16 Classroom Rules From the ’70s That Would Shock Students Today

In the 1970s, there was a different rhythm to the classroom. There was a loud, public, and highly organized emphasis on discipline. Corporal punishment, announcing grades in class, and lengthy detention periods all reinforced obedience and responsibility. Dress codes, personal hygiene, and mandatory participation in daily routines like the flag salute were all tools of classroom control. There was a heavy emphasis from teachers on memorization, repetitive writing, and controlling hall passes to maintain order in the classroom. Even basic tasks like erasing chalkboards, collecting homework, could have a disciplinary dimension to them. This was all part of a time that valued authority, order, and discipline in all spheres of life.

1. Corporal Punishment With Wooden Paddles

In many American schools in the 1970s, corporal punishment was simply part of the normal routine. There was often a wooden paddle sitting in a drawer or against a wall, waiting to be used. When a student talked back to a teacher, did not do homework, or otherwise made a disturbance in class, it was often standard procedure for them to be sent to the principal’s office for a paddling. It was almost like a ritual: a teacher would write a note explaining why the student was in trouble, and the student would proceed down the hallway with a stomach full of butterflies. Once in the office, the principal would instruct the student to bend over a chair or desk, and the student would receive a series of swift hits to the backside.

2. Teachers Smoking During Class

In the early 1970s, smoking was ubiquitous in public life. Offices, airplanes, restaurants, and even hospitals were all smoke-friendly. Schools were no exception. In some classrooms, teachers would smoke while lecturing on how to solve a math equation or read from a textbook. There were ashtrays placed on the teacher’s desk next to the papers and grade books. The pungent smell of smoke mixed with chalk and wood was normal in those classrooms. Students would sit and stare as smoke wafted by through the open window. Smoking was considered normal behavior among people, especially adults. Schools did not have strict no-smoking policies.

3. Standing in the Corner for Long Periods

The 1970s saw corner time, one of the most widely used forms of classroom discipline. For students, talking out of turn, behaving badly, and skipping a step in the lesson would mean being sent to the corner. This would mean the student would stand with their backs against the wall, with their arms either by their sides or sometimes overhead, while the rest of the class continued with the lesson. Silence filled the room as the students got on with the lesson, avoiding any further attention being drawn to themselves. What felt like hours could be an age, stretching the minutes into half an hour or more, and all at the teacher’s discretion.

4. Writing Lines Hundreds of Times

One of the most common images from many 1970s classrooms is the repetitive ritual of copying the same sentence over and over again. Teachers would assign sentences such as “I will not talk during class” or “I will respect my teacher,” and the children would spend many pages of their notebooks copying the sentence dozens, even hundreds, of times. The work was often done after school or during recess, while others played outside. The idea, from the teacher’s perspective, was that the more they wrote, the more they would reflect on their mistakes and learn discipline. Rows and rows of children sitting at their desks, their noses bent over their notebooks, copying the sentence over and over again in careful, even handwriting.

5. Strict Dress Codes Enforced With Immediate Punishment

Throughout the 1970s, it was not uncommon to see schools maintain control over school dress codes as stringent as ensuring compliance each and every day. Boys were generally required to have short, neat hair styled just above the collar. Some teachers went as far as to use a ruler to check the length of their students’ hair, sending them home if it was too long. For girls, skirt length was another issue, with teachers requiring them to be at least below the knee. If a girl had a skirt considered too short, she might be sent to the office and home to call her parents. Anything considered rebellious and outside the norm was sure to get students into trouble.

6. Silence During Lunch Periods

In many schools in the 1970s, the scene in a cafeteria during a lunch hour wasn’t as busy and noisy as it is today. Instead, it was a rule in many of those schools to keep silent during meals. Supervisors would walk around the tables where students were eating their meals with their trays. If a student spoke loudly enough to be heard, he or she would get into trouble. Such a rule seemed strange to students who had expected to socialize and take a break from classes. It’s a tradition that came from a past concept that schools had to be open all the time. Such a tradition existed in many Catholic and private schools in North America and Europe. At times, a teacher would read aloud to students while everyone ate in silence.

7. Public Reading of Report Cards in Class

In some schools, teachers used to read out the grades for the whole class to hear. In some cases, after the report cards arrived, the teacher would call each child up and read their grades to the whole class. This practice was more common in the elementary grades because teachers felt that by doing so, they would encourage all the children to do better. Children would sit at their desks and listen to their classmates. If they got high grades, they would applaud; on the other hand, if they got low grades, there would be awkward silences. The theory was that by doing so, everyone would try harder because everyone would know who was doing well and who was doing poorly.

