What Was It That You Hated About School Growing Up?

Mine was the constant worry and obsessing about being picked on and the envy to be like or dress like the other girls that had more, hoping that would get me picked on less.

In middle school I was picked on because of my clothing. I wore designer impostors because my mom could not afford the brand names. I was blatantly teased about it. Like girls standing right behind me laughing out loud that my white canvas shoes were not Keds. Same school where all of my sisters friends told her one day that she could not hang out with them anymore because she did not carry a "Esprit" bag. That school was a horrid horrid place.

Everything. School has SO little to do with actual learning. Memorizing for tests and reading text books, are not learning. I was (and am) genuinely interested in learning and growing. School is not about learning, it's a business. It sucked, for me. I excelled athletically, so I guess that was OK. Everything else, my life was better after high school. I could actually LEARN something meaningful. Institutionalized learning almost kills my spirit.

Honestly, nothing. I loved school. My K-8 school was very small so we lacked things like not lunch, music, science labs and foreign language that my kids now get. But overall I was very lucky - I truly enjoyed school from Kindergarten through college.

It was really boring and I was bullied a lot.

Just want to add I thought it was clothes, god knows my mom had a love of polyester, but no, I was smart and a little odd. Teachers didn't like me in part because I was really smart, in part because I just didn't find their lectures quite as enthralling as the other kids did. Kids didn't like me because I never had to do any work to learn what they spent hours learning.

No fun when everyone picks on you, ya know?

My kids are exactly like me but they do fine. They complain about some of the same things I do but I guess having me at home saying, yeah, kids can be that way helps. Teachers don't pick on them because I instilled in them the idea that respect and manners go a long way to keeping adults on your side. :)

After reading the class reunion comment, I went to my 20, the really popular kids were either married to rich guys or losers. What was really interesting was the honesty that adulthood brings. They told me how amazing it was how smart I was and they didn't understand why the teachers picked on me like they did. I guess the thing I brought away from that was the teachers set the tone. So long as teachers are allowed to bully the kids that are a little odd, harder to work with, the kids will follow along.

I went to fourteen different schools growing up (due to my folks moving a lot) and thus, I never really felt like I had "my" school or that I fit in. It was very hard to make friends, nearly always being the 'new' kid who started at the school in the middle of the year.

I did start noticing the economic disparity between my family and my classmates at around sixth grade, esp because buckle-back jeans were in style, I really wanted some, and was told we couldn't afford them. That would not be the last of what I wanted which we couldn't afford. Around that time, I started working in the cafeteria during lunchtime to earn a ticket for free hot lunches. This was good, but there was some stigma attached to it.

I had my share of bullies, esp. since I didn't tattle but kind of bore it silently. Luckily, I had no lunch money to take away, but did deal with a lot of name-calling and threats from two individuals. Thankfully, I didn't have to deal with either one of them for more than a year or so. I didn't like being the shortest kid in class much, either.

I also had a teacher who tried to humiliate me for not knowing Washington State history-- nevermind that I had gone to school in Oregon up until then. I had a geometry teacher who thought students learned more when shame was applied. PE wasn't great, but really, small potatoes in comparison.

Unfortunately, my parents created more of the problems I had in school than these other kids. I won't go into it, but their lack of support left my ostracized by my peers at times (often due to lack of appropriate dress/gear for events, like choir tours and such, which did have an affect on the group, right?). I struggled in school sometimes because my folks didn't help me with my homework. It was just assumed that I wasn't applying myself instead of me really not understanding the material/process.

I should also say, however, that my greatest advocates were three teachers. My sophomore biology teacher helped me believe I could actually do well in science. My sixth grade teacher was wonderful and gave me a lot of validation by displaying my poetry in the classroom and went to bat for me with my folks. And in seventh grade, the school guidance counselor kept an open door and listened a lot when I really needed someone to talk to-- a lot of things came up for me that year. These were the people who kept school tolerable for me, who kept me above-water, and I eternally thank them. Without school... I just don't know what would have happened to me.

I hated being that nerdy girl who was always picked last in gym class, who sat by herself that first week or two of school when I was the new girl in town, and just plain ol getting picked on. I had a boy bite me in middle school! He made fun of my frizzy hair. (I was not the fashion guru nor the hair model of the year). I was super-duper skinny too. Sorry - couldn't help it! I ate all I could!

