Students From The 70's-80's Discuss What Teachers Used To Do

A Reddit thread asks, “ “70s/80s Kids: What’s something a school teacher did to you that would not fly today?” And here’s what the Gen Xers had to say.

• “My elementary school teacher used to say to kids ‘you're cruisin for a bruisin’ and once washed out my friend Jermaine's mouth out with soap. This was circa 1987”
• “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.”
• “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 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.”
• “6th grade teacher Ms. Sullivan would take 3 kids every Friday to McDonald’s for lunch. She smoked during the drive and everything.”
• “Late 70'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.”
• “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.”
• “Birthday whacks from the teacher. As odd as it sounds, the teacher would 100% get fired for doing that.”