8. Teachers Inspecting Fingernails and Personal Hygiene

Many classrooms in the 1970s had students begin the day with a brief check of personal cleanliness. Students were instructed to put their hands flat on their desks, and their fingernails were checked. This was often seen in elementary school classrooms, as teachers made connections between cleanliness, discipline, and responsibility. The teacher would walk through the rows of students, looking for unclean hands and fingernails too long. If students had unclean hands, they might be penalized. The check extended beyond fingernails to hair, uniforms, and shoes in more formal school districts. This practice had its roots in earlier decades, as schools were more active in teaching students daily life skills.

9. Detention That Lasted Several Hours After School

Detention was also a popular punishment in many schools back in the 1970s, and today’s students are often surprised by just how popular it was and just how long students had to stay in detention. Many teachers made students stay after school for hours, forcing them to stay in their classroom and do their homework or copy out words from a textbook. Some schools went so far as to give students detention on Friday afternoons, meaning they had to miss the start of the weekend while their friends went home. The teachers sat at their desks and observed as the room fell completely silent. The idea behind it was quite simple: misbehave and lose free time.

10. Mandatory Cursive Writing for All Schoolwork

In the 1970s, it was common for students to be asked to do almost all their assignments in cursive writing. This would involve students getting the hang of cursive writing early enough, then having their printing writing discouraged or dismissed altogether. This would be done under the assumption that cursive writing signified maturity and discipline. There would be long hours of practice for students, writing loops and curves on their exercise books before they could actually use the writing technique for their assignments. This emphasis on cursive writing can be seen as having been influenced by traditional approaches to education, where there was an emphasis on penmanship as an essential life skill.

11. Memorizing Large Passages Word for Word

In many 1970s classrooms, memorization was a prominent method of learning. This is where students would be asked to memorize long passages of text from their textbook, poetry, or famous speeches, and then recite them aloud to the class until they could recite them perfectly from memory without looking at their textbook or paper. This method of learning would often appear in the students’ language arts and history classes, and the teacher would often feel it helped the students learn discipline and grasp important concepts. There would often be a buzz of students quietly reciting their lines of text as they prepared to recite them for their teacher.

12. Chalkboard Erasing as a Punishment

Cleaning up chalkboards was another punishment often meted out in schools in the 1970s. When students misbehaved, teachers often assigned them the chore of cleaning up chalkboards as punishment after class. The assignment seemed simple enough, but it had a degree of humiliation as students stood around to watch. The chalk dust stuck to their hands and clothes as they painstakingly erased the chalkboard. The teachers saw it as an opportunity to instill responsibility and reinforce adherence to school rules. Some schools extended this punishment to include cleaning erasers, too. The misbehaving students had to bang their erasers together in the courtyard or in front of the window to remove chalk dust.

13. Hall Passes Required for Even the Shortest Trip

In the 1970s, schools were very strict about when students were allowed to leave their classrooms. For instance, if a student needs to use the bathroom, visit the library, or stop by the office, he or she must ask the teacher for permission and present a hall pass. These hall passes were designed in different ways; for example, it was either made of wood blocks, laminated cards, or metal tags attached to a huge key ring. These were presented by students as they walked in the hallway to identify if they were authorized to be outside their classroom.

14. Teachers Collecting and Checking Homework in Front of the Class

Homework collection in the 1970s was often a very public affair. At the beginning of class, teachers might ask everyone to put their homework in the corner of their desks. The teacher then went along the aisles, scanning each piece of work quickly. If a student had not finished it, they might call out or write their name on the board. The room was full of tension as students awaited the moment when their teacher’s eyes fell on their own work. Private struggles with unfinished work were rare; the shame of not completing work usually happened out in the open. The teachers saw this as a motivation to work hard and avoid procrastination. Students learned that unfinished work could mean embarrassment and punishment.

15. Mandatory Participation in Daily Flag Salutes

In most schools in the 1970s, the day would begin with a formal salute to the national flag. This would occur during morning announcements, in which all students would stand by their desks and face the flag at the front of the room, reciting a pledge in unison. Participation and obedience were expected of all students. This entire process would take a minute of time, but it would be a significant part of daily activity. This pledge is still a part of daily activity in most schools, but in the 1970s, there was a sense of obedience, and few students would dare to break the rule of standing up and taking part in the activity.

16. Students Acting as Classroom Monitors for Discipline

In the 1970s, schools came up with a simple solution: to have a few students act as monitors when the teacher needed to briefly leave the classroom or needed to speak with another teacher. These monitors were responsible individuals who would keep an eye on all of the other students in the classroom. If a student talked out of turn, moved from their seat, or otherwise caused disruptions, they would be on the monitor’s list. When the teacher came back to class, they would determine who would be disciplined. It is an interesting system: giving power to a classmate who is essentially an enforcer.

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• 1970s
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