Did you enjoy your school days?

I found that the most psychotic of the teachers were those who taught the manly subjects like woodwork and metalwork. It seemed like some of them should never have been allowed near kids, probably had chips on their shoulders for being the failed priest of the family.

Hated school and my mother was a primary teacher! What made it worse was my sister absolutely loved it and to this day says she can't understand why someone wouldn't like school.

Nothing untoward went on, teachers made sure not to pick on me with my mother a teacher but even at that I hated it, could never understand that 'best years of your life' line other than you were young with no adult responsibilites sort of meaning.

In Primary school in CBS Limerick there was some nasty teachers who seemed to get a buzz out of punishing students. One female teacher in particular had big knobby rings on her fingers that she would use to give misbehaving students a knuckle over the head with. Another teacher I had in 5th and sixth class used to love dishing out long laborious lines to students. An example would be “I got these hundred lines because I was being loud, giddy and disruptive in class”. I once wrote out 100 instead of the word Hundred and the petty bollix made me write out the word Hundred one hundred times.
In secondary school the teachers were marginally better but some of the students in my class were a pack of absolute nasty fcukers. It didn’t help that I was shy and socially awkward at the time, going through some crap at home also due to my brother and Dad fighting every Thursday night after my brother got home blind drunk after getting his wages in work that day. I was terrified of my art teacher also. She put me off of art for over twelve years. My German teacher was a condescending bully as well. On the bright side though my Maths, Science and English teachers were brilliant, as was my headmaster at the school. I enjoyed PE also, especially swimming, indoor hockey and badminton. I was crap at soccer and even worse at basketball but I still enjoyed it. I’m still friendly with some of my old classmates there but to be honest I never want to see the majority of them ever again.
My college years however were the best years of my life, it was so liberating compared to school. I also met my best friend at college, someone who I still consider my best friend to this day.

Anyway I don’t want to be bitter about it anymore. I’m in a far better place now than I was back then, and, if you excuse the bad pun, it was a valuable “learning” experience, especially about people.

I’d agree with this- secondary school was easily the most vicious, relentless bullying atmosphere I’ve ever endured. It’s really only when you leave it that you realise how abnormal it all was. Hopefully things are better now than in the late 90s/early 00s. The bullying and picking on some guys got was ferocious-definitely bad enough for the law to be involved with regard to the violence and physical abuse

I hated my school it was condemned by the SEHB about 8 years before I arrived. I harbour a particular hatered for that dumb Irish teacher from the Gaeltacht that had the body odour problem of a sweaty pig. I just wished he had access to soap and toothpaste. He used to ridicule the students who didnt do "Onorocha". You would swear he had the teaching fervour of Rev. Ian Paisley. Told the mother of one of the girls doing honours Maths she would never amount to anything.

Long Story short He got to be VP in a different Vocational School. Shortly afterwards he was embroiled in a war of words with the local paper and Parents association and was lampooned. They had to VER (Voluntary Early Retire) him because they couldnt sack him so they paid him to FO!. Mad as a Hatter, Filthy Animal, even married his cousin. Embarrassed for his granny for having his mother for having him.

Wouldn't say "best days" but definitely had some great fun in school. Primary school was boys and girls which I really liked and I had a great time there. It helped that it was in the area and that all my siblings had already gone through it before me. I then went to an all-boys secondary school which was Christian Brothers, where I had a very different experience, as it was away from the area and I didn't know anyone. I made the best of it but was getting in trouble and messing as well. I was doing the work but not really fully applying myself. I have an endearing memory of small break in the morning where we would pull a bit of the skirting off the back wall of the classroom and start playing cricket with the duster with everyone scarpering out of the room. We had some absolutely great laughs. I had the opportunity of moving schools after my Inter so was excited to go somewhere new and it had girls as well! This new mixed school for my leaving cert felt like a holiday camp after the Christian Brothers, so I took full advantage, and ended up getting thrown out a year later. At the time I was delighted but I definitely did feel some rejection. Looking back later as an adult, I wished my parents had done more, and that it was really a shocking thing to do to any young person in their final year of secondary education.

Another teacher I had in 5th and sixth class used to love dishing out long laborious lines to students. An example would be “I got these hundred lines because I was being loud, giddy and disruptive in class”. I once wrote out 100 instead of the word Hundred and the petty bollix made me write out the word Hundred one hundred times.

I do remember taping three or as many pens together as possible made short work of lines!

hated school with a passion , didn’t get all that catholic/gaa emphasis. Headmaster telling us you must be involved in gaa if you want to get on, networking, contacts etc. That was BS as it never held me or anyone I knew back, that didn’t play gaa.

I was caught reading a Stephen King book in woodwork and the loony teacher who we imaginatively called Woody grabbed it and put it through the saw, handed it back and said ‘there’s a horror story for you’

GAA was pretty much obligatory in my school too. My headmaster used to practically beat us onto the pitch. He was a big fúcker too, a bit like Mr Gilbert from The Inbetweeners. There were two boys in particular that were always causing trouble. Jasus he gave them some awful beatings.

When people say the best days of your life, I think they mean the most influential time of your life. Every year was a massive change physically, mentally, and socially.

With an objective lens, there was a lot of nervousness, awkwardness, timidness, insecurity and a lot of boredom.

I can't say I enjoyed school that much, 6th year was great but that was because it was ending. I got a hard time at points, and couple that with being overtly sensitive and just naive it wasn't a good mix. Came into my own towards the end as mentioned enjoying the last year. But still have life long friends from school so can't completely discredit it.

A lot of first-time experiences and memories in and around school, which are memories wrapped in clover. But school itself? No I found the all male environment stifling and be this way or get out of the way attitude frustrating.

But in all honesty as someone who finally grasped a full sense of who they are and the confidence that goes with that in my late 20s my 30s have been great thus far. Finally feel I've "landed" and not 2nd guessing myself continuously.

Loved going to school...go early...hang out. It was all about the friends for me.

I can see some advantages to single sex schools (I’d say girls possibly do better in them academically), I’d imagine bullying is a good deal less in mixed schools and they prepare you for the real world where all workplaces are mixed sex.
School uniforms I don’t agree are archaic- lots of workplaces have uniforms so it’s no different-they’re functional, handy and remove a lot of the brand snobbery and competition

undiagnosed autism, add and dyslexia, so school wasnt all that nice, extremely stressful, even traumatic

Unlike most here, overall I loved school & my schooldays. It probably helped that I was a good athlete & student, & applied myself at both. I laugh now at how ambitious & competitive I was back then :). I also used to play competive sports e.g. athletics, during my school holidays. So overall school, while far from perfect, was very fulfilling in itself, & also set me up very well for college & life tbh.

I still have a gang of school friends who I still meet & socialise with ~40 years later. We mostly go to matches or gigs together. There are 7 of us going off sailing for a week next month in Spain, who all went to school together, so they must have done something right!!