I had one or two good school teachers but most of them were bullies who liked to show you up in front of the class for whatever sadistic reason they had. They effected my life by making me feel stupid. For some people it would make them more determined to do well in life, for others it distroyed their self confidence and made them under-achieve. What are your experiences?:thumbsup:

I went to an old-fashioned ,boys-only , grammar school in the far -off fifties and we had a wide range of teachers.
Generally , most boys kept well away from teachers , outside [and inside !] the classroom-----usually teachers meant trouble of some kind or another. Any slight infringement of the rules meant a beating , lines , detention or some kind of petty humiliation.Even the 6th. form prefects could give you a detention-----they ran their own-----and they wouldn't think twice about clipping you. Tell anyone ? That'd be a bad joke. If you complained to your parents you were probably in for another dose of something unpleasant.
Not that this happened every day , all day. It didn't need that ! You just knew you had to be careful.
Did this make us all cringing , twitching neurotics ? Can we only get sexual pleasure by being beaten by a middle-aged man dressed in a black gown ? I don't think so ; though I can't speak for everyone ! Most of the schools were like that then and on the whole the generations that went to them seem to have grown up with less mental health problems than subsequent ones.
There was practically no bullying whatsoever. We never seemed scared of each other. That meant we could express ourselves without fear ; all our mental energies could be channeled into work. We didn't have to worry about being mugged or knived on the way home.
We listened to the teachers , hung on their every word. We had to ! So ,although there were many odd-balls amongst them , we picked up a lot of facts and a bit of wisdom about life.
We learned , not only how to spell and so on , but how to present an argument or a report , logically and clearly.
Not all of it , "stuck " but you can't blame the teachers for that.!
Three or four of us , from the same class , 1953-58 , still meet up after all these years and the main topic of conversation is --------the teachers.
I think their impact was tremendous but in those days teachers could be themselves more and were not curricula robots.

I think most of the teachers I came across were quite good. By good I mean fair, willing to help and with decent personalities. Like all things in life, some were better than others.

I remember one teacher - when you stayed with your teacher for all your lessons - saying to me that if I really put in as much effort as she thought I was capable of, then I would go into one of the top classes when I moved onto King Edward's in September 1981. I did so and duly found out I'd made it into the top class. (In all honesty, I wasn't up to it; the next year I would drop a division into a far more suitable and comfortable class.)

There was only one teacher who scared the living daylights out of me. He took Motor Vehicle Maintenance and actually, if you kept your head down, he was a very good teacher.

As to how they affected my life, that's difficult. I remember my school days with affection really and no one incident springs to mind when I look back. In general all the teachers I had taught me a lot about life (or rather, prepared me, in part for life) but like learning to drive and passing your test, you don't learn anything until you get out there and experience things first hand.

I wasn't allowed to take Tech Drawing at O grade in Scotland.
I'm now a CAD operator :suspect:

Hi Mr Percival :wave: (although it's doubtful you're reading this)
He only ever gave me a 9.5 for a drawing, coz he always took 0.5 off for me putting the wrong initial. I've changed my name now, so all my drawings have that initial on :thumbsup:

I went to infant/Juniors school during the war and all the young teachers, apart from the nuns, were called up to be in the serviices.
So out of retirement came the teachers who had taught my mother. Theey were all spinster ladies and very old and one, Miss Hawe, was very deaf. They all knew my Mother and aunts but they taught me well enough to go to the High School.
We were taught 2 classes at a time and our desk were double seaters.

hazel

I think nowardays its difficult for teachers to be anything but the norm. They have to teach the same stuff and in a restricted time frame. I used to have a quality sociology teacher at A level. An example of starting debates. He'd ask for a boy and a girl to come to the from and measure both heads, sit down and say well the boy has a bigger head than the girl so is more intellegent. Then he'd sit back , smile and watch the class argue.

My schooling was irrevically wrecked before GCSE's where I couldn't take 2/3 of my choices as they clashed and therefore got stuck doing things I wanted to do and prevented from moving forward in a certain way.

