-
holyfamilypenguin4,5593
Hi everybody,you don’t need to reinvent the wheel on Florida , or anyone else’s numbers. The paddling stats from the early 70’s are all complied and available on the academic networks under the psychology department at Temple University. You may need an academic log in to access. these very detailed records formed the basis of the life work of Irwin Hyman , who I’ve mentioned many times before, and his many associates. They kept the ‘score’ over three decades for the US government. The figures in the 70’s and 80’s are clear under-reporting. In those days there was no compulsory recording of ‘classroom’ and ‘corridor’ paddling , only ‘administrative paddling. I’ve heard it estimated that, in Texas for example, the number of paddling recorded in the 70’s was about 33% of the REAL total.
In Florida they joke that even the Ingraham v Wright paddling ( 20 licks) wasn’t enough to get recorded.
The best estimate ,’uncorrected ‘ was for 1976 2.35 million paddlings across the USA. The reality of that is probably 5-7 million cases.
In latter times figures are more manageable and, with the by and large abolition of classroom/corridor cp , the figures are more reliable.
Here are the most recent Florida figures in line with Temple and the State returns.
A follow up of prof n report of February 17, 2013.
The rates of suspensions versus paddling from the peak to its beginning of the decline about thirty years ago.
Latest Florida Statewide.
My own feeling is that paddling versus rates has a lot more to due with staffing than policies or enforcement. Change of principal change of stats. And these disparities are found in neighboring counties with almost identical demographics. You figure? You know how I feel towards matrices and how they should curb the disparity but that’s flogging a dead horse in this estimable Forum by now. Why are high school suspension and paddling rates so different? Take this as an example. The sore Cottontails of Cottondale High School in Florida. 
CP
ISS
One OSS
More than One OSS
-
KKxyz3,59957
The paddle seems to be very much the preferred implement in USA schools. When did it first come into widespread use? I am particularly interested in early mentions of the school paddle in dated factual or fictional literature, and in official documents.Have other cultures used the paddle in schools?
Logs can be sawn in various ways each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Flat sawing is the easiest and has the least waste.
Plane-sawn wood shows relatively few growth rings and is rather variable from plank to plank.
The best cedar shingles are quarter-sawn to minimize warping when exposed to changing weather.
A common modern US standard roof shingle is 18 inches long, 7/16 inches thick and not less than 4 inches wide. A piece of wood this size is difficult to grip. However, such a shingle is of suitable size for use as a paddle-blank. Quarter-sawn timber may be more prone to split (along the growth rings) than a flat-sawn plank.
In the early days homemade shingles may have been variable in size and may have been split using an axe or wedge rather than a saw.
The word “shake” seems to be used to describe shingles made by splitting rather than sawing.
The paddle seems to be very much the preferred implement in USA schools. When did it first come into widespread use? I am particularly interested in early mentions of the school paddle in dated factual or fictional literature, and in official documents.Have other cultures used the paddle in schools?
School Board Manual A reference book on School Administrative labors for the use of School Authorities COMPILED BY WILLIAM GEORGE BRUCE
Second Edition, 1907
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN SCHOOL BOARD JOURNAL, MILWAUKEE, WIS.
Pages 48-49
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. Argument.-
Those who defend corporal punishment contend that the old maxim “spare the rod and spoil the child” holds goods at all times, that its application maintains discipline when no other expediency can, and that it reclaims the incorrigible when other means fail.
The opponents hold that the infliction of corporal punishment is a form of savagery; that it brutalizes the teacher, hardens the culprit and has at the same time a debasing effect upon the well behaved pupil. The competent teacher, it is held, can govern by kindness and persuasion.
Exemption. – Parents are permitted to file with the principal a written request that their children be not corporally punished. Such children may be suspended for disorder, idleness and inattention to duties, for a period of not more than ten days for each offense; but no child can be readmitted after a third suspension without the action of the board.
All children in the kindergartens, the pupils in the high schools and girls in the grades are usually exempt.
