Back-to-School Through the Years

This month, as kids across the metro embark on a new school year with sharpened pencils and crisp notebooks, we step into the KC Parent archives for a peek at some of our past back-to-school issues. While many hot topics of the ’80s remain front and center for today’s parents of school-age children—healthy lunches, bus safety, easing homework headaches—other topics have gone by the wayside, and new matters have risen to prominence.

            Take a look at a few highlights of past August issues and see whether some of the stories catch your eye too.

1987

            In this issue, the editor recalls when she started kindergarten and how she was sent home the first several days when she wouldn’t stop crying. Plenty of kindergarteners shed tears at the beginning of the year, but I would venture to guess that teachers these days don’t send them home!

            A story on helping children adjust to a new school suggests parents have the teacher write the child’s name on the “blackboard” so other students would remember it. Of course, most classrooms today have dry-erase whiteboards and smart boards for teachers and students to use. No more pounding black erasers!

            Another article encourages parents to help their children get into a routine two weeks before school begins, and mentions the morning and afternoon sessions of kindergarten. Half-day kindergarten was the norm in the ’80s, but today many districts have full-day kindergarten, either as a standard or as an optional fee-based program.

1991

            Since a link between proper nutrition and healthy bodies was discovered, parents have tried to instill in their children the importance of good eating habits. KC Parent—and other parenting publications—often features articles and recipes with a health focus. An article in this 1991 issue highlights healthy breakfasts, nutritious lunches and vitamin-packed snacks, even including a few recipes.          

Children aren’t the only ones who go back to school; this magazine has an interesting article on parents’ going back to school to get their GEDs or college degrees. The writer focuses on adults’ balancing parenting duties, work, childcare and school, and suggests courses that suit parents’ needs, such as evening/weekend classes and independent study. One area not covered in this 1991 story? Online classes!

            A story about the dangers facing high school and college students has a quote that references parental concerns of the time: “We’ve seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Beverly Hills 90210. We’ve heard about date rape, Ted Bundy and anorexia nervosa.” While the article encourages parents to keep close tabs on their children, it doesn’t mention using texting or cell phones to do so. No surprise there, as few people had cell phones in 1991.

1998

            In the late ’90s, technology was moving to the forefront for many families, as evidenced by several articles and ads in this issue.

An ad featuring a back-to-school promotion by a communications company caught my attention. The company encourages parents to sign up for dial-up Internet access and the business would provide a filtered Internet access account for kids, protecting them from “indecent content”…all of this for only $19.50 a month!

One story focuses on girls and science and contains the quote, “As the world becomes more technologically advanced and dependent on technology, we cannot allow our daughters to become science and technology dropouts.” Today, these subjects continue to be emphasized in schools for both genders, as evidenced by STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) schools and classes around the nation.

Many stories and ads center on the importance of kids’ being active and not parked in front of the TV and video games—sound familiar? Today’s parents have the same concerns.

Another sign of exploding technology? KCParent.com is mentioned throughout the magazine as the place to turn for more tips and calendar events.

2002

In this back-to-school issue, one writer emphasizes the health hazards of children’s carrying extremely heavy backpacks and suggests ways for kids to lighten the load or distribute the weight more evenly to protect their backs. While she mentions heavy textbooks and homework, she doesn’t reference laptops and iPads, which many students haul back and forth to school these days.

A story on affording college states that the average annual tuition cost for a four-year private college in 2000 was $15,000 and estimated that by 2015, that number would be about $30,000. Today’s average, according to U.S. News and World Report, is $35,000.

2005

An education guide can be found in this magazine, which didn’t appear in the earlier issues I thumbed through. Lists of local colleges/universities, elementary and secondary schools, preschools, parochial schools, after-school programs and more can be found in this section. KC Parent still prints an education guide online.

A graph accompanying one back-to-school story contains the following text: “Students aren’t just buying pencils and binders anymore. Nearly half of consumers intend to purchase electronics such as a computer, cell phone or calculators.” According to the National Retail Federation, nearly 56 percent of consumers purchased electronics during back-to-school shopping in 2014.

I made a mental note after reading a story that focuses on waking kids up for school. The writer suggests buying an alarm clock for kids to prevent the frustration of parents’ telling kids eight times to get out of bed. She claims her kids got up quickly after converting to this wake-up call. Our household will be trying this technique when school starts!

Tisha Foley’s children will join the back-to-school brigade in Belton this month.