Originally posted by robbie
I think nowardays its difficult for teachers to be anything but the norm. They have to teach the same stuff and in a restricted time frame. I used to have a quality sociology teacher at A level. An example of starting debates. He'd ask for a boy and a girl to come to the from and measure both heads, sit down and say well the boy has a bigger head than the girl so is more intellegent. Then he'd sit back , smile and watch the class argue.

My schooling was irrevically wrecked before GCSE's where I couldn't take 2/3 of my choices as they clashed and therefore got stuck doing things I wanted to do and prevented from moving forward in a certain way. That sounds like the Blue eye/ Brown eye experiment, you tell all the blue eyed people they are of lower intelligence than the brown eyed people - it causes some very interesting debate ;)

I think the school system is still imperfect but I'm glad teachers are no longer allowed to pick on the kids. I don't believe people who say 'it did us no harm' everyone is different and is effected differently. It is like people who say 'there wasn't as much mental illness in their day' It wasn't admitted to but it doesn't mean it didn't exist. People just hid their relatives in the attic, now the doctor gives them a pill and they can lead a normal life!

We had quite an ecclectic mix of teachers at my school (Outwood Grange), it was a while ago now and I don't think any of them are still there.

One of the blokes (head of lower school) used to stand and shout like a sergant major and used to go really red in the face. The Deputy Head of lower school was really strict and though he didn't shout as much, he scared me (and nearly everyone else) to bits.

I had the most fabulous Science teacher, he had long blonde hair and a wicked smile (think I had my first crush on him)!

I also had the sweetest, kindest English teacher - everyone loved her to bits and we were all heartbroken when she got cancer and died.

I remember when I was older having a 'weird' physics teacher. I loved physics and was pretty good but didn't take it at o'level because the weird teacher freaked me out - he was always a bit 'hands on' if you know what i mean.

Girls weren't allowed to do technical drawing and as i've always wanted to be an architect, I really wanted to do it. Thank goodness things have changed.

Well , Tulip , I don't know how many were hidden in attics but we had large mental hospitals and psychiatrists , even in the fifties , sixties and seventies -------so it shouldn't be too difficult to do a comparison.
Another way would be to check how much was spent on mental health during both periods [allowing for those in the attic , of course]. There certainly seems to be a lot of neurosis about these days -----I don't think there was MORE in the 60's and 70's. Yet you would think that with all the beatings in school and at home , most of the country would have been twitching , violent or half-potty by the 70's , yet they patently weren't.
I quite believe you when you say you were badly affected at school but , on the other hand I bet it would be very easy to produce a lot of kids today who would say ,
" I wish we had really tough teachers, then the bullies wouldn't pick on us."
Someone usually fills the power vacuum !

Originally posted by Fareast
Well , Tulip , I don't know how many were hidden in attics but we had large mental hospitals and psychiatrists , even in the fifties , sixties and seventies -------so it shouldn't be too difficult to do a comparison.
Another way would be to check how much was spent on mental health during both periods [allowing for those in the attic , of course]. There certainly seems to be a lot of neurosis about these days -----I don't think there was MORE in the 60's and 70's. Yet you would think that with all the beatings in school and at home , most of the country would have been twitching , violent or half-potty by the 70's , yet they patently weren't.
I quite believe you when you say you were badly affected at school but , on the other hand I bet it would be very easy to produce a lot of kids today who would say ,
" I wish we had really tough teachers, then the bullies wouldn't pick on us."
Someone usually fills the power vacuum ! I've started a thread about the mental health problems issue that you brought up, it's not to have a 'dig' at you I promise. I thought it was an interesting topic. A lot of people are of the opinion 'it didn't happen as much in my day' we all have different views depending on when we were born:)