Freak Punishment.- Blows upon the head, violent shaking of pupils and lone confinement is prohibited.
How Applied. – Either a strap or a rattan must be used when the necessity for corporal punishment arises, but must not be inflicted in the presence of the victim’s classmates or during the lesson in the course of which the offense is committed. It should be applied only in extreme cases, as a last alternative, and only by the principal or by his express authority. The presence of a teacher is required in many localities to prevent excessive punishment and provide a competent witness.
Tendency. – Nearly one-half of the larger cities have abolished corporal punishment. The tendency in recent years has been to reduce the application of corporal punishment to a minimum. While some school systems have abolished it entirely, it has been deemed wise by others to take no official action, yet let it gradually sink into disuse. Teachers prefer that the rule authorizing them to inflict corporal punishment remain, although they may seldom if ever avail themselves of it.
There must have been other school board documents in other jurisdictions similar to the above which prescribe the use of a paddle. Unfortunately, if they still exist they do not seemed to have been digitised yet.
The paddle seems to be very much the preferred implement in USA schools. When did it first come into widespread use? I am particularly interested in early mentions of the school paddle in dated factual or fictional literature, and in official documents.Have other cultures used the paddle in schools?
I have focused on finding old documents containing mentions of paddles to better understand when and why the paddle became popular in US schools. I have not been successful.
The non-mention of corporal punishment, or of specific implements, in official documents is potentially informative although harder to interpret. The following is an example.
Source
Manual of the Board of trustees of the public schools of Washington, D. C. 1st edition, 1866
[This was soon after the government made education available in Washington DC. but well before education became compulsory in 1908. Manuals issued by education boards were often highly detailed and prescriptive.]
Rules relative to teachers
Page 20-
33. The teachers shall attend to the physical education and comfort of the pupils under their care. When, from the state of the weather or other causes, the recesses in the open air shall be impracticable, the children may be exercised within the room, in accordance with the best judgment and ability of the teachers.
34. Teachers are required at all seasons of the year to make the ventilation and temperature of the school-rooms an especial object of attention.
35. The windows in the rooms must be opened for the free admission of air at recess, and at no time should the temperature of the rooms be higher than 68 degrees.
36. Reading newspapers, magazines, &c., and conversation for more than five minutes with other teachers, or visitors, is forbidden.
38. No teacher shall use tobacco in any form during school hours, nor at any time in or about the school-building.
38. Mild and conciliatory discipline is enjoined on all teachers, and the avoidance of <b>corporal punishment, as far as may be, with a due regard to the necessity for obedience on the part of the pupil. </b>
30. It shall be the duty of the teacher to see that the doors of the school-house, and other houses attached there-to, are locked, and the windows shut and fastened, every day after the close of the school.
The rules give very little attention to CP and do not specify implements or targets. One may assume SCP was not an issue at the time. It would be of great interest to examine subsequent editions of the rules to see if and when the CP rule was ammended or elabotated.
The paddle seems to be very much the preferred implement in USA schools. When did it first come into widespread use? I am particularly interested in early mentions of the school paddle in dated factual or fictional literature, and in official documents.Have other cultures used the paddle in schools?
There is only one mention of a paddle (applied to the hand?) in the following document. Source
Excerpts only! May contain OCR errors. Page 12-
____________________________________________________
Ninth Annual Report of the Board of Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Pennsylvania for 1878 The subject of the systems of discipline prevailing in the various institutions in this State having charge of children, having engaged the attention of the Board of Public Charities, you are respectfully requested to forward to this office the information suggested by the following inquiries, and oblige,
Yours respectfully,
George Dawson Coleman,
President Board of Public Charities,
1. Number of children in your institution, stating sex and average age.
2. System of discipline in practical use in regard to punishments and rewards. If corporal punishment is used, please state how and by whom it is applied; what the average number of such punishments is per month; what grades of offense are thus punished; whether found frequently necessary, and to what extent, with the same individuals.
