What School Was Like For Your Parents

August is almost over, and you know what that means: school is starting soon. Time to go to Sears for
a new set of clothes. Everyone wears corduroys and a striped t-shirt, and so do you. And of course,

after new clothes comes new school supplies. You hurry to the store to get a few #2 pencils, an eraser,
a composition notebook, and a couple of folders.

Fast forward. Enter the classroom. Back then there was no such thing as a smart board. In fact, most
schools had chalkboards. In other words, teachers actually wrote with chalk on the board when they
wanted to teach the class.  Most of the work you do in class is done in paper and pencil. When the
teacher wanted you to watch a video in class, he’d always roll out the TV on top of a rolling stand and
plug it in before putting in a VCR for the class to see. This was great for you and your friends, because
it made secretly passing notes much easier.

Time to take a test.... Tests are so trivial, it's all just about cramming as much information as you can
beforehand. Good thing there aren't that many questions that require much thought.

Lunch time. You take out your lunch bag. You take out the Twinkie and eat that first - why save the best
for the last? After that comes some of Planter’s Cheese balls. You eat up your ham sandwich as you
chat with your friends about your new teachers. Everything’s washed down with some Kool-Aid. The
apple remains untouched in your bag.

You get your test grade back, and you realize you got a D+. But luckily, you don’t need to show it to
your parents. You plan to hide it under your bed with the rest of your failed tests, where your parents
would never find it. You’re lucky your parents don’t have any online access to homework and grades
yet. For now, you’re safe.

Once you get home -

- you go through the pantry until you find your favorite Pop-Tarts. Instead of watching a little bit of
television like you usually do, you decide to finish up your homework first. Too bad Google didn’t exist to
help you with it. Every time you get confused on a word, you frantically search the dictionary for its
meaning. All math is done either by hand or calculator. You owe your life to your textbooks.

By the time you finish with your wretched history homework, night has fallen. You go downstairs to eat
and take a shower before hitting your bed. You take out your favorite Stephen King book and read for
around an hour before falling asleep. But just before you do, you wonder: What’s school going to be
like for my kids?