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Education

People are sharing things teachers did in the '80s and '90s that would 'never fly' now

Students and teachers had different relationships back then.

1980s schools, 1990s schools, teachers
via EaglebrookSchool/Flickr

Eaglebrook School, Deerfield, Massachusetts.

The typical kid’s experience in school is a lot different today than it was 30 to 40 years ago. It’s hard to say whether things are better or worse, but there’s been a sea change in how children are raised.

One negative development is that teachers tend to think parents are more likely to side with their kids over faculty in disputes than they were decades ago. On the positive side, corporal punishment is on the decrease, so students are much less likely to be physically punished for breaking the rules.

A Reddit user with the username u/theSandwichSister asked the ‘80s and ‘90s kids on the forum, “What’s something a school teacher did to you that would not fly today?” A lot of the responses were about the type of physical punishment and humiliation that used to happen in schools that would never happen these days.

There were also a lot of posts about teachers who smoked around their students. Can you imagine a kindergarten teacher lighting up in front of their students these days? They’d be fired in a flash.

Overall, the responses show that schools are a lot more concerned with the mental and emotional health of their students these days, which is a wonderful improvement. Schools also seem to be much more friendly environments to students who are people of color, LGBTQ or have disabilities.

Here are 17 of the best responses to the question, “What’s something a school teacher did to you that would not fly today?”

1.

"Not a teacher, but school one. If you read enough books during the year in elementary school you got to have a sleepover in the library. Like we brought sleeping bags and slept on the floor. In the morning they had griddles out and we made pancakes. I know, total nerds, but it was my favorite elementary school memory." — 7askingforafriend

2.

"My elementary school principal would pull loose teeth. You could go to his office, have him pull your loose tooth and he would give you a lollipop." — snowfuckerforreal

3.

"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

4.

"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 asshole 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." — hangingonwith2fingers

5.

"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 response was to interview my friends about MY RELIGION." — ktbunny

6.

"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


7.

"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

8.

"Yeah, there are a lot of negative things in this thread, which makes sense, but there are some 'cool teacher' things that we lost too. I got a ride home from school once from a male teacher in middle school (I'm female) when it was pouring rain and my mom wouldn't come get me, but I bet that's not allowed these days." — rabidstoat

9.

"English teacher in high school used to cuss kids out for being noisy in class and if that didn't work, he'd throw the blackboard eraser at us. I wasn't on the receiving end of the eraser. That chalk would leave marks on kid's backs for the rest of the day so everyone knew who pissed off Mr Charvet." — Roscoe_Cracks_Corn

 

10.

"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

11.

"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

 

12.

"Cheese Day in the Midwest. It was in first grade. For an entire day, all you ate was cheese. Cheese puffs, curls, sticks, slices, balls, and Doritos. Drank orange Hi-C as well. For 10+ years, smelling that fake cheese made me gag. After her wedding, and the birth of her son, my sister says Cheese Day the best day of her life. Wasn’t Wisconsin either." — 2_Spicy_2_Impeach

13.

"They told us Pluto was a planet." — Representative-Fig96

14.

"Best math teacher ever made us say numerator/denominator in Schwarzenegger voices as we were learning fractions." — kittensington

15.

"High School, we were on campus, drove a van to the locker rooms because I was with The QB, Linebacker and a couple of linemen who needed to get crap from their lockers. We were drinking beer in the van, it was 1:30, the football coach sees us, stops the van, looks inside and sees the beer, and shook his head and told us to be careful and get off campus. I don’t think that would fly today." — kentro2002

16.

"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

 

17.

"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." — wanderingsteph


This article originally appeared on 08.30.22

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Community

Mom breaks down in tears after receiving call from another parent about her daughter's lunch

"Well now we're all crying."

Photo by Katerina Holmes|Canva

Mom in tears after another parent calls about daughter's lunch

People say having children is like having your heart walk around outside of your body. You send them off to school, practices or playdates and hope that the world treats them kindly because when they hurt, you hurt. Inevitably there will be times when your child's feelings are hurt so you do your best to prepare for that day.

But what prepares you for when the child you love so much winds up accidentally healing your inner child. A mom on TikTok, who goes by Soogia posted a video explaining a phone call she received from a parent in her daughter's classroom. The mom called to inform Soogia that their kids had been sharing lunch with each other.

Soogia wasn't prepared for what came next. The classmate's mother informed her that her son loves the food Soogia's daughter brings to school and wanted to learn how to cook it too.