3. Any information or suggestion growing out of the experience of your institution on the general subject of corporal punishment.
4. State, also, system in use for finding homes for children in your institution. If indentured or bound out, whether to masters and mistresses of this State and of other States. If both, give the reasons therefor.
To this, many interesting returns have been received, from which the following extracts are given, as indicating the views and usages of this class of institutions:
Girard College, Philadelphia.
Eight hundred and seventy boys ; average age about 13 years. Corporal punishment, from two to ten raps on the hand with a rattan or paddle. Average, about one boy in twenty-five, monthly.
House off Refuge, Philadelphia.
The Superintendent of the White Boys’ Department, says: “We have 317 boys ; ages ranging from 6 to 18 years. All punishments are inflicted in this department by the superintendent, with one or more officers present as witnesses. The instrument used is a light rattan, and each case is recorded in a book kept for the purpose and submitted to the board of managers.
The matron of the White Girls’ Department says: “We have 95 girls, ages from 7 to 18 years. I am the only one that inflicts corporal punishment, except during my absence, when it is done by my assistant. Miss Walker, who has been with me nearly three years. During that time, she has punished six girls. My punishments average about three per month, and generally for offenses committed in school. The instrument used, if any, is a rattan.”
The Superintendent of the Colored Department reports, 132 boys, 42 girls ; average age, 12 years. For gross offenses, corporal punishment is resorted to, the average extent being about eight strokes of the rod, and the punishments averaging twelve per month, always by the superintendent or matron, or their assistants, in their absences.
Northern Home and Soldiers’ Orphan Institute, Philadelphia.
Two hundred and ninety-five boys, 134 girls; average age, soldiers’ orphans, 12 years, friendless children, 8 years. Corporal punishment is regarded as a last resort, and is inflicted as rarely as possible. (Method not mentioned.)
Pennsylvania Reform School, Morganza.
Two hundred and twenty boys, 49 girls; average age, 14 years. Corporal punishment is in use, to a limited extent, and is applied, ordinarily, by the first officer and teacher of the special family or division over which he has charge. This is only for the graver offenses of the school-room, and is by authority of the superintendent. The average number of such punishments does not exceed three or four per month, in each division of 50 boys.
House of Correction, Philadelphia.
Fifty-seven boys, 2 girls; average age, 18. No corporal punishment inflicted. In place of it, solitary confinement or in their own cells, bread and water diet, alternating with full rations every other day.
Church Home for Children, Philadelphia.
One hundred and nine girls, 22 boys; ranging from 3 to 11 years. Corporal punishment by the matron, limited to whipping the hands with ferule, and for grave offenses. Only rarely administered.
Lincoln Institution, Philadelphia.
Sixty boys under 16, and 28 over that age, up to 21 years. Corporal punishment is administered with a clothes line or leather whip for serious offenses. The latter has not been used for several months.
Educational Home, Philadelphia.
One hundred and eighty boys, from 14 months to 14 years. Ordinary discipline is confined to deprivation of play hours. For serious offenses, such as lying, stealing, or other immoral practices, corporal punishment is resorted to, only by the superintendent, with the consent of managers, and, usually, in their presence. The instrument used is a piece of clothes-line, and in extreme cases, a leather whip. It stings, but cannot break flesh or bones.
Burd Orphan Asylum, Philadelphia.
Sixty girls; average age,12 years. Corporal punishment is confined to children under 10 years, and is applied by the person in charge of them, with the open hand, and only for persistent disobedience of untidy habits. Corporal punishment is seldom necessary for girls, except with those too young to reason with.
Southern Home for Destitute Children, Philadelphia.
One hundred and nine boys, 21 girls; average age, 8 years. In urgent cases, the matron alone may use manual punishment, but she is not allowed, under any circumstances, to use a stick or ruler.
Orphan Society, of Philadelphia.
