Did you go to school in the 60/70/80's?. Don't miss out!

[Fallingup]

There was one lad in my year who had his scrotum sliced off by the teacher for talking in class. Didn't make a man of him though.

[hungry_hog]

One of our chemistry teachers in the 80s was certainly of the old school.

He would walk along a queue of boys - anyone without correct uniform was subjected to what can only be "forceful sideburn lift". If you can imagine a 4ft tall boy comically jumping trying to avoid the hair pull.

In another incident a sink (all the lab desks have sinks) had a little residue of diethyl ether left in it from an experiment. One of the guys had dozed off next to the sink so he chucked in a lit match - woke him up a bit lively. Flame hit the ceiling.

Brilliant teacher - he used to go to a lot of lectures at UCL, get their crazy demo ideas and recreate them in the classroom. Things like the thermite reaction which you would not be allowed now (look it up on YT).

[bloomen]

I was just on the cusp of this. It was a free for all in primary school. One teacher we nicknamed Shaky as her thing was to grasp your shoulders and thrum you back and forth until you got severe whiplash. Another whupped our little botties with a dap.

I don't remember anything after that age. I had utter contempt for the majority of my teachers in later years so any attempt at violence would've headed straight back at them.

My father was fully brutalised by his various boarding schools after being sent away aged 6 and it's fked him for life. Unbelievable that parents would pay good money to have their children tortured but they did.

[davhill]

Hoofy said:

Jeez, she only hit you once. Was that necessary??

In her mind, obviously.She was always a sour old bag, probably
on the cusp of the menopause.

[OzzyR1]

I went to a public school in the East Midlands in the 80's.

Crazy looking back now, a flying board duster was the least of the worries. One that sticks in the mind was our swimming teacher; a short bald chap in his sixties with a serious attitude problem and a seeming hatred of kids.

If someone was found to have a verruca, he would make them hold the towel rail on the poolside with both hands while he lifted the offending foot like a vet might do with a horse.

He then used his fking penknife to cut the verruca out and would then chuck the lad in the pool behind him to let the chlorine "wash it out".

Never happened to me but I saw it done to others several times.

Amazing it was considered normal at the time and he was allowed to get away with it.

Haven't mentioned a name but anyone who went to that school between '75 and '92 will know who I am talking about!!

[jdw100]

80's secondary school: bog standard comp.

My mate Chris was thrown out of a window by our English teacher. Luckily ground floor. Defenestrated!

My brother (3 years younger than me) got punched in the face by the drama teacher and promptly hit him back. Parents were up the school about that one but I think it was a agreed they were both out of order and nothing else happened.

Another teacher threw one of my class mates into metal library racking - had to have three or four stitches in his head.

An ex-girfriend of mine went to an all girls boarding school in Yorkshire, where most of the teachers were nuns. Horrifying stories from her time there..

A classmate was punched unconscious for daring to raise a question in a RE lesson, basically along the lines of 'you don't really believe that Jesus rose from the dead?' Knocked out with one blow.

All letters home were read by the nuns and if they were found writing anything negative they would be punished and the letter destroyed.

She and two friends tried to escape (aged about 12) and set off across the moors, hunted by teachers from the school.

Nuns had 'favourite girls'...you might imagine what that entailed.

I was just amazed that her parents kept sending her back there....until I met them. He was a fairly senior rank in the RAF and he and his wife were staunch Christians, two of the most horrible people I've ever met, under a, fairly thin, veneer of niceness.

Edited by jdw100 on Thursday 21st February 02:33

Edited by jdw100 on Thursday 21st February 02:36

[jdw100]

Spumfry said:

I'd completely forgotten about that, we used to do the same. No idea how it worked but it did.
Kids these days with their interactive white boards, don't know they're born.

I had no idea about schools having interactive whiteboards until last year.

Just assumed, not having been in a school, for 30+ years, that they still used whiteboards...

[WinstonWolf]

desolate said:

Lemming Train said:

Here we go.

Take your opinions over to the "why are people so offended?" thread where they belong please rather derailing this one. These shenanigans were the norm for those of us who were at school during that period and in 4 pages you're the only person jumping on your soapbox about it .

It's a bit weird that people think it was a good thing though, isn't it?

It was perfectly acceptable behaviour then, and it was generally very effective. It certainly took the wind out of my sails a few times...

You were warned, if you didn't comply it was your own choice to get hit. You always knew it was coming in my school if you didn't rein yourself in a bit.

[popeyewhite]

OzzyR1 said:

If someone was found to have a verruca, he would make them hold the towel rail on the poolside with both hands while he lifted the offending foot like a vet might do with a horse.

He then used his fking penknife to cut the verruca out and would then chuck the lad in the pool behind him to let the chlorine "wash it out".

Never happened to me but I saw it done to others several times.

Amazing it was considered normal at the time and he was allowed to get away with it.

Not sure about the poolside surgery aspect but it's disgusting going swimming with a verruca - indeed any barefoot sport as they are highly contagious. Shows more a lack of care from the parents than the teacher who is only protecting the other kids from infection. Go to a doctor to have a big wart removed and they'll only cut it out anyway.