Originally posted by Fareast
Well , Tulip , I don't know how many were hidden in attics but we had large mental hospitals and psychiatrists , even in the fifties , sixties and seventies -------so it shouldn't be too difficult to do a comparison.
Another way would be to check how much was spent on mental health during both periods [allowing for those in the attic , of course]. There certainly seems to be a lot of neurosis about these days -----I don't think there was MORE in the 60's and 70's. Yet you would think that with all the beatings in school and at home , most of the country would have been twitching , violent or half-potty by the 70's , yet they patently weren't.
I quite believe you when you say you were badly affected at school but , on the other hand I bet it would be very easy to produce a lot of kids today who would say ,
" I wish we had really tough teachers, then the bullies wouldn't pick on us."
Someone usually fills the power vacuum ! I quite agree with you when you say someone fills the power vacuum but it is more like a pecking order. A teacher bullies a child so the child find someone smaller to pick on and so it carries on down the ranks. It is the same with children who are from violent homes, it doesn't end there. Giving a child a slap for being naughty is one thing beating them black and blue is a totally different matter. I have a lot of the neurosis that you mention but it is due to my up bringing. Instead of continuing the cycle, people are free to seek medical help, which can only be a good thing.

With the drug culture in the 60 & 70's I'm surprised more mental hospitals weren't opened to accomodate people with drug related mental illnesses:o

Tulip
I quite agree-----there were plenty of unfortunate people with mental health problems in the 60's and 70's.
There are two points though:-
I don't think the number of mental health problems and /or neuroses were higher then than now. Yet , according to many educational , "experts " , corporal punishment in schools led to all sorts of psychological problems and that's why it was abolished. Yet the kids who went through that era at school seem no worse [ and in fact I think , are more well-balanced] than today's kids and those who went to a , "non-corporal punishment " school.
I found it revealing that not one of those who posted who had been to the ,"corporal" schools mentioned bullying , yet , according to all that we read and see , bullying seems endemic in British schools.
At least the old , strict teachers didn't threaten kids with knives or guns------well not in most schools , anyhow.
What about schools in America ? Has the abolition of corporal punishment led to sweetness and light there?

Originally posted by Fareast
Tulip
I quite agree-----there were plenty of unfortunate people with mental health problems in the 60's and 70's.
There are two points though:-
I don't think the number of mental health problems and /or neuroses were higher then than now. Yet , according to many educational , "experts " , corporal punishment in schools led to all sorts of psychological problems and that's why it was abolished. Yet the kids who went through that era at school seem no worse [ and in fact I think , are more well-balanced] than today's kids and those who went to a , "non-corporal punishment " school.
I found it revealing that not one of those who posted who had been to the ,"corporal" schools mentioned bullying , yet , according to all that we read and see , bullying seems endemic in British schools.
At least the old , strict teachers didn't threaten kids with knives or guns------well not in most schools , anyhow.
What about schools in America ? Has the abolition of corporal punishment led to sweetness and light there? Oh dear, I wished you hadn't asked about US schools! The school I work in is an Elementary school and the kids get away with too much. If a child is misbehaving eg trying to cut another childs hair off we are not allowed to single that child out by calling out their name because 'it might embarrass the child' Parents are no help a lot of the time. If students are told they must wait until recess to go to the toilet or make up the time wasted during recess some parents have to their kids to walk out of class and ignore the teachers! Red X next to wrong answers are also banned only right answers can be acknowledged:(

Tulip
I simply can't agree that violence leads to more violence , automatically.
I honestly don't think there was any bullying at our school------there weren't even many fair fights. ! Yet , as I've said the teachers and prefects were dishing out violence.
It is possible for a thug to be frightened into NOT using violence. Another example-----the Sheffield police were very , very tough in Sheffield in the '50's and if they took you in you could almost guarantee getting a , "going -over " . It was par for the course. The result was , I think , being in a teenage gang at that time , that it put a break on thuggish behaviour . You thought twice about the consequences.
It's exactly the opposite today. No teachers beating kids in school. No parents allowed to chastise their kids , except for a mild slap--------and yet , there seems more violence all round today , particularly amongst the under 35 age group.
Where did they get it from ? Don't you think there's a slight chance that nearly ALL children pass through a violent stage and have to be very strictly controlled , sometimes by violent means . Well , you can see the result when they are not controlled somehow or other.

