski 2 years ago

In the early 60s students ( me included) and teachers used to gather in an outside shed to smoke. I'm not sure why the teachers came outside, the teachers lounge was as smoke filled as a dive bar.

3points

Den Ver 2 years ago (edited)

I visited a former teacher in the teacher's lounge in the mid 80's. I remember my clothes smelling like an ashtray when I left.

4points

Elliot Fowler 2 years ago

3points

Lucky2BAlive 2 years ago

3points

Dee 2 years ago

My chemistry teacher would give you an extra 10 % on your grade if you brought in a science related comic (from the newspaper). That kept me from failing!

2points

Leilani Lily 2 years ago

2points

Tree P 2 years ago

1point

PazDores 2 years ago (edited)

2points

Heather 2 years ago

I had a teacher in 91, 8th grade, who would send kids to the Ben Franklin store 2 blocks from school to buy candy for the class. RIP Mr Warren, Central Junior High

2points

O.M.Miki 2 years ago (edited)

2points

Sammie 19 2 years ago

2points

Shine Chisholm 2 years ago

Bathroom breaks still blow my mind. Teaching children to ignore their bodies!

2points

SAF saf 2 years ago

2points

HoRace 2 years ago

2points

Doc Thissen 2 years ago

2points

PandaPops 2 years ago

Went to an all girls secondary school and you were not allowed to wear a black bra under your white shirt. If you did you had to remove it...

2points

Angie 2 years ago

5th grade and had a teacher named Mr. Schrall. Whenever he would get irritated at a student, he would scrape his fingernails down the chalkboard. Total d**k

1point

CH1990 2 years ago

Something really cool I remember: our whole class got invited to our teacher's wedding. I was 6 (1996). I'll never forget this

1point

Seedy Vine 2 years ago

I attended catholic grade school. The religion class teacher would ask us questions about Jesus and if we didn't know the answer, he would thump us on the head with a bible.

1point

removebeforeflight 2 years ago

1point

Jill Rhodry 2 years ago

1point

Den Ver 2 years ago (edited)

1point

Erlend Sørli 2 years ago

1point

Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

Known pedophiles working as teachers.

1point

Daniel Yamada 2 years ago

How long have you been a teacher?

-3points