That may seem like a small thing to some, but the small gesture healed a little bit of Soogia's inner child. Growing up as a Korean kid in California, Soogia's experience was a bit different than what her children are now experiencing.

"I guess I just never thought that my kids would be the generation of kids that could go to school and not only just proudly eat, but share their food with other kids that were just so open and accepting to it," Soogia says through tears. "Knowing that they don't sit there eating their food, feeling ashamed and wishing that their fried rice was a bagel instead or something like that. And I know, it sounds so small and it sounds so stupid, but knowing their experience at school is so different from mine in such a positive way is just so hopeful."

Soogia's tearful video pulled on the heartstrings of her viewers who shared their thoughts in the comments.

"Soogia! It will never be small. Your culture is beautiful & the littles are seeing that every day. You've even taught me so much. I'm grateful for you," one person says.

"Beautiful! I can see your inner child healing in so many ways," another writes.

"Welp. Now I'm sobbing at the airport. This is beautiful," someone reveals.

"These Gen Alpha babies really are a different, kinder generation. I love them so much," one commenter gushes.

You can hear the entire story below. You may want to grab a tissue.

@soogia1

These kids, man. They’re really something else. #culturalappreciation #breakingbread #sharing #

This article originally appeared on 3.23.24

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Pop Culture

People admit these common social norms are actually quite 'ridiculous'

Why are will still doing some of these?

Photo credit: Canva

Just because everyone's doing it…it doesn't make it right.

There are plenty of societal norms that have stood the test of time— washing your hands before leaving the bathroom, saying “please” and “thank you,” using a blinker to indicate when you're turning or switching lanes…though we know that not all of society does these things…But still, man, if not most of us do, and the world seems to be better for it.

However, there are just as many widely accepted behaviors that perhaps could use some reevaluation, whether they’re outdated, or just downright asinine.

Recently, someone on Ask Reddit prompted folks to share common social norms they secretly found “ridiculous,” and answers flooded in—everything from obsolete workplace etiquette to baffling economic obligations that only put folks more in a financial bind.

On the job front, gummywormeater wrote that they are sick of it being normal for job ads to not have pay transparency, writing, “are we really pretending as if the money isn’t a big factor as to why I’m applying?”

Luckily, demand has led to legislative change, with several states enacting laws to ensure employees and job applicants have access to salary information. But clearly, there’s still a ways to go.

Someone else lamented the standard “two weeks to quit a job” practice, since it demands loyalty of the employee without doing the same thing of the employer.

“They can let you go without even a seconds warning but if you leave without giving a two week notice you’re the bad guy and filed under ‘not rehireable’, they said, adding, “The entire idea behind the two week notice is so they could train your replacement but these days they often don’t really have anyone lined up for that. Then they ask you to stay on another week. Not your problem though.”


via GIPHY

Others noted how things that were often regarded as rude manners really weren’t rude at all.

“Crossing my arms means I’m closed off. Actually I’m just really comfortable standing that way. I do it all the time,” said It_is_me_Mike , while the obviously introverted humming-bird5 lamented “having to say bye to every person when leaving an event.”

Similarly, -rocky23m said:

“I secretly find ridiculous is the expectation to always respond with ‘I'm fine’ or ‘I'm good’ when someone asks how you're doing, even when you're clearly not. It's as if we're all part of an unspoken agreement to avoid genuine emotional exchanges in casual interactions, reducing a potentially meaningful conversation to mere pleasantries. It feels like a missed opportunity to connect on a deeper level, yet it's so ingrained that we all just go along with it.”

media.giphy.com

When it comes to social media, many agree that it’s caused us to normalize whipping our phones out and broadcasting every moment of our day. Rather than just, you know, experiencing it.

“Posting your entire life online.” -Queenofswords_love

“Having to be available 24/7.” Formal-Eye5548

There are plenty of parenting norms that are well and good, but PlaysTheTriangle doesn’t get the trend of “not just letting kids be weird. My son used to wear the weirdest stuff and if we were going out I’d be like ‘Go for it! You’re six, live it up!’”

Then there came the subject of money.

Dances28 thought it was ridiculous that it’s so common to spend money just “to flex,” asking “why do I care if random people think I'm rich?”

On that note there were lots of folks who didn’t get why certain (very expensive) things were just expected to be bought in order to declare some kind of status or keep up with outdated traditions.