Originally posted by Fareast
Tulip
I simply can't agree that violence leads to more violence , automatically.
I honestly don't think there was any bullying at our school------there weren't even many fair fights. ! Yet , as I've said the teachers and prefects were dishing out violence.
It is possible for a thug to be frightened into NOT using violence. Another example-----the Sheffield police were very , very tough in Sheffield in the '50's and if they took you in you could almost guarantee getting a , "going -over " . It was par for the course. The result was , I think , being in a teenage gang at that time , that it put a break on thuggish behaviour . You thought twice about the consequences.
It's exactly the opposite today. No teachers beating kids in school. No parents allowed to chastise their kids , except for a mild slap--------and yet , there seems more violence all round today , particularly amongst the under 35 age group.
Where did they get it from ? Don't you think there's a slight chance that nearly ALL children pass through a violent stage and have to be very strictly controlled , sometimes by violent means . Well , you can see the result when they are not controlled somehow or other. I can't agree that it doesn't:P There were very violent gangs around then all over England! Look at all the violence at football matches that has been going on since before I was born! Violent school teachers and police didn't help create any of that? How about violent Teddy boys and Mods?

I'm sure my dad learned how to beat his kids from somebody. He was forever telling us how schools should go back to the 'old ways' when a kid would get their fingers whacked with a mental ruler for stuttering:loopy:

Bring back 'Dotheboys Hall'? I hope not!

I'm a teacher now and I think its scary how much teachers have changed in the 10 years since i left school. One or two of my colleagues remind me of the teachers I had when i was at school - but most teachers now seem stressed and over worked and i think that comes over to the kids - now and again I get accused of having PMT or being "mardy" by my pupils - would never have dreamt say that to a teacher when i was at school.

I had a fantastic pair of A level teachers for RE and philosophy that influenced me no end - I hope I have a similar influence on at least some of the kids I teach - I did get a lovely batch of cards and presents when my Year 11's left!

My teachers (without exception) were at the least likeable, amiable, good teachers. At best, some were inspiring, motivating, captivating, fascinating, knowledgeable, fantastic teachers. These teachers inspired my love for learning and confirmed my choice of career. I look back at school so fondly due, in part, to these teachers.

I never had a bad teacher at school and I applaud them for giving 100% in difficult circumstances.

(BTW This school was in Grimsby not Sheffield).

Well , Tulip we seem to be going round in circles a bit here.
I didn't say there was no violence in the 50's and 60's.
What I said was you would think that if corporal punishment in schools caused widespread psychological problems , then the children of the 50's and 60's , who later became young adults in the 70's and 80's would have been largely violent , half -potty or neurotic. They were obviously not and every indication is that violence has generally increased on all fronts during the past 30 years, particularly amongst young people.
This was precisely the time that parents and schools were being denied the use of corporal punishment , in the main.
Can't you see that as one ,"graph line " has gone up , the other has gone down ?
It's no good quoting individual cases. As I said , I feel sure that most of today's kids would prefer an overbearing teacher than the amount of bullying that goes off in schools today.
We regularly read today of kids committing suicide because of bullying ; far better tohave a tough teacher. In an ideal world we'd have no need of strict teachers------I , for one wasn't too happy about getting smacked -------but we don't live in an ideal world and unfortunately someone fills the power vacuum. Far better to have some kind of , "official violence " than being beaten up , shot at or stabbed by a school, "friend ".

