Haha, when the saying came about I'm sure it was, if you watch stuff like Dazed and Confused, I'm sure it's exaggerated for Hollywood but overall it was a lot more loose. Unless you were TOO different, then it was a nightmare same as it ever was. Schools are literally prisons compared to what they used to be. Anyway, people who say stuff like that are usually the status quo who just coast through life on cruise control.