@Melissa's answer - In my school, it was Doney & Bourke (sp?) purses that you HAD to have to be cool. I think my purse was $1 at Goodwill. Not $50 at Macy's. I couldn't have screamed "loser" any louder.

EVERYTHING!! There wasn't a single thing I liked about school. I went to 12 school in 12 years, so I was always the new kid. I was never able to join a club b/c my mom worked (single mom) and I couldn't get to the meetings/games to participate. Plus, there wasn't a single subject I liked or was good at. However, I loved college!!!! And as an ironic twist if fate - I am an elementary teacher...go figure :) I became a teacher to help those that were like me and keep them from falling thru the cracks. I was never noticed by one single teacher, not one! I have a little girl in my class this year that is like me, she has made it clear she needs my attention as a female figure and I make damn sure she gets it!

GOING. I loved learning and I loved the work, but I hated going. I wanted to be out in the sunshine. I skipped class a LOT in high school... by my senior year, my teachers stopped turning me in for skipping, because I did all my work, turned it all in, aced all my tests, and had the highest grades. Some people just can't live within the box ;)

Ah the 80's... When mean girls with money ruled the roost. Remember "Trickle Down economy" and "Dynasty.". Notice the word Nasty in that title?

Had to have Polo, Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, Esprit., that little alligator on their shirts. ..or you were not cool..

I did not care.. I told them it was up to them to waste their money on the labels.. Now these are the people that have kids in high school and do not want to volunteer, they want to write a check, they feel like their time is too important for anyone but their own kids. Which is fine with me.. No one wants to deal with them anyway.. they have not changed on the inside.

I remember I loved school, but hated having to get up early so my mom could drive me to school.. We did not have buses and i would have had to walk across a major high way. I would get there and hour and a half before school even started.

I hated riding the bus. The kids were mean and hateful.

I hated the fact that I have absolutely not one athletic bone in my body...which meant that anything in PE was a lesson in humiliation and embarrassment.

I hated that my parents were dirt poor. I hated that I stressed about whether they were going to be able to pay the electric bill that month. I hated that anything that I was given by my parents came with an associated guilt trip attached...i.e. because we gave you the money for this, we weren't able to do _____.

I hated that there was domestic violence in my family. I would do anything and get involved with almost any activity just so I would not have to be home. Walking on eggshells was the norm growing up. I hated that I just could not tell anything the level of "wrong" that was my life back then.

Basically, I hated my home life from that time period and am eternally grateful to be out of that situation. I am now in control of my own destiny...rather than a unwilling player in someone else's...

Being bullied!!! I was made fun of because of my red hair!!!! I was the only girl at the time with red hair so I got made fun of something awful!! And of course with Bozo being the popular clown at the time (yep, I'm showing my age) that was my nickname!!! Still to this day, if someone calls me Bozo, they better be prepared to run!

If I had the guts back then that I do now .... I would have probably turned out so differently!!! And nowadays, if anyone picks on my kids or says anything derogatory - I've given my kids permission to bully the hell out of those kids!! I know that doesn't sound good, but after all the bullying I've put up with I don't care! If people nowadays can't teach their children not to bully then they'll be getting a taste of their own medicine!!!

I think if more people would stand up to bullies we wouldn't have such a problem. I think the teaching begins at home and most parents these days have no idea their children are bullies!!!

It was definitely the idea of being 'popular' or 'unpopular.' I went to an all girls school that sat next to an all boys school. If you were popular, you got invited to parties, got to sit at certain tables - it was VERY exclusionary. VERY.

Even at the 15 year reunion - read 15 YEARS later - the 'popular' kids still wouldn't talk to me. How crazy is that? I have zero fond memories of high school.

Being less advantaged than all of the other kids. Being one of the only kids that was not lily white. Being one of the only kids with a broken home. Not being able to afford the clothes I wanted. I still did well in school, up until high school. My mom couldn't afford extras, so I never did extra curriculars or sports. Which made PE horrible. I wasn't athletically inclined at all. The cliques, the peer pressure, the lack of a vehicle. I didn't enjoy high school very much. I wouldn't re-do it if you paid me. I grew up lower income in an affluent county & there wasn't much I enjoyed about school, other than the few good friends I had.

I moved every 2 years as a kid and was always the new kid in school (all over Europe mostly and eventually to Atlanta, Ga.). I tended to have 1 good friend and was very quiet in school. I did not hate anything about school, but perhaps I was so much in my own world that I did not even notice if anyone made fun of me.

