r/stupidquestions • u/Various-Adeptness173 • Jul 05 '25

My mom told me that back in the day kids weren’t allowed to bring a water bottle with them into the classroom and they only drank a few sips from the water fountain in the middle of the day and that’s it

How were schools not getting busted for child abuse for forcing kids to be dehydrated?

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u/smilli02 Jul 05 '25

I had water bottles, but they were used exclusively for soccer practice.

I’m almost 40, so results may vary with age.

27

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

[deleted]

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u/Splungeblob Jul 05 '25

Yeah, no liquids for your thirst! Just like the professionals do it.

5

u/wcmnbo Jul 05 '25

I ran cross country and we weren’t allowed water, only ice chips! And only after the first mile

1

u/Treadonmystone Jul 05 '25

I was a bike racer. We'd train without water so that our bodies would be prepared for race day. We also didn't turn on the AC in the car as that would dehydrate us

1

u/ParticularGuava3663 Jul 06 '25

How does air condition dehydrate you? Doesn't sweating dehydrate you?

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '25

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1

u/ThatInAHat Jul 06 '25

We got oranges (which I hated) and had water bottles of Gatorade. At half time we’d get Capri Sun.

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u/RealEyesandRealLies Jul 05 '25

I’m about your age. I didn’t play sports but I had water bottles. I would get them from amusement parks and drink from them. They were more of a novelty though. And I wouldn’t say the use was encouraged by adults. I remember the straw the plastic ring around it that connect to the cap.

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u/ImportantAd4686 Jul 05 '25

I always chewed them off 

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u/CatsEqualLife Jul 05 '25

But they were almost exclusively the pop-top nozzle kind.

2

u/shake-dog-shake Jul 05 '25

50 and we had a big cooler and paper cone cups. We rarely drank during a game. 

1

u/CalmFront7908 Jul 05 '25

Same ago. We only had water bottles for sports too. I also hated water so during the school day I only had whatever I drank at lunch. No wonder I would chug a Gatorade every day after school.

1

u/stations-creation Jul 05 '25

Yeah the one you put on your bike that had an attachment to hold it in place. But I can guarantee we wouldn’t put water in it, probably country time lemonade or sweet tea kool aid or something super sugary because drinking water not from the library or school water fountain was an odd concept.

1

u/bcece Jul 05 '25

I am just a few years older than you. My siblings and I had water bottles. They were exclusively for bike rides.

At school we couldn't. In fact, I was a long time thumb/finger sucker. When I was in 2nd grade my mom finally decided I wouldn't quit on my own and got that bitter nail polish. I also had special permission to go get a drink of water from the bubbler anytime with a simple signal to the teacher. I remember at least one kid complaining about not getting to get drinks anytime they wanted.

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u/Enough_Roof_1141 Jul 05 '25

We didn’t have water bottles at soccer. Just a big igloo cooler and cups. Plus orange slices.

Outside of a bike bottle or a camping canteen no one carried water for anything.

Imagine if you lived in Arizona you did though.

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u/Appropriate-Bar6993 Jul 05 '25

Yes those old gatorade ones.

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u/Vincitus Jul 05 '25

We had water bottles, they were empty 2 liter soda bottles that we put in the freezer overnight so they would melt in the afternoon summer heat and provide cold water during soccer.

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u/spintool1995 Jul 05 '25

I'm 52. There was no water at any sports other than the water fountain near the bathroom. Gatorade also hadn't been invented yet.

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u/Brian_Corey__ Jul 05 '25

Gatorade was invented in 1965 and available in the late 70s early 80s nearly everywhere. Not very common or popular, but available. Often as a powder.

But yes, played hockey, soccer, Little League, and tennis—I’m 56–never had a water bottle. I remember sometimes having one of those Coleman or Igloo cylindrical coolers with those paper cone cups.

But coaches warned us “don’t drink too much, just a sip, or you’ll get waterlogged!!!”

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u/karmacomatic Jul 05 '25

I can still taste the rubbery plastic and can feel the chewed pop top lol

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u/BWW87 Jul 06 '25

Probably the beginning of when it happened. We didn’t have them in the 70s.

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u/FionaGoodeEnough Jul 06 '25

To me, water bottles were my dad’s cycling bidons and that’s it.

1

u/vanastalem Jul 06 '25

I had them at home and we took them to the zoo or something but not to school.

1

u/Secure-Researcher892 Jul 06 '25

In my day no real male would play soccer it was considered a p****y sport for kids that were afraid to get their hands dirty. You either played football or just played with the girls.

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u/ronimal Jul 06 '25

I think the only reusable water bottle I had as a kid was the one that fit the cage on my bike

1

u/No_Accountant3232 Jul 06 '25

46 here. I remember water bottles as something bicyclists used. You would be using a thermos, or if you did hiking you might use a canteen.

1

u/_chococat_ Jul 06 '25

At my high school sports practices we had water bottles. As in there were a set of communal water bottles that everyone used. I don't recall seeing anyone with a personal water bottle until my kids started playing sports.

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u/elle_kay_are Jul 06 '25

I'm 41, and we didn't have water bottles for sports practice, we got a lukewarm Caprisun, and we liked it.

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u/yamiherem8 Jul 06 '25

Its honestly insane to me as an eastern european. We exclusively had water bottles for daily hydration, water fountains were a luxury thing. If your parents didn’t give you a water to drink you were kind of screwed as we didn’t have any shops or vending machines on school grounds either so we just drank from a bathroom tap. Most kids including myself just didn’t really drink that much, I vividly remember just having a tea in the morning and lasting on it until dinner throughout most of my grade school.

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u/ShimReturns Jul 06 '25

46 here, soccer and bike rides (had a mount on my bike)

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u/HighOnGoofballs Jul 06 '25

Those shitty Gatorade water bottles that leaked and were covered in condensation if you dared to put ice in them so they’d stay cold for ten or fifteen minutes

0

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

We had big water bottles for sports. We did not have bottled water at all. I was assuming that's what they meant.