For fun

15 Things you will remember if you went to school in the 1980s

Here are 15 things you will remember if you were a school kid in Australia in the 1980s.

<p><strong> <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol>&NewLine;<li>The intoxicating smell of the fresh purple ink from the Mimeograph machine&comma; and the warmth of the paper if you were the lucky student selected to go the office to collect the copies&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"2">&NewLine;<li>Learning about vitamins and how to brush your teeth from TV Public Service Announcements&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"3">&NewLine;<li>Pretending not to stare at the boy who was just &OpenCurlyQuote;caned’&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"4">&NewLine;<li>Doing star-jumps to Ob-La-Di&comma; Ob-La Da for early morning exercise&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"5">&NewLine;<li>Free dress days where everyone was wearing a Hypercolour t-shirt&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"6">&NewLine;<li>The never-ending lengths of computer paper with green lines and holes punched down the side&comma; otherwise known as Continuous Form Paper&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"7">&NewLine;<li>Laughing at the teacher when they put the transparencies on the overhead projector back to front&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"8">&NewLine;<li>Carefully peeling a sticker off your worksheet so you could add it to your sticker collection at home&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"9">&NewLine;<li>Lining up with a hundred other kids with red and white skipping ropes for &OpenCurlyQuote;Jump Rope for Heart’&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"10">&NewLine;<li>Getting your Bicentennial Memento for School Students coin&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"11">&NewLine;<li>Walking home by yourself in Year 1 and letting yourself in with a key left under a brick until your parents got home from work some hours later&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"12">&NewLine;<li>The excitement of having the TV being rolled into the classroom so you can watch an episode of BTN&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"13">&NewLine;<li>A love&sol;hate relationship with Young Talent Time because it was awesome but it also signified it was Sunday evening&comma; so… school tomorrow&excl;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"14">&NewLine;<li>Spending 20c on a toffee at tuck shop and pulling a wobbly tooth out&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol start&equals;"15">&NewLine;<li>A bucket of sand or sawdust at the front of the classroom in case a kid vomited&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What are your favourite memories of being a school kid in the 80s&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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Shannon Meyerkort

Shannon Meyerkort is a freelance writer and the author of "Brilliant Minds: 30 Dyslexic Heroes Who Changed our World", now available in all good bookstores.

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