[anonymous-user]

WinstonWolf said:

It was perfectly acceptable behaviour then, and it was generally very effective. It certainly took the wind out of my sails a few times...

You were warned, if you didn't comply it was your own choice to get hit. You always knew it was coming in my school if you didn't rein yourself in a bit.

Made fk all difference at our school

No one gave a st.

[WinstonWolf]

desolate said:

WinstonWolf said:

It was perfectly acceptable behaviour then, and it was generally very effective. It certainly took the wind out of my sails a few times...

You were warned, if you didn't comply it was your own choice to get hit. You always knew it was coming in my school if you didn't rein yourself in a bit.

Made fk all difference at our school

No one gave a st.

And here's me thinking you're a softy softy liberal. Maybe our teachers hit harder

[alfie2244]

Talking of swimming pools reminded me that our school had an outdoor, unheated pool. However we weren't able to use it during the warmer times of the year (rented out to 3rd parties or school staff & families IIRC)

However winter was a different matter...........Wally Watson our sports teacher would take great pride in pushing one of our larger classmates into the pool with a triumphant "fatty will break the ice"

[anonymous-user]

WinstonWolf said:

And here's me thinking you're a softy softy liberal. Maybe our teachers hit harder

One of my mates got hospitalised twice - a bit ironic as he wasn't one of the bad lads he was just unlucky.

first time was an over enthusiastic physics teacher who broke his thumb giving the cane - nothing happened about that. The second time was a new teacher who gave him a back hander in front of the class but got it wrong and split his eyebrow and there was blood everywhere. there was a bit of a kerfuffle over that.

probably the funniest was by a pupil on a teacher. he stuck a couple of chocolate lime sweets up his arse, wrapped them back up and gave them to the form teacher. that was priceless.

the same guy nicked an exercise book off the pile of homework and wiped his arse on it and put it back on the pile. that took a day to come to a head but it was worth the wait.


This was at a catholic comp in the 80s.
On the positive side all the nonces were only interested in the girls. I think.

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 21st February 11:43

[WinstonWolf]

desolate said:

WinstonWolf said:

And here's me thinking you're a softy softy liberal. Maybe our teachers hit harder

One of my mates got hospitalised twice - a bit ironic as he wasn't one of the bad lads he was just unlucky.

first time was an over enthusiastic physics teacher who broke his thumb giving the cane - nothing happened about that. The second time was a new teacher who gave him a back hander in front of the class but got it wrong and split his eyebrow and there was blood everywhere. there was a bit of a kerfuffle over that.

probably the funniest was by a pupil on a teacher. he stuck a couple of chocolate lime sweets up his arse, wrapped them back up and gave them to the form teacher. that was priceless.

the same guy nicked an exercise book off the pile of homework and wiped his arse on it and put it back on the pile. that took a day to come to a head but it was worth the wait.

Don't you dare claim to be the sensitive easily offended type ever again

[Kermit power]

WinstonWolf said:

Kermit power said:

I do still recall the ruler to the palm of the hands at primary school.

It only happened once, but that was enough for me not to risk it happening again, even though I got let off with only 7 of the 12 allotted smacks. Then again, I was only let off because the head snapped the wooden ruler on the 7th stroke, so it's not as though he'd been holding back!

Some of you should have been hit more often, then you'd remember that it's a rule, not a ruler

I was hit with one repeatedly as an apprentice until I learned the error of my ways.

Now you bloody tell me!!

The head used to start that process with the phrase "go to my office and ask my secretary to give you my ruler".

With hindsight, I should've used it on him!

[anonymous-user]

WinstonWolf said:

Don't you dare claim to be the sensitive easily offended type ever again

I only get offended on behalf of other people.

[kowalski655]

Wow,some serious stories here.Im amazed no one has sued, or reported the historic abuse to cops,in the same way as historic sex abuse.
Our school (grammar) had the cane for the 1st year I was there till Frank, the old traditional,cape & mortarboard head, retired. After that just detention on a Monday(only once in 7 years for me,AND I was fking innocent )

[WinstonWolf]

Kermit power said:

WinstonWolf said:

Kermit power said:

I do still recall the ruler to the palm of the hands at primary school.

It only happened once, but that was enough for me not to risk it happening again, even though I got let off with only 7 of the 12 allotted smacks. Then again, I was only let off because the head snapped the wooden ruler on the 7th stroke, so it's not as though he'd been holding back!

Some of you should have been hit more often, then you'd remember that it's a rule, not a ruler

I was hit with one repeatedly as an apprentice until I learned the error of my ways.

Now you bloody tell me!!

The head used to start that process with the phrase "go to my office and ask my secretary to give you my ruler".

With hindsight, I should've used it on him!

I cringe every time I hear someone call a rule of measure a ruler. Queen Victoria was a ruler, this is a bloody rule >whack<

[Riley Blue]

We had a 'traditional' headmaster at my grammar school. Unfortunately for him he pissed off the seniors once too often so his car (MG 1100) was advertised in various local papers at a knock-down price - week after week after week for a couple of months.

[so called]

Some of the teachers at my old school used Butter Pats.
Similar to mini cricket bats, they don't half smart when wacked across your backside.

Apart from that, picking up by side burns was common.