A lot of people out there have really terrible memories of their school days.

I thought school was pretty enjoyable for the most part, but there were definitely aspects of it I did not like at all.

Those included certain classes (Math and Science), and especially waking up super early to catch the bus or get a ride.

People on AskReddit looked back and talked about the things they really hated about going to school. Let’s see what they had to say.

1. Stay busy!

“Busy work.

Sh*t that obviously provides no learning benefit but that teachers feel the need to make you do anyways.

Looking at you, every dumb diorama I had to put together in grammar school.”

2. Me, too!

“The fact that decades after graduation, I still have nightmares that I’m taking a test and don’t know the answers.”

3. All the rules.

“The rigidity of my high-school. There was no allowances made on the rules, even if the situation was out of our control.

An example: One year there was wide spread bus strikes, making taking public transport almost impossible. Majority of the students (including me) relied on getting a bus to school.

In assembly, the principal announced that while they were informed of the strike, any student that was late to school, would be punished.

We brought it up with our form organisers, and they just shrugged and said to make a plan. Not everyone had parents that could take them to school in the mornings, or pick them up, or have the resources to afford a car pool transport system.

Other situations were numerous: Wearing the wrong colour hair tie, rolling up our jersey sleeves, backpacks weren’t navy blue… Nitpicking on the smallest things, and then saying it would prepare us for life.”

4. Dumb tests.

“The dumb rules to “test” you on things.

Like why do I need to memorize these huge formulas when in the real world, I’ll be allowed to use a reference book? As long as I know when and how to use the formulas should be good enough right? I shouldn’t need to have them memorized.

I took a class where all of our grades were paper and project based, no quizzes or tests at all (not even a final exam), and I loved it so much and I did very well in that class, AND I learned a lot from it too.

Not having to memorize a bunch of bullsh*t meant I had more time to really explore the material in depth.”

5. I didn’t do anything!

“When teachers punish a whole class because of the actions of one /a few students.

Just because the class idiot can’t behave, it does not mean I should miss my break.”

6. Cruel school.

“The bullying by both other kids but also the teachers.

One of my teachers ended up basically blackmailing me”

7. What’s the point?

“The homework, because apparently 7 hours of school isn’t enough.

My greatest discovery was realizing that we do so little during those 7 hours that I could actually just do the homework in class most of the time.”

8. Sounds a little worked up.

“The amount of hours I’m expected to put into it and still have time for extracurriculars and 8 hours of sleep, and the backlash I get when that didn’t happen.

Like I’m sorry, it’s not my fault that after 7 hours of school, all 8 of my teachers expect me to set aside an hour for their subject alone after I get home since to each of them, no other subject is nearly as important or matters at all, but that I don’t even get home until 6pm or even 8:30 pm on certain days of the week since I need to represent the school in academics, athletics, and the arts.

And once I do get home I have two dogs and two siblings to care for and help with their school work before I can even do my own and care for my own body, before finally getting to bed and starting the day again.

I apologize for finally getting to bed around 4am and not getting 8 hours asleep, I’ve been a bit busy trying to not flunk out of high school, please my parents and colleges, and taking care of the people and pets in my life that can’t take care of themselves on their own.

My bad, my bad.”

9. I heard that!

“Just having to wake up early to be honest.

Even made worse when the hardest class of the day was the first class of the day. Made even worse when there was a test/quiz and I am forced to think with my sleepy brain.

Seriously, I wouldn’t mentally wake up until at least 11:00a.m. This method of waking up early has undoubtedly decided some life pathways.”

10. Unprepared.

“Saying that school would prepare us for life. Or college. And it was always nonsense.

I remember a teacher in 7th grade saying that in college, the professor would speak fast and not repeat anything, so we’d better hone our note-taking skills.

I got to college, and not only did professors speak at normal speed that made note-taking easy, they always repeated things when asked.”

11. Unfair.

“The unfairness.

I grew up in a rural area, my high school was the only one in the county and we had maybe 300 students, total. I got into university, and was suddenly in classes with kids who had attended public school in the same state and were *years* ahead of me.

I remember being in Calculus where my classmates were bored out of their minds while I was struggling. Now I’m a mom and I hear people talking disparagingly about the schools in “that neighborhood” or “those people” and realize there’s not much changed.

John Kennedy said, “All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop those talents.” It’s a nice dream but it doesn’t exist in reality in the US.”

12. A long ride.

“The worst was the daily school bus ride (50 minutes each way).

In the winter, the bus rarely had heat that worked and no a/c in warm weather.

It was a miserable, tedious ride each day.”

13. Not interested.

“In high school, the expectation to be in activities.

For an introvert and someone who just wanted to go home and decompress at the end of the day, not to mention work some nights, it was annoying AF.”

14. Strict dress code.

“We were not allowed to wear any sports attire because of “gang affiliations.” Not even for sports teams in our city (Padres or Chargers, mainly). We could wear sports attire for our school.

We could NOT wear hats of any style, and that included the baseball/softball teams during the school day. We usually wore our jerseys to school on game day, but we couldn’t wear our hats.

It was stupid AF.”

Now it’s your turn.

What did you HATE most about school?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments. Thanks!