“Wearing brand name clothing. As long as you have nice clean clothes on I don’t care what brand they are. Scuh

“Over the top weddings. What an incredible waste of money.” -Pithecanthropus88


via GIPHY

“Gender reveals. What a grandiose waste of money, time and resources.” -Sea-Gene-901

“Having kids when you can’t even afford rent.” -morningsunzzz

Lastly, to end on a lighthearted note, SwimInTheOceanAtNite wrote, “Blaming the way someone acts on their zodiac sign.” We’ve all heard someone do that…if we haven’t done it ourselves.

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Family

Mom recalls the uncomfortable moment an older man complimented her 6-year-old's appearance

When she didn't say "thank you," he accused her of having bad manners.

@yourejustliz/TikTok

“Nice is different than kind."

It might have been pretty universally accepted during our childhood for daughters to be expected to reciprocate affection from adults, whether they liked it or not. A non consensual kiss to grandparents here, a forced “thank you” there. But times have changed.

However, this change in parenting style can sometimes make for some, well, awkward or even downright uncomfortable situations as moms and dads try to advocate for this kid’s autonomy.

Recently, a mom named Liz Kindred detailed just such an incident with her six year old daughter, which has a whole lotta other parents discussing how to navigate these unideal interactions.

As she recalls in a video posted to TikTok, Kindred was waiting in line with her daughter when a grown man turned around and said “My goodness, you sure are pretty” to the child.

“My six-year-old is gorgeous, yes, but she is also very in tune and perceptive, and she's an introvert so she grabbed my leg really tight,” Kindred said.

Doubling down, the man repeated himself, saying “You sure are pretty. Look at those blue eyes,” which only made her shy daughter grab her leg harder.

Noting that being in a 12 step program has taught her to be less “knee jerk reactionary,” the mom bit her tongue and offered a polite smile to the man, hoping that would be the end of it. It wasn’t.


@yourejustliz I need to get my brows done
♬ Succession (Theme Song) - The Theme System


“He's a boomer and, God love him, he said, ‘I guess your mom didn't teach you manners.’ And I let out an uncomfortable little [chuckle], and the pause was long. It was long. And under his breath he said, ‘Guess not,’” she said.

In what she called the most ”Jesus loving way” she could muster, while still bluntly making her point, Kindred told the man "If you assume that I didn't teach my six-year-old daughter to say ‘thank you’ to a grown, consenting man when he compliments her appearance, then you would be correct."

What followed was the “longest silence” of Kindred’s life.

The video, which has been viewed over 6 million times now, prompted a ton of parents to share how their own kids have established boundaries in similar situations—with their support, of course.

“An old man called my 4 yr old daughter a sweetheart at the store…she boldly responded ‘I am NOT YOUR sweetheart!’ I was so proud,” on person recalled.

Another added, “My 3 year old says ‘NO THANK YOU MY BODY DOESN’T LIKE TAHT.’”

Still another said “My 2 yo knows the boundaries song and just starts singing that anytime someone talks to her.”

While the response to Kindred’s video was overwhelmingly positive, there were a few comments defending the man as simply being “kind.” This prompted Kindred to do a follow-up video doubling down on her decision.

In the clip, she shared how she herself has dealt with seemingly innocent compliments in her life from men, which later turned into something else. Feeling like she “didn’t have a voice” to say something, “because I’m a nice Christian, Southern girl,” Kindred ended up being in unsavory situations (she didn't explicitly say what those situations were, but it's easy enough to piece together). She doesn’t want her daughter to have the same issues.


@yourejustliz #stitch with @Liz Kindred ♬ Succession (Theme Song) - The Theme System

“Nice is different than kind. The kind thing to do is to teach our daughters and our children in this next generation that when you are uncomfortable with something you listen to your body and you set a firm boundary with that and you provide language around that. And you start that really really young.”

Yep. Well said.



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Joy

Woman who died for 4 minutes brought back to life by AT&T worker installing her internet

"She was laying there, not breathing, eyes wide open.”

Kevin Tenkhoff, 62, a Customer Service Technician with AT&T for the past 19 years, was making a routine service call in Springfield, Missouri, in October 2023 when his quick thinking saved a woman’s life. He was installing the internet at Helen and Ryan Parli's home when he heard someone yelling.

Initially, he thought it may have been someone calling out for their dog, but he decided to check out the situation in case someone needed help. He rushed through the yard toward the front to see the commotion.

When he reached the top of the slope, he saw Ryan leaning over his wife, Helen, 51, and giving chest compressions. Kevin quickly removed his tool belt, ran over and asked if he could help Ryan, who was talking to the 911 operators and doing CPR simultaneously.