Forty-five boys and 50 girls. Corporal punishment is greatly discouraged, and is only permitted to be exercised by the matron for serious offenses, and by the teachers, who are restricted to using the ferule or the hand, in the case of unruly children. Deprivation of regular food or dark confinement is not allowed.
Jewish Foster Home and Orphanage, Philadelphia.
Nineteen boys, 18 girls; average age, 10 years. Very slight corporal punishment is allowed for grave offenses, inflicted by the matron. At times a month elapses without occasion for such punishment, and at other times it has been found necessary almost daily.
Western Children’s Home, Philadelphia.
Thirty-eight boys, 24 girls; average about 10 years. Whipping, by matron or teacher, is approved, the degree of severity being apportioned to the character of the offense.
Colored Shelter, West Philadelphia.
Fifty-five boys, 25 girls; ranging from 3 to 10 years. The matron is permitted to use the rod, as sparingly as possible. When milder methods of punishment fail, it is occasionally resorted to for grave offenses.
St. James Industrial School, Philadelphia.
Number of girls not reported. The discipline of the school is based upon kindness and justice, the exercise of which, with small rewards, is usually successful. In cases of very unruly conduct, resort to corporal punishment, by the matron and teacher, is allowed, but it is very seldom
needed.
Industrial Home for Girls, Philadelphia.
Twenty-seven girls; average age, 12 years. Corporal punishment is not used.
Emaus Orphan House, Middletown
Fifteen boys, 14 girls ; average age, 11 years. Corporal punishment is applied by the tutor, with a light strap, for profanity, lying, stealing, &c. The average number of such punishments is about six per month – much less than formerly.
St. Josephs Orphan Asylum, Erie.
Sixty-five boys, 60 girls, from 1 to 15 years. Corporal punishment is applied by the sister in charge, for such offenses as lying, persistent disobedience, improper language, &c. Such cases average about six in a month.
Orphan Asylum of Pittsburgh and Allegheny.
One hundred boys, 70 girls, ranging from 2 to 14 years. The matron, assistant matron, and the two teachers are authorized to inflict corporal punishment, of which a written report to the manager is required in each case. It is seldom that either officer reports more than two cases in a month ; sometimes none.
St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum, Tacony.
Sixty-one boys, 59 girls; boys from 1 to 12 years, girls from 1 to 18 years. Corporal punishment with a strap is used for obstinate and stubborn children, not oftener than two or three times a month.
St. Pauls Orphan Asylum, Butler.
Twenty-eight boys, 13 girls; average age, 12. Corporal punishment is occasionally used in extreme cases, only by the superintendent or principal teacher, and not oftener, on the average, than once a month. It rarely needs to be repeated. Corporal punishment should never be used except in extreme cases, and when we are convinced that the application will result in positive good. I never use or permit to be used anything but the rod. Drum snares, leather thongs, and such things are never allowed. I rarely need to apply severe correction, or fail to secure respect and obedience by fatherly kindness.”
Children’s Home, York.
Thirty- five boys, 25 girls; average age 8 years. Corporal punishment is believed to be sometimes necessary, but is very rarely resorted to. The threat of dismission is usually sufficient to secure good behavior.
____________________________________________________
The terminology used in the answers is very imprecise, which is normal in all discussions of CP. Only a few of the respondants properly answered the questions asked of them. Note that some respondants listed selected impliments not used which implies they were commonly used by others.
The paddle seems to be very much the preferred implement in USA schools. When did it first come into widespread use? I am particularly interested in early mentions of the school paddle in dated factual or fictional literature, and in official documents.Have other cultures used the paddle in schools?
The Worthington Advance (Minnesota) February 19, 1880
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ … d-1/seq-5/
Danger in Proverbs
The proverb, “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done to-day,” has gotten me into indescribable trouble. It was about the first thing my school teacher told me, and when I took my vacation on Friday, instead of putting it off till Saturday I was arranged in an uncomfortable position over that school master’s knee and paddled in a manner that I thought should have been put off till next day.
