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![TMCNet: Times they are a-changin' [The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.]](http://images.tmcnet.com/siteart/invisible.gif)
Times they are a-changin' [The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.]
(Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 07--The last batch of summer vacationers heads back to the classroom today, and it's a pretty different environment from the one we remember in the latter half of the 20th century.
What's changed? Well, for starters
COMMUNICATION
There was a time when students "talked" in class via the passed note, a handwritten communique that often ended with a simple question: "Do you like me?" Check "YES" or "NO." The author often relied on a chain of intermediary note passers to relay the message to its intended recipient, meaning everybody got a piece of the action.
Texting has largely done away with the written note as well as the middleman since the author can now communicate directly with the recipient, often in code: Ur my BFF. c u 2nite. LOL!
GETTING TO SCHOOL
In the old days, everyone walked to school, uphill both ways, in the snow. Now, kids get to ride buses. And there are fewer hills. And it snows less.
MIMEOGRAPHS
Once upon a time, students received blurry mimeographs of tests and worksheets, inhaling the gluey fragrance of ink fumes and probably killing a fair number of brain cells in the process.
Now, kids receive unscented copies hot off the Xerox machine.
BLACKBOARDS
These are practically extinct, along with the plumes of chalk dust that accompanied them. Instead, teachers rely on white boards and dry-erase markers and even electronic blackboards if the school board is feeling generous.
BOOK COVERS
Used to be you covered a textbook with a folded paper grocery bag, which you then doodled on all year long. Now, parents shell out $4 or $5 apiece for colorful polyester book covers. And if you suggest to your children that a free paper bag is just as good, they look at you as if you just asked them to wear it.
MEDS
Back in the day, a student could carry aspirin for the occasional headache or Midol for cramps. Now, thanks to the zero-tolerance policy, a bottle of Tylenol results in expulsion and a one-way ticket to the Betty Ford Clinic.
LUNCHBOX
When was the last time you spotted a metal lunchbox that wasn't being touted as "retro"? Nowadays, kids are clamoring for insulated, leakproof lunch totes or boxes made of eco-friendly plastic.
As a result, we've got an entire generation of kids suffering from iron deficiencies now that lunchbox rust no longer leaks into their Twinkies.
HOMEWORK
Students used to plagiarize by hand from Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia. Now, they merely copy and paste electronically from Wikipedia. (Warning: Kids, teachers have Wikipedia, too!)
PRINCIPAL'S DESK
The principal's top drawer used to be a treasure trove of Matchbox cars, squirt guns, Garbage Pail Kids cards, G.I. Joe action figures, Magic 8 balls, chewing gum and other inexpensive confiscated items.
Now the contraband is a tad more high-end: iPods, cell phones, noise-canceling headphones and Nintendo DS players.
DISCIPLINE
In the old days, if you suffered an "in-school suspension," it was not a school-authorized disciplinary measure. It simply meant an upperclassman had hung you from a locker-room door knob by your underwear.
Official discipline usually involved a stone-faced administrator armed with a ruler, paddle or -- for serious offenses -- a cricket bat with holes in it that whistled as it swung through the air en route to your rear. Nowadays, a stern talking-to avoids a lawsuit or a prison sentence.
Edie Gross: 540/374-5428
Email: egross@freelancestar.com
Not everything about returning to school in the 21st century is different. Here are a few things that never seem to change.
1.
No. 2. pencils -- You'd think by now we would've upgraded to a No. 24 or 25, but students still prefer the old-school writing implement.
2.
New shoes -- And you're not allowed to wear them before school starts.
3.
Teacher pay -- Still a pittance.
4.
Paste eaters -- It doesn't matter if it's a package of glue sticks or a bottle of liquid paste -- there's still guaranteed to be a kid in every class who will snack on it.
5.
Dotting their i's -- Girls still practice the time-honored art of dotting their i's with hearts and smiley faces. So precious.
6.
Locker combination anxiety -- Turn it to the right, then to the left and pass the first number, then back to the right. OK, now try it again. And again. And again
7.
Chewing gum -- It's still stuck to the desks.
8.
Smoking in the bathroom -- Still not allowed.
9.
Surprise encounters -- Kids of every generation are shocked to run into their teachers in the grocery store, at the movies or anywhere else outside school grounds.
10.
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Copyright (c) 2010, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.
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