The list of things I liked would be much, much shorter.

Learning is, perhaps, the most important thing we can do in this life. I am a really big fan of learning.

And, in school, I learned more about how it felt to be an outsider than I did about the incredible world around me, love, or how to move through life with integrity and passion.

I was one of those kids who was bored to tears and felt like an outsider. Just my experience.

Honestly I loved school for the most part. My home life was awful so I was happy to be there all day. It was a bright, happy place, I got along with most of the kids and teachers and I loved learning :)
Of course there were some things I didn't like. In first/second grade we HAD to drink our afternoon milk. I wasn't a big milk drinker anyway but half the time it was lukewarm and that was AWFUL.
I hated writing sentences after getting into trouble. I know the teacher thought it would teach me to "think about what I did" but mostly I thought about how stupid writing the same sentence over and over was lol!
And I hated the morning bus. I had pretty severe motion sickness as a kid and it was tenfold in the early morning. I got off the bus every day feeling like I was about to hurl :(
Other than a few nasty, short tempered teachers and mean kids here and there along the way it was all pretty good and fun.
ETA: I should add that I was talking mainly about elementary school. We moved around so much during middle school I never really made any friends. I spent a lot of time alone during those years, but I was never picked on or bullied, just kind of on the outside looking in. I finally got a "real" home in 9th grade so I went to one high school for four years. I LOVED high school! I never cared about being popular (I pretty much hated that crowd) but I was very social and outgoing so I got involved in a lot: track, cheerleading, drama, yearbook and leadership. I was one of those people who didn't fit into a specific group, my friends ran from nerds to jocks and everything in between.

I mostly liked school, but it made me miserable and I didn't fit in because, if you actually liked to learn and were smart, then you were a freak. I hope this attitude has changed in the schools. It REALLY pissed me off, and it's a just plain stupid attitude. If we can't get the focus off the jocks and onto the geeks, how are we going to improve things?

I liked school for the most part. I disliked the atmosphere of being unable to get up and use the restroom when I wanted to. The distrust (understandably so) by the teachers. Lack of personal freedom.

1. Classes were too big and the lessons were one-size-fits-all. There was no room for deep exploration or collaborative learning.

That's why it was so incredibly boring. You can't put 30 different people in a room with 1 teacher. Only some will excel, not all. The rest will fall asleep and begin to hate school/learning.

I would homeschool my kids if I had my husband's support.

2. Teachers being mean.
Not really, but it was very impersonal. They were stressed, overwhelmed and therefore, short. Not their fault.

3. It's a zoo of humanity.
Too many kids vs. too few adults. Classes need to be smaller. That may help

I didn't care about social status.

Bullies in middle school were hell though.

But the bullies were MINOR to the mental starvation that happens in public school. It's a total waste of brainiac resources. The one-size-all model doesn't work.

The public school model is a basic approach and too basic.

I like this (homeschooling) approach to education: Thomas Jefferson Education. It makes total sense.
http://www.tjed.org

After a certain age I had a very inconstant education. Changing schools mid year, failed attempt at home schooling, combined with my Dyslexia and slower learning speed made things very hard and unpleasant.

It wasn't until High School that I finally got the help I needed and things finally clicked for me. I wish I had the help sooner, I may have graduated with a better GPA.

Also hated PE, I'm physically limited, well documented and since elementary school. I was made to participate in everything at the same level as everyone else and I just couldn't. The yearly PE testing was torment, every year, same teachers and I still had to do it when they knew I couldn't. "Running" the mile?! Really?! I I ended up walking it alone every single time, year after year. Ugh!

Gym class, except for the year it was organized into learning both the skills and history/rules of various sports. And I didn't like this family of really horrible girls on our bus or the bus driver who couldn't keep control. I got hit in the back of the head by one of them for standing up for my sister (who they picked on horribly) and the driver did nothing. The happiest two days were when they replaced that driver and one of the rotten girls got her license and a car. I was also one of those kids that hung out with older kids so when I got to be a senior, all my friends had graduated and it was a bit lonely.

I had a very pleasant experience at my small, Catholic school.

I wore a uniform from K-12, so no wardrobe jealousy there :)
Gym class - Loved it, as I was athletic and usually chosen 1st of the girls

Mean teachers - only a few, and only 1 was directly mean to ME, and that only happened once ever.