Belmont Chronicle (Ohio) March 05, 1885
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ … d-1/seq-3/
It is said that a single room of the Bellaire schools raised 4.5 pounds of coffee, by taking three grains only from each pupil. Now, we do not wish to be doubting, but our devil being of an inquisitive and mathematical turn of mind, has figured on this matter, with the following result: Weighing an ounce of coffee, he finds there are 214 grains, which would be 3,424 grains to the pound, and 15,408 grains in 4.5 pounds. Three grains to the pupil would make this a school of 5,136 pupils. We pity the school ma’am who has to paddle this flock.
-
holyfamilypenguin4,5593
The paddle seems to be very much the preferred implement in USA schools. When did it first come into widespread use? I am particularly interested in early mentions of the school paddle in dated factual or fictional literature, and in official documents.Have other cultures used the paddle in schools?
Two early passing mentions of the school paddle? I won’t argue the point but if you’re referring to a wooden or hard oblong material object as a first reference I’m not sure if that really counts. The over the knee might refer to a “spanking” or what in other climes is called a “smacking” that may not necessarily mean said object. You have made that distinction yourself so maybe it was unnecessary for me to make that clarification.
-
KKxyz3,59957
The paddle seems to be very much the preferred implement in USA schools. When did it first come into widespread use? I am particularly interested in early mentions of the school paddle in dated factual or fictional literature, and in official documents.Have other cultures used the paddle in schools?
<font>The short answer is “no”# Indiana was not the first state to specify the paddle for school punishments# However, the Muncie school district #Indiana# might have been one of first to do so in its school rules#</font>
The following previously reported news item suggests Indiana state law prescribed the use of the paddle in schools several decades before 1897# If so, Indiana would have been the first state to legislate the use of the school paddle# Very few state laws are or have been this prescriptive#
<div>
Warsaw Daily Times, Indiana, December 18, 1897, page 1
DUG UP AN OLD LAW And Now the Troublesome “Kids” Are Paddled According to Statute#
MUNCIE STYLE OF USING THE ROD
Muncie, Ind#, Dec# 18# – The old law concerning corporal punishment in the public schools, enacted by the state legislature years ago, which has been considered a dead-letter for several decades, has been revived by the local school board and is now in vogue in the city schools# A pupil had been laid across a seat and rather severely punished, but the evidence before the justice of the peace who tried the case showed that he was disobedient and deserved unusually strong treatment# The teacher was acquitted of the charge of assault and battery, which had been preferred against him by the boy’s mother# However, there was such strong feeling against severe punishment that the school board ordered the rigid enforcement of the old law, long forgotten# The teachers, many of them, did not know of the existence of the law and had to look it up under the direction of attorneys#
Provisions of the Old Law
It provides that incorrigible pupils may be punished if their parents consent, but if the latter decline to permit their children to be treated thus, then the pupils must be expelled from school# In punishing the victim must not be placed across a seat or chair, but must be placed across one’s lap# The paddle to be used must be of “light” material as to weight, one and one-half inches wide and one-eighth of an inch thick# It may be applied vigorously, but not laid on too severely# In most cases the parents or guardians consent to the punishment but are careful that the rules concerning its appliance are strictly observed# A few, however, have taken their children out of school rather than have them paddled# </div>
I searched for other reports on the Muncie school case and found only:
<div>
Fort Wayne Sentinel #Indiana# Saturday, December 18, 1897
must be paddled or else expelled from school the paddling to be by the consent of the guardian or #The newspaper is not available free online##
The Valentine Democrat #Nebraska#, December 30, 1897
http://chroniclingamerica#loc#gov/lccn/ … d-1/seq-3/
May Paddle Pupils
