The ‘80s might have been one of the most important and influential decades in history. For better or for worse, a lot has changed since. Here are 27 things teachers used to do back in the day that might get them fired today.
Fainting in Biology Class
This Biology teacher claimed a student didn’t look sick after they told him they weren’t feeling well. As punishment, he made them stand in the corner, and the student ended up fainting.
Flying Chairs
A teacher once threw a chair at a student who kept cussing at her. He stopped after that day.
A Flower Power Teacher
There was this English teacher who used to smoke in his car every day before class and had a hall pass that said: “I am missing out on a valuable educational experience because I have to tinkle”.
Push-Ups
This fifth-grade teacher made an overweight student do push-ups in front of the class. When she couldn’t, she said: “This is what happens if you eat too much food”.
Ice-Cream
There was a teacher who used to send the students to the store that was a meters away to get ice creams for the whole class whenever it was hot and she didn’t feel like teaching.
A Justiciera
This teacher let a student punch a bully in the face with no consequences.
Lyrics for Learning
In 1984, there was a class in which kids would analyze lyrics in pop music, and kids would bring records by Led Zeppelin and John Cougar to discuss their meaning.
Anxiety at School
This student was having a panic attack, and the teacher, instead of helping her, made the whole class look at her and said, “Act like that if you want me to fail you”.
Mr. Malfoy
There was this teacher who brought a kid up to the front of the class to show everyone how “slovenly” they had dressed because they were wearing thrifted clothes.
Real Life Mr. Electric
A teacher once electrocuted the entire class to teach about high resistance circuits.
McDonald’s
Ms. Sullivan, a 6th-grade teacher, would take three kids every Friday to McDonald’s for lunch. She even smoked during the drive.
Camping in the Teacher’s Backyard
After the last day of school, kids would go and camp in the teacher’s backyard after going to the movies and watching a movie.
Mr. McQueery
Mr. McCreary was a kind, well-liked teacher, and one day after school, the wrestling coach said, “There goes Mr. McQUEERy!”.
Left, Right, Left
This kid had a hard time knowing her left from her right. One day, the teacher got so frustrated that he painted her face, arms, and clothes red on one side and blue on the other side while telling her, “That way you’ll know which is which”.
Let Me Beat Your Ruler
When a kid shook the ruler in their hand, this teacher took it and hit them in the face, causing their nose to bleed. She was also the school psychologist.
Accidents
This kid once asked to go to the bathroom, and the teacher said no because he had just had lunch, and he could have gone then. He ended up having an accident and having to face the aftermath during nap time.
Mr. Hands
This Math teacher was super handsy, making every single female student feel uncomfortable. Despite everyone confirming this theory, he was still universally described as harmless.
Another Accident
This kid needed to go to the bathroom and, after getting a negative answer from the teacher, he ended up having an accident. Instead of sending him to the office to get new clothes, she made him take his pants off inside the bathroom and hang them off a tree outside. The poor kid had to wait in that bathroom for hours until their pants dried.
Clean Desks
If this first-grade teacher thought the kid’s desk was too messy, she’d flip it over and make you pick up everything in front of the entire class.
Lack of Patience
Whenever a student was being loud, this teacher would cuss at them and even throw the blackboard eraser at them.
A True Believer
There was a teacher who claimed she was compelled to teach evolution by law, but she believed that it isn’t true and we were made by God.
Watch Your Language
This teacher, who used to say “you’re cruising for a bruising”, once washed out a student’s mouth with soap.
Farm Visit
This first-grade teacher took the students to her farm on the last day of school. They rode on the back of her tractor, had root beer floats, and even gave the students a pair of binoculars.
Tooth-Principal
Whenever a student had a loose tooth, they’d go to the principal’s office and he would pull it. Then he’d give the students a lollipop.
Hungry Teacher
This student’s lunch got confiscated after he tried to eat something during class. The teacher ate it in front of the whole class and sent the student to lunch with nothing.
Mercury Class
This seventh-grade science teacher walked around the class, making students stick a finger in a beaker full of mercury to check its density.
Nerdy Sleepover
Kids who read enough books during the year were able to attend a sleepover in the library. They’d bring sleeping bags and in the morning they’ll have pancakes.
