school life of yesteryear

[deeiluka]

I was rarely in trouble at school as I was quite a little "mouse". But in secondary school I had one big run in with the Latin teacher. Most of the class had the rhyme "Latin is a subject, dead as dead can be. First it killed the Romans, and now it's killing me!" written inside the covers of our exercise books.

When the teacher discovered it in my book, he ripped the cover off and sent me to stand outside the room. I was so upset because no-one else got punished, just me. When he sent someone to tell me to come back in to the classroom, I refused to go back in, and stayed out for the rest of the day. For me that was being extremely rebellious!

He must have realsied that he had not been fair, because nothing more was said to me.

.....deeiluka

[MrsLizzy]

It would have been much more constructive, if you'll pardon the pun, if he'd made the whole class translate that rhyme into Latin!

I started school in about 1970 aged 5 and I hated it.  I can remember how I longed to go home each afternoon and how slowly the time seemed to pass until it was "home time".  That longing to go home has stayed with me all my life.  At junior school I was bullied by the other kids AND by the teachers.  I can remember over 35 years later the way they treated me: "Miss Bird" the headmistress, who claimed "there is no bullying in my school" but when I was taken to her by another child, who told her the name of the boy who'd just blinded me by throwing sand in my eyes, she told the child "Don't tell tales." and went home.  There was "no bullying in her school" because she chose to pretend it didn't exist.  Her staff, who bullied the children - in particular I remember my teacher, who used to make fun of me and call me stupid and lazy and get the other children on her side.  She used to say "They don't call me Puncher for nothing".  I hope she's proud of herself, wherever she is.  I had to be taken away from that school and sent to a school where the staff actually knew how to teach!  No thanks to that school that I went on to do well and get an upper second class degree in history.

[kerryb]

Mr Kerryb's brother was at school in the 1960s and 1970s and at the age of 5 was labelled mentally subnormal.  Turned out he couldn't do his lessons because he needed glasses and couldn't see the blackboard.

Twenty years later he left University with First Class Honours degree.

Thankfully nowadays a Teacher would (hopefully) get rapped over the knuckles for calling a child mentally subnormal let alone assuming it!!!!

Kerry

[Tephra]

I got called in front of the Headmistress on the first day of school and asked if I was related to Shelagh **.   (my Aunt, Dad's sister.)   She then went on to tell me I was going to be just like her and warned that I would be punished accordingly.    And I was.    Every infringement - real or imagined - was blamed on me, till I decided if I was going to get punished for something, I may as well do it . . . .  So I did!!

Barbara           

[alveleyhistorian]

Mr Kerryb's brother was at school in the 1960s and 1970s and at the age of 5 was labelled mentally subnormal.  Turned out he couldn't do his lessons because he needed glasses and couldn't see the blackboard.

Twenty years later he left University with First Class Honours degree.

Thankfully nowadays a Teacher would (hopefully) get rapped over the knuckles for calling a child mentally subnormal let alone assuming it!!!!

Kerry

Hi there,
Years ago there used to be a lot of this "talking down" to people if I remember rightly. It was'nt just teachers.
It sometimes happened in shops too ! Some assitants would have false smiles and could'nt wait to usher you out of the door. My mother only once took me for an eye test. I was about twelve I think. The optican was an elderly man who said there was nothing wrong with my eyes, I was just seeking attention !

[kerryb]

Maybe some aspects of PCness have their uses then!!!!

Kerry

[KathMc]

When my husband was in kindergarten (late 1969), the teacher called my MIL in and told her something was wrong with her son and he needed psychological help because whenever he colored, he only used black. My MIL looked over at the table where he sat and asked to see the crayon box he used. There were only black crayons in it  . So, no psychological problems, just a little shy. 

Kath

[MrsLizzy]

Well you'd have thought the teacher would have thought of this herself, wouldn't you?  But it goes to show that bad teachers are not just a modern phenomenon - they seem to have been plenteous in the past too.   I owe very little to the teaching I had up till the age of about eight.  My mother taught me to read before I went to school, and pretty much all I learned from school initially was how to write.  My primary school teachers were so hopeless I was removed by my parents and sent to another school where the fabulous Mrs Dodman gave me some real teaching, and I was taught by her until I left primary school and went to secondary school.  I would say that was the end of my childhood.

[patrish]

I hated school and could not wait to leave at 15, I learnt far more when I left than I ever did when I was there.