Originally posted by Fareast
Well , Tulip we seem to be going round in circles a bit here.
I didn't say there was no violence in the 50's and 60's.
What I said was you would think that if corporal punishment in schools caused widespread psychological problems , then the children of the 50's and 60's , who later became young adults in the 70's and 80's would have been largely violent , half -potty or neurotic. They were obviously not and every indication is that violence has generally increased on all fronts during the past 30 years, particularly amongst young people.
This was precisely the time that parents and schools were being denied the use of corporal punishment , in the main.
Can't you see that as one ,"graph line " has gone up , the other has gone down ?
It's no good quoting individual cases. As I said , I feel sure that most of today's kids would prefer an overbearing teacher than the amount of bullying that goes off in schools today.
We regularly read today of kids committing suicide because of bullying ; far better tohave a tough teacher. In an ideal world we'd have no need of strict teachers------I , for one wasn't too happy about getting smacked -------but we don't live in an ideal world and unfortunately someone fills the power vacuum. Far better to have some kind of , "official violence " than being beaten up , shot at or stabbed by a school, "friend ". Sorry but the teachers who dished out the corporal punishment at my schools were power crazed bullies. It didn't stop bullying in the play ground or bullying on your way home.

I think the humilations were the worst. I was hit at home so I was very used to pain, I'd much rather have had the cane than the entire class laughing at me for something the teacher had said about me. I was never caned but I did have a heavy wooden blackboard eraser thrown at me once.

After starting secondary school as a quiet, shy child I became a complete 'rebel with a cause' after a couple of years there. I wasn't the only one, I hate for everybody to think I was a half crazed child and it had nothing to do with the teachers.

Did you ever consider kids who might have tried to commit suicide because of bullying teachers? We had both sadistic teachers and bullies at my schools and they were considered fairly good schools in fairly decent areas. So no, you haven't convinced me - sorry:cool:

Well , Tulip , in your previous posts , you didn't mention that you'd been bullied by the other kids , only the teachers.Because of the photograph by your name , I assumed you were too young to have gone to a , "corporal punishment " school in Britain , as it was practically non-existent by about 1980. At one point only Headteachers were allowed to cane but I've forgotten what years those were -----and then it was abolished altogether.
Of course you are right about the board rubber and any cold-blooded humiliation ; that's not right. However , somehow we must find a way to stop [ mainly] young boys at school bullying and/or committing violence on other students. You can try reasoning with them but that seems a long , mainly unsuccessful process and they tend to , "grow out " of it anyway by the time they're eighteen.
I can't recall any students committing suicide because of teacher-bullying ; in fact in the U.K. I would say it's the teachers who are frightened by great hulking teenagers and their aggressive parents. Not many Wackford Squeers ' left in the U.K. !
It seems by all accounts that a hell of a lot of students in the U.K. are worried about bullying. Almost every school has a , "bullying policy "----that seems to suggest that someone thinks it's a widespread problem ! There are hot-lines too ......etc.....
I know this is slightly off the subject , but as you come from Sheffield , you probably know at least most of this story and its truth.
In the 1920's , Sheffield had a terrible reputation for thuggery , gangsterism and violence in general. Gangs seemed to have the run of the streets and if you read the court reports were treated with surprising softness.
Then the police formed the ,"Flying Squads ". They were stronger [or better organised !] than the gangs and they were pro-active.They went deliberately looking for thugs and at the slightest excuse gave them a taste of what they'd been giving out. The gangs realised that the police could not afford to ,"give in" and would , "go the limit" , if need be. At any rate most of the violence stopped and for about the next 70 years , Sheffield had a lower crime rate for violence than any other comparable city.It is as though the gangs had had the stuffing knocked out of them and the police , in my experience , always had loads of confidence in Sheffield.
Co-incidence ? Maybe ! I hate platitudes and cliches normally but there is one that has some truth in it,
" Sometimes you have to be cruel [SHORT TERM] to be kind.
[LONG-TERM]. "

