Looking at family dynamics in response to stress
Students who excelled in traditional subjects like math, literature, and science were placed into college preparatory tracks. Those who did not were assigned to vocational schools with more basic curricula, including mandatory shop classes for boys and home economics classes for girls.
Sources: (Grunge) (WHYY) (The Washington Post)
See also: Things you won’t believe have been banned in schools
While schools in the US today focus on college preparedness, this wasn't the case 70 years ago. In the 1950s, there was career tracking, which separated students based on whether they were considered suitable for college.
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Maternal and Child Health and Mental Retardation Planning Bill, which increased funds for special needs programs and facilities.
In the 1950s, students could actually pay their way through college thanks to affordable tuition and the GI Bill, which covered up to US$500 per year. Students could earn enough during the summer to cover school costs. Today’s sky-high tuition fees make that a distant memory.
In the 1950s, a fear of communist infiltration in schools meant that it was not only permitted but encouraged to scrutinize employees who showed signs of sympathy or support for socialism or communism.
While boxing exists at some schools around the US, it was much more common 70 years ago. Louisiana even had a government-sanctioned school league, followed by a state championship.
When President John F. Kennedy expressed concern about the average American's increasingly sedentary lifestyle in 1960, the La Sierra fitness program for students was introduced. It featured rigorous standards and a military-like structure.
Throughout the 1950s, military-style fitness programs were implemented in schools under federal direction as overweight or obese men would make poor soldiers in a hypothetical World War III.
In the 1950s, Catholic schools taught 80% of all private school children and 10% of the total student population. Nuns and priests were teachers, administrators, and disciplinarians at the time.
During the 1950s, conformity in education was emphasized, leaving little room for syllabuses tailored to individual or group needs. Children with disabilities or additional needs could be denied access to public schools by state law, and when they did attend, they often faced significant challenges and underperformed.
Any student who violated the dress code was punished with public shaming. The push for conformity resulted in a backlash among the youth, which led to the counterculture movement of the 1960s.
Students in the 1950s were required to dress in a way that projected a dignified image of American youth. Boys wore neatly pressed slacks with a button-down shirt, while girls wore skirts below the knee and form-fitting tops.
While the duck-and-cover drills wouldn't have helped students survive a nuclear blast, they could help with the blinding lights that could ruin eyesight and shockwaves that could shatter windows from the blast radius.
According to a 1954 poll, 55% of Americans approved of schools using corporal punishment. States started banning the practice in the 1970s, partly due to parents' belief that they should be the ones to discipline their children.
In the 1950s, there was an increasing fear that the Cold War could turn nuclear. The Truman Federal Civil Defense Administration created "duck and cover" instruction videos to prepare students for a potential nuclear attack.
Today, some students dread getting a "C" on a college exam or class. But in the 1950s, "C" meant "average" and was the most common grade.
The one-room schoolhouse was once a hallmark of the American education system, with many students still attending such schools in the early 1950s, especially African Americans in the rural Jim Crow South.
According to the 1896 ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, racial segregation was permissible as long as the facilities provided were "separate but equal." This doctrine, which allowed for racial segregation in public schools and other public facilities, remained in force until 1954.
In the 1962 case Engel v. Vitale, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state-sponsored prayer in public schools was unconstitutional, as it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government endorsement of religion.
In the 1950s, school buses were only just being introduced. In areas where transportation was still unavailable or limited, many students had to walk long distances to school.
In reality, the schools were not equal. Black students found that their schools were often small, dilapidated, and poorly equipped compared to those attended by white students.
In 1950s America, it was normal for young children to walk to school unaccompanied. According to a 2014 survey, 70% of respondents who grew up in the 1950s were allowed to walk more than one mile (1.6 kilometers) from home by the time they were around eight years old.
Before the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, regulations on guns in schools were less strict. In the 1950s, it was not uncommon for students to bring firearms to school for use in activities like shooting clubs.
At the time, children could legally purchase guns through mail order, and there were no background checks or transaction records required. Kids could freely bring these firearms to school and store them in their lockers or cars.
Seventy years ago, 40% of American schools had some form of school prayer or Bible reading, including reciting the Christian Lord's Prayer. In some states, it was even required by law.
While duck-and-cover drills are a thing of the past, around 95% of public schools in the US conduct active shooter drills today. According to data, there have been more than 400 school shootings since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.
In a one-room school, the teacher instructed students of various ages and abilities in the same room. Students were often required to work independently on assignments while the teacher rotated between different groups.
Corporal punishment, which is still used in some schools south of the Mason-Dixon line, was the norm in the 1950s. It existed in different forms, from paddling or caning to having to stand on one leg.
The average GPA in the 1950s was a 2.5 or a "C." According to some reports, professors began inflating students' grades to help them avoid the Vietnam draft as good academic performance meant a deferment.
A lot has changed in 70 years; you won't find a chalkboard or a ditto machine handout in a classroom these days. So, what else was normal in schools in the 1950s that isn’t today? If you're curious to find out, click through this gallery now.
The shocking ways US schools were different in the 1950s
Times have changed for the better!
LIFESTYLE History
The 1950s in the United States was a decade marked by the post-World War II boom, the emergence of the Cold War, and the civil rights movement. For youngsters, their world was also changing; mandatory schooling was well-established by this point, making education a central part of their lives. The word "teenager" was also coined, as the concept of adolescence and the cultural identity of people aged between 13 and 19 became more prominent.
A lot has changed in 70 years; you won't find a chalkboard or a ditto machine handout in a classroom these days. So, what else was normal in schools in the 1950s that isn’t today? If you're curious to find out, click through this gallery now.