Kevin took over CPR duties, giving Helen chest compressions while Ryan was able to devote his attention to the 911 operator. "She was laying there, not breathing, eyes wide open. Had like a glaze over her eyes and I just started compressions as fast as I could," Kevin recalled. It was the first time he had ever performed CPR on a live person, but had been trained as part of his job at AT&T.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

AT&T takes CPR training with its technicians seriously. When technicians start on the job, they receive leader-led first aid training, including CPR and a web-based refresher every 3 years to keep them up to speed. “I hope I’m doing this right and hope this woman will pull through and survive,” Kevin thought while continuing to deliver chest compressions, he later told Upworthy.

"I could remember how calm he was and how just him taking over helped me see what was going on. He just went above and beyond,” Ryan said.

Kevin’s chest compressions helped Helen regain consciousness before paramedics arrived on the scene to take her to the hospital. The woman had been dead for 4 minutes before Kevin’s compressions brought her back to life. She later learned that if Kevin wasn’t there to help, things could have turned out terribly. "They said at the hospital that if he hadn't been there if he hadn't helped me, I could have been brain-damaged,” Helen recalled.

“He changed my life for the better because he gave me a sense of hope that there are good people in this world,” Helen added. Helen now considers Kevin to be her “guardian angel.”

“Just glad I was able to help,” Kevin said with a smile.



Later, Helen admitted that she almost didn’t let Kevin in the house. Their appointment had been for 1 pm and Kevin showed up early, at 10 am and she considered asking him to come back at his scheduled time. Lucky for her, she rethought her decision.

Helen spent 6 days in the hospital and had a defibrillator-like device surgically implanted in her heart. Doctors discovered that she had a dead heart cell in her heart that prevented it from pumping properly.

The story is a beautiful example of what can happen when good people are put in a situation where they must respond in an emergency. It’s also an excellent endorsement for AT&T’s technician training. If Kevin hadn’t been trained for years on how to administer CPR, he might not have been able to provide the life-saving aid that prevented Helen from getting brain damage.

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Parenting

Incredible video shows mom practicing football with her son while still in her work clothes

This is parenting at its finest.

Photo credit: Canva

Mom practices football with son while still in work clothes

We always hear about the achievements of children who become professional athletes or simply excel while in school. What we don't often see is the sacrifices and dedication of the parents behind the scenes. There are very few hours in the day, especially if you're working full time on top of raising children, add in a child that plays sports and you've got a combination for no rest.

That doesn't stop most parents though. They not only find the time to take them to their activities but to spend extra time helping them improve their skills in between practices. One mom has gone viral for her dedication to her son's football development. In the now viral video shared on 9-year-old Czar Glanton Jr.'s social media pages, the mom can be seen wearing business clothes running blocking drills with her son.

The yard is sprinkled with small orange markers for positionality and agility as Czar, donning a football helmet listens to his mom's coaching.

"Okay, I'm going to tell you where you messed up at, look. Right here the first thing you did...you was down the first thing you did was stood straight up. No," the mom encourages as she moves back into the down position.

The young boy is listening intently the entire time before running the drill again pushing against his mom in her mint green dress. This isn't the first video of the two training together. Another video set to "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone shows the mom in another business outfit running a high knee drill while her son cradles a football.



Czar's skills are undeniable and people are in awe of his mom's dedication to her son's sport.

"Me over here crying for strangers. The time she is putting into her son is she hasn’t even taken her work clothes off yet and she is in the yard working with her son on his skills. This is parenting at its finest. Hats off to you momma for putting your baby first," one person writes.

"Never question a mother's love! This is awesome! This foundation will stay with this young man no matter what! Peace," another shares encouragement.



One person is speaking success in the young boy's future. "You’re an absolute queen. I saw you on MaxPreps and came here. Still eyes filled with tears. A true inspiration and a lucky son! What a team you two are. When he wins the heisman and says I’d like to start out by thanking my mama we will all know why."

"Like I’m literally sitting in my bed crying!! Ma’am, you definitely deserve it all when he gets to the NFL! He’s going to the NFL," a commenter says.

It's obviously too early to tell if Czar will be making it to the NFL but with the dedication he and his mother put into working on his craft, that prediction may be within reach. These videos are the embodiment of what it means to be a dedicated sports parent, even when you're going it alone. Best of luck to Czar this football season, you've got a lot of fans routing for you.

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