# Myths you were taught in school **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 12, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952 "2005-10-12T20:15:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Leviosaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Leviosaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leviosaurus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/101 "2005-10-13T21:12:52Z")
> [@The Chao Goes Mu](#): > > Also, when I was a yoot, we did not, EVER discuss the Vietnam war in school. It was taboo. The only time I was formally taught about it was when I got into 9th grade (1986) and that was by a history teacher that basically said to us, " I don’t care what the school system says, we are spending the quarter on this war" > If you asked a question in other classes, it was ignored. It’s not as though we were stupid and had no idea what happened there considering some of our friends had dads that came home crazy or not at all. Weird, eh? Anyone else growing up in the 70’s experience this? I moved from Seattle to Michigan when I was 14. I had been through several history classes in junior high and elementary school, and observed my elder siblings history classes. In the Seattle schools, history always ended with World War 2. It was as if nothing after that happened at all. In Michigan, it was exactly the same, but by my senior year (1989) it had gotten better. This was around the time _Platoon_ and _Full Metal Jacket_ came out, so the country was going through a period of self examination over the Vietnam thing. It had become more acceptable. We actually had some Vietnam Veterans come in and speak to our classes. One of them brought slides of pictures he had taken. There was some pretty R rated stuff in there, too. Anybody know what they teach now? ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/102 "2005-10-13T21:57:08Z")
> [@melondeca](#): > > I was taught that a line is never drawn up. A particular teacher asked me to come to the blackboard and draw a square (I don’t even remember the reason why). One line down, across, up and then he freaked out before I could even finish my square. > > He started yelling at me saying that I did it all wrong. Everyone knows that lines are only drawn from top to bottom, NEVER bottom to top. Wow, what an uptight freak! I bet you could send him to the hospital by wearing a jacket on a warm day or sandals on a cool day. What if you ate a pbj sandwich on rye bread? Oh, the humanity! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/103 "2005-10-14T05:00:58Z")
[QUOTE=Leviosaurus] I moved from Seattle to Michigan when I was 14. I had been through several history classes in junior high and elementary school, and observed my elder siblings history classes. In the Seattle schools, history always ended with World War 2. It was as if nothing after that happened at all. …QUOTE] We never got much beyond the early 60s, there wasn’t enough time to go further. We learned segregation was only a problem in the south (north of the Maison-Dixon line all races had equality). That the Pilgrims taught the Indians about agriculture. That George Washington was offered the American crown and declined. We were never taught that slavery existed in the north. We learned that all slaves were black and all slaveowners were white (I was shocked when I learned that neither was true). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/104 "2005-10-14T05:25:42Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > We never got much beyond the early 60s, there wasn’t enough time to go further. Ditto. In World History we only got to WW2, and barely that. (I’m still waiting to find out who won- I’m guessing Robert Mitchum.) I had a whacked out math teacher who “taught” us several things that you wouldn’t read in a textbook (which have nothing whatsoever to do with math). This was a woman who- I wish I could post a picture just for emphasis- had Dana Carvey grown up in central Alabama I’d be absolutely 100% positive he based the Church Lady on her. She “taught” that Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, was a Satanist who gave millions to the Church of Satan (with all the people who gave millions and millions to the Church of Satan over the years it’s amazing that Anton Lavey died in a ramshackle run down house and never made more than a 5 digit income in his life [according to his wife and children]) and thus Big Macs equalled hell. She taught that the Beast in Revelations was homosexuality (of course- why wouldn’t it be?), gave us bonus points if we signed petitions to keep Ozzie Osbourne out of Alabama (which I signed because those bonus points could be the difference in my passing and failing, I was that terrible a student) and that Algebra was really Christian, not Islamic in origin (how I’m not sure). Interesting broad; she had three children and was somehow still, I’m sure, a virgin (though none of her kids were within 5 minutes of college- true stereotype rebellion thing happened with all three). ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/105 "2005-10-14T05:54:19Z")
> [@The Chao Goes Mu](#): > > Also, when I was a yoot, we did not, EVER discuss the Vietnam war in school. It was taboo. The only time I was formally taught about it was when I got into 9th grade (1986) and that was by a history teacher that basically said to us, " I don’t care what the school system says, we are spending the quarter on this war" > If you asked a question in other classes, it was ignored. It’s not as though we were stupid and had no idea what happened there considering some of our friends had dads that came home crazy or not at all. Weird, eh? Anyone else growing up in the 70’s experience this? I was at school in the 1970s. We covered the Vietnam war in history. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/106 "2005-10-14T06:00:59Z")
I’ve got to add a second recommendation for reading [Lies My Teacher Told Me](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684818868/103-0755181-3568669?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance). Good book, informative in and of itself, with a ton of more resources in the bibliography. There are a ton of inaccuracies I was taught in school. I learned through experience to be skeptical of teachers. There were times when I actually knew more about a subject than the teacher did. Considering that I still don’t consider myself to be much of an expert on anything (I’m more of a generalist), that’s pretty scary. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/107 "2005-10-14T09:38:59Z")
