Cursive Writing
Mandatory Recess
Gone are the days when kids were required to spend a portion of their day playing outside in the warm sun. The jungle gym, playing kickball and the 50-yard dash are now activities children are no longer required to participate in during school. Educators across the country are lobbying for mandatory recess to be reinstated in schools, but it has been a slow process to force schools to return to their roots.
Paddling
Teachers and administrators once had the right to paddle children with wooden boards for misbehavior. Although issuing corporal punishment is still legal in 19 states, most schools do not offer it anymore.
Write on the Chalkboard
The dusty film covering your hands after being forced to solve a math problem on the chalkboard is an experience that many of today’s children are missing out on. Smart boards (or white boards) have taken over the classrooms, eliminating the "banging erasers" punishment, while favoring more tech savvy presentations.
Mandatory Arts Classes
Making macaroni necklaces, paper snowflakes and playing hand bells were skills that every child used to experience at some point in school. These days arts classes have been reduced by nearly half across the country, leaving the creative development of children to the parents.
Roll out Televisions
What a delight it was to hear the familiar squeak of the portable television being rolled into the classroom on a push cart. But these days, flatscreen televisions and smart boards that display vivid images and crystal-clear videos are replacing the box televisions of our youth.
Handwritten Cheat Sheets
If you could copy an entire cheat sheet for Tuesday’s history quiz on the inside of your arm, you were a pretty cool kid. Today’s student has a better advantage due to access to the Web through cell phones. In fact, there are reports that nearly 35 percent of students cheat by using their cell phones.
