Why Do Students Give Apples to Teachers?

Well, there is no true origin of “why students give apples to teachers.” It’s more of a mythology of an image which has perpetuated itself upon us over the past century. It’s equal to images of the first Thanksgiving with perfectly clean Pilgrims and happy beaming “Indians” eating pies and sharing a peace-pipe. It’s not to say that the Pilgrims and certain Indian tribes didn’t get along, it’s just that an image which was painted 400 years later becomes the iconic image for that particular event. The point being, no one knows for sure how the first “Thanksgiving” went, but right or wrong, that’s the image most Americans have today. This perpetuated mythology also leads most Americans to believe that the wall carvings and art of ancient Egyptian have the Pharaohs “walking like Egyptians.” There are no carvings or wall paintings having them “walking like Egyptians.”

There are no records to indicate that students bringing apples to school teachers ever actually ever happened en masse. Again, it’s not to say that it didn’t happen. It’s just not recorded that every student brought an apple to every teacher.

Now, I’ve heard others hold fast to a belief that it all came about in the 19^th century when most of America was rural and that apples were given to teachers as a kind act in the light of a teacher’s low wages. I’ve also heard that it was a way of a student to show a teacher their appreciation for their abilities by hoping that the gift of the apple would ward away sickness, thus insuring that the teacher would be in class and not absent due to illness. Lastly, there is a more cynical image of a student giving an apple to a teacher as a means of ingratiating themselves to the teacher in the hopes of a good grade.

In the present day when students or parents wish to show their appreciation for a teacher’s efforts small tokens are usually presented in the form of $5-20 gift cards, homemade perishables or crafts, etc.

Today, the act of a student giving a teacher an apple has essentially become a parody of itself.