Schools differ from country to country, and there are some pretty interesting school systems in the world. In The Netherlands, for example, kids start school on their 4th birthday, no matter when the school year starts. Kids in China, in turn, learn on the principle of memorization.
And then there’s the U.S. What most of us know about American schools probably comes from movies and TV. But what are schools in the U.S. really like? Well, here we have a list of pics from many primary sources, the students themselves. They captured the true experience of the American school.
#1 My School Doesn’t Have Stall Doors
There are also huge mirrors directly facing them.
Image credits: Gazers22
#2 During The Summer, My School Installed Metal Gates Over The Bathrooms To Keep Us From Going Between Classes
Image credits: Lord-Zippy
#3 Florida Teacher Here. This Is Our School’s “Library” Now
Florida passed a law that said no books can be displayed in a school, until they’ve been reviewed and approved by an appointed team. If a teacher shows a book that has not been approved, they could be charged with a felony.
Image credits: missmyrajv
Currently, American schools lag a bit behind other countries in the world in terms of their students’ academic achievements. When they tested 15-year-olds in their math and science literacy, American teenagers ranked only 38th out of 71 countries. Among other 37 OECD countries in 2022, Americans ranked 38th in math and 12th in science.
Younger students, however, are doing surprisingly more well. In 2015, American fourth-grade students placed 11th out of 48 in math and 8th in science. Eighth-graders scored 8th both in math and science among other 37 countries.
#4 I’m A Night Custodian At A High School. This Is What The First Day Of School Looks Like
Image credits: unwanted-tomatoes
#5 My School’s Bag Check Line
Image credits: JL-Nobody568
#6 Our High School Covers Expiration Dates With A Sharpie
Image credits: TheBigWedgeOfCheese
Interestingly, Americans don’t think that the quality of education in the U.S. is above average. In fact, 32% of adults believe that when it comes to K-12 STEM education, America ranks below average compared to other wealthy nations. But are statistics of academic achievement all that matter when we talk about schools?
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, also surveys children about how they feel at school. Data shows that younger students report feeling happy “all or most of the time” more than older students. 49% of fourth-graders say they’re happy at school, while only 27% of eighth-graders say the same.
#7 I Just Don’t Understand This
Image credits: hypetrain2988
#8 Creepy Surveillance Into The Boys’ Bathroom At My High School
There is a window in the boys’ bathroom that has a perfect line of sight with the security office that doubles as a panopticon of the entire commons area. If this was the girls’ bathroom, heads would roll and there would have been a riot outside years ago. I hate it here.
Image credits: Alligatorgamer9
#9 The Absolutely Terrible Design Of My School. This Is The Place Where Every Hallway Intersects
Image credits: LuigiSaysKachow
American parents say they’re mostly satisfied with their children’s education but don’t think K-12 education in America overall is of good quality. They also think that teachers are doing a good job. 36% of parents think their children’s teachers are “excellent” and 37% believe their kids’ teacher is “good.”
#10 My School Locker Can’t Even Fit My Backpack Because Of Those Shelves
Image credits: zucclivan
#11 This Survey At My School
Image credits: lucky_dog21
#12 Bathroom Pass In An American School. I Mean, I Get It, Kids Take Advantage, But This Is Too Much
Image credits: LikeSnowOnTheBeach
Those who are not from America might look at this list and think how strange and different American schools are. But the truth is that each country has something different about its education system and schools that might surprise people. Finland, for example, which is often thought to have one of the best education systems in the world might seem strange too.
#13 Bathroom Passes. Each Circle Represents One Pass, We Get One Of These Papers Per Semester. To Get More, We Have To Arrange An Appointment With The Administration
Image credits: Cheese_is_good1
#14 About Half Of This 50-Gallon Trash Can Is Full Of Perfectly Good Cartons Of Milk, Expiration Date Is In 2 Weeks. Schools Waste A Lot Of Food
Image credits: spider_manectric
#15 New Acoustic Foam Just Put Up In My School
Image credits: Trk-Z4cst3r
The country began its education reform about 40 years ago and prioritized hiring educators in decision-making positions both at the local and national levels. Teachers in Finland must have a Masters degree in Education, and the system prioritizes the underprivileged. “Children from wealthy families with lots of education can be taught by stupid teachers,” veteran teacher Kari Louhivuori said.
