I went to school in England in the early 1960s, at a time when corporal punishment was very common. I was beaten quite frequently when at secondary school, mostly on the hands with a cane or strap. Although these punishments were very painful, they were by no means as memorable as the discipline I remember […]

My parents were decent people who believed in children being raised in the proper manner. We were well loved and they gave us everything that they could afford, but at the same time they showed us who was in charge. I vividly recall one instance when I was 10 years old. We lived close by […]

I was in 6th grade. The private school I went to in the late 50s believed in and practiced corporal punishment. It was what my parents signed up for. This was usually administered immediately on the occasion of the offence with a couple of hard slaps on the head and a good scolding. My friend […]

In my junior school in the late 50s, corporal punishment was in use for various offences, by all the teachers, but the most feared punishment was to be sent to the Headmistress, whose reputation and right arm were renowned far and wide. One of the clearest memories I have of her is the day that […]

Growing up in rural Carolina in the 1970s meant a taste of ‘paddle medicine’ from the teacher for misbehaviour. Somehow my friend Chad and I had survived six years without this medicine; in other words, we had never been paddled through the sixth grade. That was a miracle of sorts, since every boy in the […]

I attended a small private high school in the south during the 70s where corporal punishment was the preferred method of dealing with unruly students. Somehow I managed to avoid being paddled during my first ten years of school. As I entered 11th grade, I smugly believed I had passed the age at which I […]