> [@TwoTrouts](#): > > I have been taight that Pilgrims had no festivities whatsoever. Dancing: Forbidden, Drinking: Forbidden , Singing (except church hymns): Forbidden, Reading anything other than Scriptures: Forbidden. Christmas was supposed to be spent quietly reading the Bible. As **YaWanna** pointed out (and you acknowledged) on the previous page, you’re thinking of the Puritans. The original **Pilgrims** , on the other hand, were so concerned about running out of beer that they changed the course of the **Mayflower** (and hence American history): > [@](#): > > An entry in the diary of a Mayflower passenger explains the unplanned landing at Plymouth Rock: “We could not now take time for further search…our victuals being much spent, especially our beer…” from [here](http://www.beerinstitute.org/history3.htm). ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/108 "2005-10-14T09:51:10Z")
We were taught in university physics class that the Tacoma Narrows bridge fell down because of simple harmonics and resonance. Winds up being far more complex than that. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/109 "2005-10-14T11:39:15Z")
> [@The Chao Goes Mu](#): > > …Also, when I was a **yoot** … Excuse me, a _what?_ ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/110 "2005-10-14T11:50:27Z")
> [@GrizzRich](#): > > The _USS Merrimac_ was a ship that was burned by Union troops to prevent it’s inevitable capture by Confederate forces. The ship burned to the water-line. Confederate forces captured it, rebuilt and plated it, and named it the _CSS Virginia_. _shrug_ Depending which side of the Mason-Dixon line my school was on, the battles frequently had different names. I don’t see why the ships can’t too. (It took a while for me to realize there were only about half as many Civil War battles as I thought.) > [@Antonius Block](#): > > The original Pilgrims, on the other hand, were so concerned about running out of beer that they changed the course of the Mayflower (and hence American history): It wasn’t like they were running out of cold Budweiser. Beer was a much safer drink than water, and not very similar to what we think of it these days. ---
**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/111 "2005-10-14T12:22:03Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > The wires are multistranded for strength. Current is carried on the outside of the composite strand, not inside the wires. please tell me you’re a citing some bad teaching here. Electricity travels through the entire body of the wire. Common sense, two years of university physics, and current manufacturing practices all convince me that this is absolutely true. I’m gonna need a very good cite to convince me otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/112 "2005-10-14T13:01:40Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Excuse me, a _what?_ Oh excuse me! A you **th** 😉 **Sampiro**. You win brother. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/113 "2005-10-14T13:46:19Z")
I was taught that Washington threw a silver dollar across the Potomac. Of course, the dollar went a lot further in those days… I was taught that the bomb was dropped on Japan because they would never surrender. In truth, they were trying to negotiate a surrender via the Soviets. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/114 "2005-10-14T14:49:22Z")
I can’t speak for all schools, but at my school in Southern California, we get the kids through Vietnam in US History, and I get them up to, if not through, the Balkans and the formation of the EU in European History. We actually **do** try to stay as current as we can. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/115 "2005-10-14T14:58:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I can’t speak for all schools, but at my school in Southern California, we get the kids through Vietnam in US History, and I get them up to, if not through, the Balkans and the formation of the EU in European History. We actually **do** try to stay as current as we can. 😃 I hope there are a lot more schools like yours 🆒 . That is great. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/116 "2005-10-14T15:03:00Z")
Thanks. Of course, for really current you just have to drop into one of my Government classes. I love teaching from the morning newspaper! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/117 "2005-10-14T15:12:12Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Thanks. Of course, for really current you just have to drop into one of my Government classes. I love teaching from the morning newspaper! 😃 You sound like the history teacher I wanted in HS and college. I always got the “history is to be learn by rote from the textbook” teachers, except once. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/118 "2005-10-14T15:27:50Z")
I had a substitute teacher in 3rd grade who told us Hawaii was located in the Carribean. In high school (Catholic), we were taught about birth control methods but given blatantly wrong information about their failure rates. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/119 "2005-10-14T15:33:28Z")
> [@Leviosaurus](#): > > I moved from Seattle to Michigan when I was 14. I had been through several history classes in junior high and elementary school, and observed my elder siblings history classes. In the Seattle schools, history always ended with World War 2. It was as if nothing after that happened at all. When I was in high school, we never got past War World 2. Why? Because we always started with the Indians, and then we did the colonies, so it was a while before we even got to the revolution. I always wonder why not just do a sequnce of classes. Do one class on the indians and then we’re done with it. Then do a class on the colonies/revolution and be done with that. And then early 1800’s, then Civil War, etc. But for some reason, he had to start over with the indians every time, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/120 "2005-10-14T15:52:54Z")
> [@JerH](#): > > I had a substitute teacher in 3rd grade who told us Hawaii was located in the Carribean. Of course, I don’t know where you went to 3rd grade, but I can tell you that in North Carolina, at least in the 80’s, all you had to have was an associate’s degree to get a job as an elementary school substitute teacher. I do not lie - they hired me one season. I worked 3 days - the highest grade class I “taught” was 3rd grade. I was 19 or 20. Not that someone with an associate’s degree - or a high school diploma, for that matter - has any excuse to not know the difference between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952.md?page=7)