#16 My School Banned The Dinosaur Game
Image credits: real-Dantepersons
#17 This Milk At My School
Image credits: Drizzyhenry13
#18 Our School Spent 1.3 Million On New Turf For A Loosing Team, But I Get To Deal With This Every Time It Rains Because They Can’t Afford To Fix The Roof
Image credits: OShtTheC0PS
Singaporean schools are often at the top of international ranking tables as well. What American students might find strange in a Singaporean classroom is that teachers are usually the ones who talk the most during lessons and discussions by the students aren’t that widely encouraged. Pupils use digital devices in the learning process, as teachers incorporate technology into classrooms.
#19 This Map Is In My School’s Elementary Library. Because All Of Eastern Asia And The Pacific Islands Are Apparently China
Image credits: joecosmos
#20 My Little Brother’s Middle School Schedule. He’s Having Such A Hard Time Remembering When Periods Start And End. Why Are The Times This Specific?
Image credits: mad_cherry
#21 High School Throwing Away Perfectly Good Books
Image credits: Starmanof1
South Korean education system is often lauded as well. Students in Korea spend more time at school than American students. An average American student spends 180 days a year at school, while a Korean student – about 220. Together with Finland, students in South Korea also get the least amount of homework per week.
#22 My School Blocked Google
Image credits: NormalBluJay
#23 My Friend Got In Trouble For “PDA”
Image credits: After-Employer5610
#24 This Is What They Gave Us For Lunch Today. I’m A 6’5″ 160 Lbs Track Athlete, With Practice And Weight Training After School. This Did Little To Nothing To My Hunger Level
Image credits: Toastedtoastyyy
If you’ve ever been to Spain, you know that the siesta is sacred to people there. The same is true at some Spanish schools: students get a two-hour lunch break to go home and eat and possibly take a nap. The usual school hours are from 9 am to 5 pm, others from 8 am to 3 pm.
#25 I’m So Done With My School
Image credits: LofiZon
#26 When Your School Bans Wikipedia, Only To Copy Directly From Wikipedia In Their Own Lesson Resources
Image credits: Kisuzume
#27 The School Lunch System Is Disgraceful
From my years in high school I compiled some pictures of the horrible things that got served that no one questioned. It really is ironic given how adamant they all are about eating healthy by including every food group.
Image credits: oaz_zam246
Here’s another fun fact for you: students in Australia and New Zealand sometimes go to school barefoot. Kiwis and Australians going to the local supermarket barefoot isn’t so unusual generally, so why should schools be different? Inglewood Primary School in Perth, Australia, has officially adopted a no-shoe policy. “We believe that children need opportunities to explore indoor and outdoor environments without shoes,” they stated in a newsletter.
#28 My School Is Fining Students That Take Too Long In The Bathroom
Image credits: miketerk21
#29 At My School
Image credits: NormaIName
#30 High School Bathrooms Are Really Wild
Image credits: willyone225
I believe we have many Pandas from different countries here. So, don’t hesitate to share what distinguishes the schools in your homeland from the rest of the world. Is it the curriculum? Is it the classroom environment? And, if you’ve ever been on both sides, how did an American school compare to the ones in your country? Let us know in the comments!
#31 In My School Library
Image credits: Eric-Senpai
#32 What A Sad Country We Live In For My 12-Year-Old To Text Me This
Image credits: loserwaste
#33 Every Year, My School Gives Me A Physical Piece Of Paper With My Password, That Doesn’t Change Year-To-Year
It’s for WiFi, Google Drive, the school’s computer login, email – everything. Just to remind me they’re storing them in plain text.
Image credits: DodoDude700
#34 My School Wants Us To Allow This On Our Personal Devices, Just To Use Google Classroom
Image credits: reddit.com
#35 When The School Gives A Big Box To Hide The Size Of The Pizza
Image credits: zukofire48
#36 This School’s Music Department Has 22 iMacs, Apple Mouses And Apple Keyboards, But Chooses To Run Windows On Them. Talk About Wasting Money
Image credits: mattheweg2003
#37 Some Kid Stuffed A Cheeseburger Into The Computer At School
Image credits: GizmoGeek1224
#38 This Is The Inside Of My Child’s Homework Folder Provided By The School. At What Point Has Consumerism Gone Too Far?
Image credits: xtinaxtina18
#39 You Can’t Convince Me That “Syrup” Isn’t Just Motor Oil
Image credits: destiny_thememe
#40 The Shower Rooms In My School Dorms Have Mushrooms Growing In Them
Image credits: thorodinson1021
#41 This Sign On A High School Classroom Door
Image credits: cmonfiend
#42 My School’s Renovated Toilet
Image credits: The_real_Hive_Knight
#43 Our School’s Public Computers
Image credits: JuustoUkko
#44 My High School Spent $15,000 On A 2×2 TV Just To Show Morning Announcements
Image credits: Moisty_Merks
#45 School Has A “Minimum Donation” For A Fundraiser
My friend’s kid’s school is having a fundraiser. I was like, yeah sure I’ll donate 5 bucks. Nope. Well now they’re getting no money because 15 is a little too much for me.
Image credits: ThatGothGamerChick
#46 “Gift” From The School My Girlfriend Works At For Teacher’s Appreciation Week
Image credits: BillyJoelArmstrong
#47 My School Blocked A Website Because It Was Labeled As Educational
Image credits: reddit.com
#48 Our School Built A New Sports Area On Grass. Can’t Wait To Play Basketball On That
Image credits: IcehWind
#49 Sign On The Nurse’s Door At My School
Image credits: Butchah
#50 School Cafeteria Has “Build Your Own” Options, But Covered The Glass So You Can’t See The Options
Image credits: spikira
#51 My Little Brother’s School Lunch
Image credits: sodazone12
#52 Someone Stole A Toilet At My School
Image credits: zamzamroni
#53 Toilet Paper Provided At My School
Image credits: MentalBuddy
#54 If I Want To Download 1 Image From The Photographers The School Hired For Graduation, I Have To Pay $45
Image credits: AmericanTrollBot
#55 This Vending Machine At My High School
Image credits: grayflicks_dew
#56 My School Could Afford $6,000,000 Worth Of Renovations, But They Can’t Afford Toilet Paper That I Can’t See Through
Image credits: Qweezychicken
#57 At School?
Image credits: aaliyahdanaee
#58 Schools Put Gates Over The Bathrooms Between And During Class
Image credits: TheDozer27
#59 This Is The “Food” We’re Supposed To Eat At School
Image credits: Bored-orcaboi
#60 School Has Become Pay-To-Win
Image credits: Mykal-Keliikoa
#61 School Disabled Our Ability To Switch Computer Networks. I Have Work That Needs To Be Submitted From Home
Even if I somehow jiggy my way to connect to my home WiFi, the school WiFi will auto-connect after 5 minutes. Doesn’t seem very legal.
Image credits: Interesting-Name6322
#62 Just Got Handed This In The Middle Of Class. I’m In High School
Image credits: thehighguy9
#63 Just Found That The Plastic Knifes In My School Are Terrible At Cutting And That I’ve Been Ingesting Microplastics All This Time
Image credits: TrajanNim
#64 My Blind Child Came Home From School Today With This Homework
Image credits: zixxty
#65 We Live 0.7 Miles From My Daughter’s School, So She Is Ineligible For Bussing. Yet Every Morning As We Leave For School, This Thing Idles Out Front
Image credits: chiperific_on_reddit
#66 Honestly, I’d Rather Just Ask For Cash
So we have to buy a $60 box of chocolate bars (which I noticed are now only 0.8 oz when they used to be 1.5 oz), sell the whole box, and only $22 of that goes towards an end of year trip? Just no. I’d rather donate cash and save myself and my kid the headache. Or even do a lemonade stand, or sell bracelets. Seems like the least efficient way to do a fundraiser.
Image credits: aLittleKrunchy
#67 They Start The Indoctrination Early At My Florida High School
Image credits: DelCidKidv
#68 My Kid’s School Lunch
Image credits: DrPennybags
#69 Since Kids At My School Think It’s Funny To Rip Soap Dispensers Off The Wall And Throw Them In The Toilet, The Staff Refuses To Give Us Soap
Image credits: Temporary-Push4153
#70 A Teacher In Texas Was Fired After They Gave Middle School Students An Assignment Full Of Racist And Offensive Slurs
Image credits: davenewworld_2
#71 This Is What We Got Served For Lunch Today At School
Image credits: Tact1calTicTac
#72 Why? This Was In The Boys’ Bathroom In The Middle School Where I’m A Custodian
Image credits: Suspicious_Plantain4
#73 The Bring Your Own Potato Bar Hosted By My School For Teacher Appreciation. At Least They’re Providing Plates
Image credits: mackthesquirel
#74 When You Get One Formula Wrong In Our Weekly Tests At My School, They Make You Write It Out 150 Times. I Have 4 More Of These To Do
Image credits: h4y14y6
#75 I Don’t Think That’s Even Legal
Image credits: Bob_Kat8k
#76 My High School Removed Mirrors In The Bathroom, For No Reason Whatsoever
Image credits: Thefasttrain
#77 School Board Policy For Lunch In North Carolina
Image credits: neko2314
#78 School Lunch On Thanksgiving
Image credits: cabbagehead2
#79 My Children’s School Folders Are Starting To Look Like Internet Pop-Ups
This is in my wife’s hometown, which is small, so she doesn’t share my anger. She said it was to raise money for the fall festival. Told my buddy from back home about it and he was just as angry as I was, even calling it child labor.
Image credits: Kami_Ouija
#80 The Way My School Serves Ketchup
Image credits: Ellahluja
#81 Bathroom “Stalls” At James Rumsey High School
Image credits: LeastSuspiciousTowel
#82 School Removed The Bathroom Mirror To “Prevent Girls From Skipping Class”
Image credits: Other_Rose
#83 My School Blocked All Of The Emergency Exits Instead Of Fixing The Alarm
Image credits: vk6_
#84 They Took The Doors Off The Men’s Bathroom At Our School, But Not The Girls’
Image credits: MrXxy
#85 When Your School Advertises Rings, That Start At $300, To Seniors, Who Just Got Out Of High School And Are Irresponsible With Money
Image credits: NuggetWarrior09
#86 You Have To Pay 25 Cents For Tampons And Pads At My School
Image credits: IMVERYGAY69420
#87 There Are No Locks In The School Toilet
Image credits: Bearking2806
#88 My School Lunch
Image credits: BennyTwoToes_
#89 My New High School Still Has CRT TVs
Image credits: Maestro7_78
#90 There Was A Typo In The First Sentence Of My School’s Guide To Careful Writing
Image credits: RumHam12
#91 The Amount Of Leg Room On A School Bus
Image credits: Isedknow
#92 This “Grilled” Chicken Sandwich At Our School. It Tastes Moist But Dry At The Same Time, And It’s Rubbery
Image credits: Swag_CornFlakes
#93 Paying $55 Fee For School Supplies Instead Of Buying A List Of Supplies. Up From $30. I Understand The Cost Of Everything Has Gone Up, But Buying The Supplies Ourselves Might Be Cheaper?
Image credits: mandykinsxo
#94 This Was The Lunch That My $40k Per Year School Served Today
Image credits: Victrola_User
#95 School Lunch
Image credits: KaKaShI69——–
#96 School Blocked Google
Image credits: Jkitten07891
#97 Some Kids At My High School Stole Several Stall Doors From One Of The Bathrooms
Image credits: CrookDragoon666
#98 This Ad At My School
Image credits: Cron-che
#99 This Is Why The Paper Towel Dispenser At Our High School Stays Empty
Image credits: Inane_Grunting
#100 My Daughter’s School Asking For New Or Used Pencils. How Have We Gotten To This Point? We Are Failing At A Fundamental Level
Image credits: jstockton76
#101 This Keyboard In My School’s Computer Lab
Image credits: PineTNB
#102 My Girlfriend Just Got A Job Teaching At A D-Rated Elementary School In Florida. How Do I Clean The Kid’s Bathroom?
1st grade class with a private bathroom. The wall behind the toilet is disgusting. Apparently, the janitors are too lazy to clean it for her, so it’s either our job, or the kiddos will have to put up with it for a year.
Image credits: _JakeDelhomme
#103 I Guess My Daughter’s School Administrator Is Trying To Reprimand Me?
I was late a lot through high school, but I’d never been sent home with anything like this. My mother would get a call from the school every now and then, that’s about it. For reference, my daughter’s in 1st grade.
Image credits: Substantial_Tart9571
#104 My Kindergartener’s School Supply List
Image credits: Danasai
#105 Toilet Paper Roll At My High School
Image credits: Tinituss
#106 The Spoons At My School, That I’m Supposed To Consume Soup With
Image credits: VileGangster13
#107 Guess What I Found After Getting On The School Bus
Image credits: LazyWinterFox
#108 Thing In My School Auditorium
Image credits: Aesthetic-Yellow