Originally posted by Fareast
Well , Tulip , in your previous posts , you didn't mention that you'd been bullied by the other kids , only the teachers.Because of the photograph by your name , I assumed you were too young to have gone to a , "corporal punishment " school in Britain , as it was practically non-existent by about 1980. At one point only Headteachers were allowed to cane but I've forgotten what years those were -----and then it was abolished altogether.
Of course you are right about the board rubber and any cold-blooded humiliation ; that's not right. However , somehow we must find a way to stop [ mainly] young boys at school bullying and/or committing violence on other students. You can try reasoning with them but that seems a long , mainly unsuccessful process and they tend to , "grow out " of it anyway by the time they're eighteen.
I can't recall any students committing suicide because of teacher-bullying ; in fact in the U.K. I would say it's the teachers who are frightened by great hulking teenagers and their aggressive parents. Not many Wackford Squeers ' left in the U.K. !
It seems by all accounts that a hell of a lot of students in the U.K. are worried about bullying. Almost every school has a , "bullying policy "----that seems to suggest that someone thinks it's a widespread problem ! There are hot-lines too ......etc.....
I know this is slightly off the subject , but as you come from Sheffield , you probably know at least most of this story and its truth.
In the 1920's , Sheffield had a terrible reputation for thuggery , gangsterism and violence in general. Gangs seemed to have the run of the streets and if you read the court reports were treated with surprising softness.
Then the police formed the ,"Flying Squads ". They were stronger [or better organised !] than the gangs and they were pro-active.They went deliberately looking for thugs and at the slightest excuse gave them a taste of what they'd been giving out. The gangs realised that the police could not afford to ,"give in" and would , "go the limit" , if need be. At any rate most of the violence stopped and for about the next 70 years , Sheffield had a lower crime rate for violence than any other comparable city.It is as though the gangs had had the stuffing knocked out of them and the police , in my experience , always had loads of confidence in Sheffield.
Co-incidence ? Maybe ! I hate platitudes and cliches normally but there is one that has some truth in it,
" Sometimes you have to be cruel [SHORT TERM] to be kind.
[LONG-TERM]. " Just before I left school corporal punishment had been abolished, I was about 15 at the time. I wasn't bullied too badly by other kids. I was terrorized by the fifth year students when I was in first year but that didn't last as they left school - not sixth form material! By the end of the second year I'd become rebellious and scary so I was left alone!

Where I live now is very rural, there are no gangs, unless you count the neighbourhood dogs who go round in packs. In general the police in this country are very tough and they all carry guns, it doesn't deter violence amongst youngsters in cities but it's probably not a fair comparison as guns are so freely available in this country. I'm probably considered abnormal because I don't have guns in the house. At the school where I work we have to give out free gun locks to parents and hope that they will use them:rolleyes:

We have a 'Bully box' in our school where kids can anonymously post names of other kids who have been bothering them, that seems to work quite well

:)

When i was at primary school, Rainbow Forge, i had a teacher there who I absalutly loved and I even cried when I didn't get to be in his class in Y6! I was in the school football team what he coached and I was a total teachers pet!

When I left Primary, a few years went by when i found out that he had been charged with Molesting (sp?) young boys in the 80's and i think there were some in the 90's too.

To this day I do not know what to think of him. Obviously its disgusting what he did to the young lads, but he was my best teacher (at Primary).

Moving on to The City School, only left in 2003. My favourite teacher there was definatly Mr Civico. Out of all the teachers you have when at secondary school- he was the best. He was my tutor in y10 & 11. When I finished school I found out that Mr Civico was ill and I was really upset. I even sent him a card through one of the teachers at our local Primary, dont know if he received it or not. Mr Civico was sooo funny, I just wish that I didnt mess about so much. I have total respect for Mr Civico and I have often thought about going up to school to see him, but with me working 9-5:30 its hard to get there before he goes home.

No doubt il see him some time in the future as my brother goes to that school so il try at every chance i get to go up and see him

My teachers taught me that when the cane is heading for your arse, it is pointless ducking. :cry:

Originally posted by saxon51
My teachers taught me that when the cane is heading for your arse, it is pointless ducking. :cry: You should have put copies of the Beano & Dandy down you trousers!:D

I went to Highgreen Sec Mod during the 60s and had to endure the notorious Mrs Staines. What a dragon she was, these days she wouldnt be allowed anywhere near children. Anyone else have to suffer under the old tyrant??