School is a waste of time! What were the boomers doing in school, that they loved it so much?

[Unit1]

Boomer parents be asking their kids "How was school?" like they are expecting rainbows and sunshine.

Do these boomer parents really think we're gonna say something like this?

"I loved it. First we had some healthy breakfast and a caramel latte. Then we played soccer with similarly skilled opponents from another school while the girls braided their hair. And then we went to the aquapark to swim some tracks and then we went to McDonalds afterwards and had a whole quarter pounder menu and finished the day with a dope documentary of the Italian Mafia in the 1900s. Tomorrow they promised we'll play Dodgeball in a campsite near the city and we'll brew virgin cocktails and learn how to play acoustic guitar."

Yeah, right.

Almost every day is the same. Sit, do nothing, write down notes we'll never read, the boring bla-bla-bla-ing ends after some long time and on occasion we'll get a test with a grade, that either "confirms our 'intelligence' (double quote)" by the governmental public school standards or asserts, that we are the dumbest kids in the province and should be ashamed of ourselves because those low score tests are proof, that we are good for nothing. And if you are unfortunate enough, you'll have total morons as classmates picking on you.

[Lliam]

OMG, that was so funny! You made me laugh really hard. That, in itself, shows your intelligence. Well done.

Most of the kids on my block were a year or two older than me. I was jealous watching them walk to school every day and I couldn't wait until I was old enough.

I started at a kindergarten that was about 1/2 mile away and enjoyed the walk. It was like a big adventure. Kindergarten didn't turn out to be a thrill, but I didn't mind it.

I went to a Catholic elementary school that went from 1st through 8th grade. I kinda liked that for the most part, although there were things I didn't like. The female teachers and nuns were pretty cool. I got along well with the other kids and made lots of friends. I hated homework and the ex-navy guy who taught PE and acted like a drill sergeant.
I also liked riding my bike the two miles to and from school.

I had to go to a Catholic, all boys high school in 9th grade. It was a nightmare.

Once I started the public high school that went from 10th through 12th grade (1969-1972), I was kind of rebellious. I didn't take it very seriously. I spent a lot of time partying. But at least it wasn't like a prison that schools apparently turned into later.

I didn't have to get picked up and dropped off, be monitored 24/7, or participate in mandatory after school sports (although I did play sports). We didn't have to wear back packs and there were no security officers, locker searches or bullshit active shooter drills.

I got my first car in 10th grade, as soon as I turned 16, so I had a lot of freedom and had LOTS of fun. I ditched classes once in a while and sneaked off campus, but never got in trouble or suspended.

I wouldn't call school worthless. I actually learned a lot during those first 12 years, but some of the stuff was a waste of time.

It was actually a good time to be a kid.

So that was my experience.

[Unit1]

Fair enough. That is a pretty good explanation. Times have changed beyond recognition compared to your days. Thank you.

[Lliam]

No prob, bro. I really feel sorry for kids these days. Oh, and the fact that they aren't taught how to think but, rather, taught to memorize shit for government mandated tests. All we had was the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) once a year. And I'm not sure if the schools got funded based on how many students passed.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I had fun in summer school after 7th, 8th and 9th grades, voluntarily taking typing, wood shop and metal shop at the public jr. high school. Well, typing wasn't fun, but I was glad to learn a useful skill. I made some cool stuff in wood shop, including a belly board. I made some cool stuff in metal shop, too, including a cannon that fired 5/8" ball bearings. LOL

[Unit1]

A Cannon made in a metal shop? No wonder the older generation loved school. These days schools are pretty much part time prisons.
Yeah, free and independent and critical thinking is not welcomed in school. Its more like jumping hoops and memorize useless stuff and ancient poems.
Doing well in school yields absolutely nothing. It only shows you are a puppet, that actually follows orders in order to become qualified to be a minimum wage slave.

[Lliam]

Yeah, get good grades so that you can get accepted into a college where you can be further indoctrinated to be an obedient, mindless drone. But a diploma will make you think you're smart. LOL

[Unit1]

That's what i'm talking about.
They don't teach how to do taxes, how to trade stocks, how to change oil in vehicles or how signing contracts work. No one is doing better in life having memorized ancient poems.

[Unit1]

The worst part is the employers want to see that university degree rather than hiring those, that actually would do more instead of wasting time.

[Lliam]

It's true.

[abc3643]

The purpose of school is to learn the purpose of school. Once you leave school, you will understand why kids need school.

[alice55]

My father liked school cause he was an only child and his parents spend their time working (they worked 80 hours a weeks) so he was always alone when at home so he liked being at school with his friends though he didn't work he spend is life getting expelled every 3 weeks and doing shit in class (like putting the trash can on fire or shitting in the food cause he didn't wanna eat what they were cooking, or beating up bully, he one time kicked a bully out of a window, etc...) so for him school was fun.
For me schoool was hell up until high school where I spend more time skipping class and listening to music while working (I also stopped going to class in may every years to play video games).

But my theory to why boomers in general loved school was cause the teacher used to be much more passionate by their work than those of today those of today only do it for money and hate student.

[hahahmm]

The reason parents used to ask that is NOT because they thought you had fun. It was to make sure the environment was right. If you said your teacher did an unprovoked attack on you, then dad would go kick that teacher's azz. Of course teachers were way more in tune with parents back then so it wasn't likely. If you said another kid was giving you problems, dad would give you advice. If you said you did something wrong and got punished for it at school... you'd probably get 10x more punishment at home.

Teachers knew this too.. they knew that if you screwed up they could punish you and NOT tell your parents and that you would also not mention it to your parents. This situation could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. Bottom line is that kids tended to be way more respectful and learned self-control back in the day.

[Pterodon]

I hated every second of it and it was like a concentration camp to me

[Unit1]

Same here. However there was no forced slave labor. Still no free food.

[Pterodon]

There was forced labor called useless algebra