10 bits of very surprising school trivia

It’s that time once again. Every fall, a collective sigh rises from the lips of children as they watch the waning days of summer quickly fade into the distance. I’ll tell you a little secret: Many teachers also sigh. I should know. I taught for nearly 40 years! Over those many, wonderful years I heard some surprising school trivia! Take a look.

Calling all idiots!

In 2012, a Cleveland woman was in a hurry. A big hurry! Shena Hardin was in such a rush that she illegally passed a stopped school bus. This happened several times before Ms. Hardin was caught. The judge sentenced Hardin to two days of humiliation. She was ordered to stand near the place of her transgression and hold a sign that read: “Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus.”

School trivia by the numbers

Teachers

There are about 4 million teachers in the United States. 3.5 million teach in public institutions while 0.5 million teach in private settings. That’s not counting all of the support staff, janitors, administrators, etc.

Students

Nearly 77 million students, from age 3 and older, attend school in the United States. That’s nearly 24% of the entire population.

School buses

Almost 95,000 school buses transport children to school in the United States each day, which makes it the country’s largest transit system.

“Do I have to go?”

Disaskalenophobia is the acute fear of going to school. Also called scolionophobia, it’s estimated that 2-5% of children are affected. (Surprisingly, I found no statistics concerning teachers who suffer from this condition.)

School supplies

This year, it’s expected that retailers across the country will earn $37 billion in back-to-school revenue, with individual families spending on average $864. Wow!

Pencil statistics

The average wooden, number 2 pencil can be sharpened 17 times and write about 45,000 words or draw a line 35 miles long before it’s out of service. (That’s a whole lot of math problems!)

Backpacks

The average school backpack weighs 20% of the student’s body weight! (Ugh!) Researchers say school children should carry a maximum weight of 10 percent of their total body weight. That means a child weighing 50 pounds should carry no more than five pounds in their backpack.

An apple for the teacher

Here’s some school trivia you may have wondered about: Why do we give the teacher an apple? Pioneer families whose children attended schools were often responsible for housing and feeding teachers on the frontier. An apple demonstrated appreciation for a teacher—and she well deserved it! (Check out the expectations for teachers below.)

Times have changed

Here is a list of rules for teachers from 1872.

1. Teachers will fill the lamps and clean the chimney each day.
2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day’s sessions.
3. Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual tastes of the pupils.
4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.
5. After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.
6. Women teachers who marry or engage in improper conduct will be dismissed.
7. Every teacher should lay aside from each day’s pay a goodly sum of his earnings. He should use his savings during his retirement years so that he will not become a burden on society.
8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, visits pool halls or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop, will give good reasons for people to suspect his worth, intentions, and honesty.
9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay.

And here are 1915’s rules for female educators:

1. You will not marry during the term of your contract.
2. You are not to keep company with men.
3. You must be home between the hours of 8 PM and 6 AM unless attending a school function.
4. You may not loiter downtown in ice cream stores.
5. You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have the permission of the chairman of the board.
6. You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man except your father or brother.
7. You may not smoke cigarettes.
8. You may not dress in bright colors.
9. You may under no circumstances dye your hair.
10. You must wear at least two petticoats.
11. Your dresses may not be any shorter than two inches above the ankles.
12. To keep the classroom neat and clean you must sweep the floor at least once a day, scrub the floor at least once a week with hot, soapy water, clean the blackboards at least once a day, and start the fire at 7 AM to have the school warm by 8 AM.

Can you share some school trivia of your own? Do so in the comments below.

Sources:

• www.census.gov
• National Transportation Safety Board
• Cleveland Clinic
• St. Louis Public Radio
• BWC
• Healthline
• Smithsonian Magazine
• New Hampshire Historical Society