Cafeteria food - we didn't have hot lunches, so nope. Once a week we had Little Caesar's pizza

Picked on or made fun of for being overweight/not popular? I was overweight from 2nd grade on. It wasn't until 8th grade when someone ever made fun of me. It was the girl whose locker was next to mine, and she was frustrated that she couldn't get into her locker right away. She said to me, "Could you like, lose some weight so I can get to my locker?" She was a very slim girl at the time, but by the time I ran into her during college she was MUCH heavier than I, and I was firmly plus-sized.

My school didn't really have outcasts. We were a small community, and while there were definitely cliques, it seemed like everyone fit into one of them, and there was much fluidity between groups.

I didn't mind being away from home all day. I rarely missed a day of school and had/have a very strong connection to all my classmates, even if we weren't particularly close at the time. Actually, if I lived in my home state, I'd probably be teaching at that same school, along with a few of my friends from high school.

I always felt ugly. No one was mean to me; I had lots of friends, but I had hideous hair. I thought everyone else was beautiful, and I was stuck with lots and lots of huge, curly, frizzy hair. This was before the invention of good hair care products and flat irons.

I was also bored all the time. I finished my work early, and never felt challenged. I loved reading and learning, but never felt that I was pushed to my learning potential. I really didn't enjoy anything about school.

The irony is that now I'm a high school teacher. My mom loves it! She knows how much I hated high school, and thinks it's hilarious that I go back to high school every single day! I teach AP English, so hopefully I challenge my students more than I was challenged. That's my goal, anyway.

ETA: We didn't have AP classes when I was in school.

I always liked school. The only time I 'didn't' was when I wanted to go to public school and not attend my private Christian school anymore. My mom finally caved and I never really had any problems after that.

When I was little, I didn't like having to share a locker. When I was older, I hated being bored (who really needs to learn the one sided pilgrims lesson every year?). I also hated that everything was so white washed.

Hated everything about school exept the socializing part of it. Loved lunch time, dance class instead of gym, and all my friends. DETESTED...tests, studying subjects I was forced to study and patronizing teachers who didn't care anymore, but pretended to.

I really enjoyed school, especially in the early, elementary days. Later in Jr. High and high school, I found the cliques to be a little stifling, and the smallness of my town. But I still enjoyed the activities and routine of school. In high school I really started to dislike homework, especially when it was clearly busywork. College was perfect for me, no daily demand busy work just know your stuff and prove it on a big paper or test. Plus all the partying and being able to break away from cliques! Grad school was my least favorite- 2 years of classes I already took in undergrad and nothing helped me more than actually going to work and being personally mentored by someone else.

Overall though, I don't think I HATED anything about school :)

It was oppressive. At 16 I could not take care of my own bathroom needs without a hall pass (and there was no time to go between classes if you wanted to make it to class on time). I ended up having to ask for academic help just to get a hall pass JUST to be able to pee. I was a straight A student and it was awful that I had to go through those lies just to use the restroom.

Also, gym class. The teachers did not care at all about feminine issues girls might have (or be new to) such as swimming, tampons, etc. and thusI felt bad about being a woman and severe anxiety, that to this day haunts me.

High school was the worst 4 yrs of my life. I was a victim of some serious bullying - both boys and girls - and I thought about suicide everyday. I don't know what happened to me because now I'm all about sticking up for myself!! I don't let anyone run me down.

Wow, I have liked so many of these answers and I had many of the same experiences. And like others mentioned, the irony was that I loved college and grad school.

These answers remind me why I homeschool. My kids thrive on it, both for different reasons (one just graduated).

I needed this today - we are about to start "school" this week - thank you.

EVERYTHING. I hated it all. I didn't like moving so much and having to start at new schools but that was the least of the problems. I didn't like the waste of time waiting on other kids to line up, get out books, etc. in grade school and all the wasted time. I didn't enjoy gym class at all and the older kids in with the younger was not good. Showers were embarrassing. Kids were rude, selfish and there were the 'haves and have nots' in clothes, and other 'things' in life. We don't see ourselves as we are many times in that age period from 5-18 years old and everything was out of balance or shape, etc. in my thinking. It was a shock to me after graduating to find out I was actually normal. :-) I didn't go to college because I didn't WANT to go and did try a semester which I did enjoy as far as friends there but just the thought of 'school' made me not want to do it. I do, however, love learning. It's a shame it has to be this way but until someone finds a way to 'fix' it that's how it is I guess. I know some kids who just moved from a happy school situation with many friends to another state and at the new school nobody talks to them except to say bad things to them and they said they curse at them. Isn't that a shame? The same kids and two different opposite situations. They moved back recently and I'm so glad and the old friends surrounded them happy to see them. I dreaded lunch hour, and always dreaded who to sit by. Nobody was ever mean to me though. I try not to think about it.

