Recently, I was reading about what school is like post-COVID, and I was surprised by some of the stuff I saw. I wanted to hear more from people who've experienced this first-hand, like parents and teachers, so I decided to ask our very own BuzzFeed Community how school is different for kids today than it was for them. From sweet, nostalgic reminiscing to legitimate complaints, here are some of their most interesting answers:
1. "I graduated high school in 2019, and work very closely with high schoolers now, five years later. The change is astounding. One of the teachers I worked with had a failing rate of 50%. Half of her students had an F, and it was because they wouldn’t hand their work in. All were perfectly capable, hell the teacher actually did their worksheets with them in class! They just would not take accountability for their missing work."
2. "Math teachers can no longer threaten kids that they won't have a calculator in their pocket every day."
—Anonymous
3. "I’m a young Gen X'er. [When I was in school,] using the internet to research anything other than current events was considered cheating (most of my classmates did not have home internet yet, so this was rarely an issue), and it could get you suspended. Cell phones and pagers were completely banned, and having either in your possession would get you expelled (because 'drug dealers use them'). I can’t believe elementary schoolers are using laptops for schoolwork."
