What you learned in school
General science and safety classes taught this as both a scientific principle and safety rule. Students learned that areas recently hit by lightning were safe from future strikes. This was often taught alongside other "common sense" safety principles and used as a metaphor for rare events being unlikely to repeat.
What we know now
General science classes taught this as a safety principle, suggesting that areas hit by lightning were safe from future strikes. Students learned this as both a literal fact and a metaphor for rare events. Lightning frequently strikes the same locations repeatedly, especially tall structures like skyscrapers, towers, and trees. The Empire State Building is struck about 100 times per year. Lightning follows the path of least electrical resistance, which often means the same route repeatedly. Lightning rods work precisely because lightning does strike the same places multiple times.