I mostly loved school. I didn't like Track and Field Day every spring, disliked gym class until high school when we had "life time sports" and I learned to bowl, downhill ski and play ping pong :)

I went to a tiny school. There were 10 kids in my class, 6 of them were girls... so I hated never having a boyfriend - until my Jr. year when I met a boy from the next town over - then we dated through our Sr. year.

My teachers were fine... my friends were good. I think there was some picking on, but when there are only 10 of you... if you alienate other kids you are going to end up standing alone eventually.

I always looked forward to starting school in the fall!

My mom was a great help to me on finding deals on "popular" things so I don't remember worrying about clothing. I never got to have "Guess" brand stuff - but there was one store in our area that carried Esprit stuff that went on clearance all the time. And, she did get me an Esprit bag for my birthday when I was turning 13... I still have it actually and I'm turning 40 this year. I guess it was a good investment as it still carries my books to the library.

I hope my kids have as positive as an experience as I did... of course they are going to a huge school district and by the time they get to High School I'll be freaking out...

I was just an average student. I sucked at school, wasn't popular but nor was I the least favored. When someone was talking way too much I was the one who had to trade spots. I hate hate hated gym. I sucked so bad at gym it wasn't funny. In High School I failed bowling so I had to do a written report on it. Who in the hell fails bowling? OOO, in grade school, 2 boys in my class farted all day every day. One kid would stick rubber glue up his nose and pretend to sneeze in the girls hair in front of him. I believe he also ate paste.

Once we were in middle school, gym was a complete waste of time, but at least they didn't assign homework.
Teachers weren't mean but we had one English teacher that almost jumped out the 3rd floor window during our class.
Mild insanity in an instructor certainly gives you a lot to talk about.

Gym class and Geometry were AWFUL, otherwise I loved high school. I was picked on for being really skinny, but other than that it was a great 4 years.
Grade school was torture, I was the "poor kid" in class. And my parents were divorced, which carried a stigma at Catholic school. I was miserable through most of it. I never had the cool clothes or purse. I tried to pretend it didn't matter, but it did.

Many of my grade school bullies went to the same high school, but they found themselves socially scorned for those antics and I stood up for myself a couple of times, which ended it. By then I was a few inches taller than most of my peers, and was sporting a mohawk and had scary looking boyfriends (who were straight edge vegetarians that wouldn't hurt a fly), so it was a rarity that anyone said anything to my face.

I over all loved school. Would I want to ever do it all over again.. no!

I lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere! So for me going to school meant I could see my friends.

I had/ have an out going personality so over all I didn't care what people thought of me... yes I was the goofy one skipping down the halls with my friends singing "lions, tigers and bears.. oh my" with out a care in the world lol.

I usually never cared what anyone thought of me... except when it came to my friends. Looking back at it, I realized who was my friend and who I thought I was friends with ( surprisingly enough I am friends with all of them now, thankfully they have changed). But I had two friends that every time I wore something that showed off my body shape or anything I got cut down and was told I was fat that I shouldn't wear things like that ( never inappropriate or tight.. just form fitting/ flattering). It took until I had my 3 child by 22 to be able to look back and realize that my self consciousness that I allowed those two cause was from their own personal jealousy. I was by far not even near fat being 5'1 and weighing 115lbs.

That and sex ed. Nothing worse than sitting health class as a freshman and sophomore learning about the sexual way our bodies work...

Everything else.. I loved it and it was a great time in my life filled with a lot of fun and great memories!

I hated Math class!! Ughh I still dont like that subject till this day!! Lml but I really didnt envy other girls wardrobes because mines was hot! ;) Jp but I loved History the most and Fashion Design Class.

My elementary school was small and grades K-8. My 8th grade class was the largest ever, at that time, with just over 50 kids. I was a straight A student with good behavior.
What I hated...
The teacher always seated me next to all the disapline problem kids.
Gym - I'm not athletic, I hated it. We were forced to play lots of team sports.
They did not prepare us for high school. I was a straight A student, yet I felt I was very behind most of the other kids in my high school classes.