Shocking School Practices of the ‘70s That Would Not Be Allowed Today

A look at a Gen Xer’s elementary school experience.

When I look back at my experiences in elementary school in the Midwest in the 1970s, I realize that I have more shared experiences with students of the 1950s than I do with students of the 1990s.

Perhaps it was the Midwest, Kansas, my neighborhood, my hometown, or just my elementary school, but many of the disciplinary practices in my school were holdovers from earlier times.

Most of my teachers were older women with gray hair with just a slight tint of blue. We were taught phonics and discipline. We recited poems and our multiplication tables in front of the whole class.

When we got in trouble, there was hell to pay.

Corporal punishment

Although it would be unheard of today, we were often paddled when we did something that we were not supposed to do. The punishment was administered to us in front of the whole class.

Many teachers took pride in their paddles. They named them and hung them up next to their desks.

When you were paddled, it did hurt. There was a physical sting but some of the sting was from the embarrassment at having to endure such a public punishment.

Children should be seen and not heard

When I was in fifth grade, I was talking to a friend during a lesson one day. The teacher corrected me. Later, during the lesson, I was caught talking again.

The teacher decided she had had enough.

She took a roll of masking tape and taped my mouth shut with several wide pieces of tape.

I could still breath. It didn’t hurt.

Truthfully, I could probably have still talked if I tried but it served as a reminder for me to keep my mouth shut.

I am pretty sure a teacher would be fired for that today.

Writing as punishment

There were two options for third grade classes at my elementary school, Mrs. Van Ogden or Mrs. Wicker.

If we had a choice, which we didn’t, it would be like having to choose your method of execution. There was no good outcome.

I was assigned to Mrs. Van Ogden.

I spent that entire summer dreading the start of school that year.

It was as bad as I feared. Mrs. Van Ogden was every bit as strict as I had heard. I spent many hours copying dictionary pages or writing sentences for punishment.

I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class.

Writing the same sentence over and over again hundreds of times would cause your hand to cramp up in pain.

When not writing sentences, I often stood next to a fence post during recess watching the other kids play. If I was caught even a couple of feet away from my post, I had to repeat the punishment the next day.

Locked in a closet

In one classroom, there was a small utility closet.

This was used for what would be called a time out today.

We didn’t have a name for it back then. We just knew we didn’t want to go there.

I spent an entire hour in there one afternoon after I got in trouble for something that happened during lunch.

The closet housed some sort of furnace, blower or water heater. I am not sure what it was; there was no light in that closet.

There also was a mop bucket and some mops and brooms. There wasn’t room for anything else.

You couldn’t sit down. There was only room to stand.

Through the crack at the bottom of the door, a little light and sound from the classroom leaked through.

Rest assured, I only got sent there once. It was one of the longest hours of my life.

Conclusion

Was I damaged by such strict discipline? Truthfully, probably not.

Did it curb my misbehavior? Certainly, to an extent.

But kids will be kids and can sometimes be impulsive.

I do not think my elementary teachers were bad people, but they certainly created some painful memories for me.

The thing is, I am now a teacher myself. I love my students. I can’t imagine doing the things to them that were done to us.

Am I strict?

I do expect the kids to be quiet while I am talking, and I do want them to be kind to one another.

How do I get them to behave this way?

By being the kind of person that I want them to be, I have found that getting kids to follow my expectations is not that hard.

It is called mutual respect.

If you spend some time fostering positive relationships with students, you will be paid back with some high dividends.

You don’t need to be a disciplinarian to get kids to behave. You don’t have to paddle them or lock them in a closet.

You just have to be respectful. You have to be consistent. And you have to be nice.

For other stories about my experiences growing up in the ‘70s: