I lived through that fucking decade and I think it has a lot to do with how fucked up I am today. The way my school district dealt with a kid that couldn't sit still was to lock them in a cinder block room with nothing but a desk and a pencil. They would keep you in there until you finished whatever assignment the teacher gave you.

Then I was prescribed ritalin. I was ridiculously allergic to it and it gave me seizures. When I wasn't having seizures I was almost catatonic which the school liked, because it meant I stayed in my chair. The school tried their best to keep me on it even though my parents were VERY unsure about the whole seizures thing and negative effects on my personality. One day I asked my mom "If I do something bad when I'm on my medicine, do I go to hell?" (I have a very religious family) and that was the push they needed to take me off it.

I haven't sought treatment or therapy since, because of that whole debacle. Every once in awhile I think about it, but it sends me in an anxiety/ptsd spiral and I chicken out.

Hell, when I graduated, they would give you your permanent record along with your diploma on the stage. Everyone else's was super thin, but mine was three folders about three inches thick each. I didn't even look at it, just burned it out of shame. I'm sure it was full of "prime mover has a lot of potential" bullshit. I wish so bad that I could be normal, but I don't think I even got a ticket for that boat before it sailed.

Sorry for the rant. Still pissed off at my school system, but not sure who to share that rage with. Fuck em all

It backfired by causing school shootings. We're dealing with the fallout of Boomer-style parenting now. For anyone who has or is about to have children, look up gentle parenting.

I called myself an underachiever because the only other thing I could call myself based on what I was told every day was a failure.

I figured out how to use it all to my advantage as an adult but it was such a shit road getting there.

There was a Bart Simpson t-shirt my mom bought me when I was a kid. Bart said: Underachiever and proud of it.

I remember radio ads for some bullshit corporate product service bullshit, the announcer said "It's a no brainer!", and the simpleton character, meant to stand in for all of us, goes "Uhh... no brainer? Oh I like that, hyuck hyuck hyuck!"
I remember this ad making me angry. Then also being vaguely disturbed when I noticed that this cynical marketing profile was all over the place.