The prosecution and acquittal of a teacher for punishing a pupil in the Muncie Indiana schools accidentally developed that there is an old statute passed by the Legislature several decades ago requiring that incorrigible pupils must be paddled or else expelled from school the paddling to be by the consent of the guardian or parent and administered by the teacher# The school board has ordered observance of this statute in emergency cases#
The Salt Lake Herald #Utah# December 22, 1897, Page 4#
http://chroniclingamerica#loc#gov/lccn/ … d-1/seq-4/
The revival of the old time paddle law in the Muncie schools following the establishment of strap punishment administered by the parent for juvenile lawbreakers by an Evansville #Indiana# justice of the peace may serve as a warning to the rising generation of the awful possibilities that may exist when the adult population is driven to desperation#
</div>
The last excerpt suggests the paddle was specific to Muncie rather than to the State# This is confirmed by the State law prevailing at the time:
http://www#archive#org/stream/schoollaw … 6/mode/2up
The School Law of Indiana with Annotations#
Issued by Hervey D# Vories, Superintendent of Public Instruction# Indianapolis# 1893#
CP is mentioned in parts 8, 12, 13, 25, 33, 34, and 39 of section 4505, page 167-# There is no mention of paddles and most of the rules derive from judicial rulings and decisions of previous Superintendents of Public Instruction, an elected state official#
Section 4505 specified that the school director ### “shall visit and inspect the school, from time to time, and, when necessary, may exclude any refractory pupil therefrom; but the exclusion of any pupil from the school for disorderly conduct shall not extend beyond the current term,and may be, in the discretion of the Director, for a shorter period#” Presumably, the Muncie school offered paddling as an alternative to exclusion#
Section 4505 was numbered 31 before the laws of the state were amalgamated and codified#
The following explains the conditions prevailing at the time the law was made:
<div>
Bethany Leigh Natali #2007#
https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/handle/1805/1001
Indiana in the mid- to late-nineteenth century was a state in transition. Just emerging from the pioneering era, the still relatively young state government was trying to meet the changing demands of Indianas growing population. At the same time, Hoosiers were beginning to develop a sense of identity. The constitutional convention of 18501851 gave legislators and concerned citizens a unique opportunity to rewrite Indiana policy to some extent. The convention addressed a wide range of topics deemed significant to the states development – foremost education. The state-wide platform provided Caleb Mills with a unique opportunity to recommend a centralized common school system, which he believed would remedy many of the deficiencies in Hoosier education. [Hoosier is the official demonym for a resident of the U.S. state of Indiana.]
</div>
Muncie #incorporated in 1865# is a town located some 60 miles northeast of Indianapolis in the State of Indiana. Muncie has been considered to be the archetypical “middle America” town. Its population was about 18,000 in 1897 and is currently about 70,000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muncie,_Indiana
Muncie features 6 times on corpun.com, rather a lot for a smallish town.
1. Court-ordered spanking and whipping, USA, June 1963
Muncie Star, Indiana, 13 June 1963 … Tanner for a 20-year-old Muncie youth who admitted pouring gasoline on … 20, is shown being led from Muncie City Court by Patrolman Mann Tabor … to Pup; Gets 20 Lashes Muncie, Ind., June 13 #special# — For … angry man was fictional. Wrong again!” Muncie Evening Press, Indiana, 20 June 1963
http://www.corpun.com/usju6306.htm
2. Paddling in US schools, Aug 2002
The Star Press, Muncie, Indiana, 11 August 2002 … values By Oseye T. Boyd MUNCIE – Twenty-seven states ban corporal … districts like New Castle or Muncie. Superintendents of both those districts … to discipline unruly students. “Within Muncie Community Schools, staff members are … the student from the classroom,” Muncie Supt. Marlin Creasy said. “Administrators
http://www.corpun.com/uss00208.htm
3. School paddling punishments, USA, Dec 1897
According to Statute. Muncie Style of Using the Rod. Click to enlarge Muncie, Ind., Dec. 18. – The old law concerning corporal punishment in the public schools, enacted by the state legislature years ago, which has been considered a dead-letter for several decades, has been revived by the local school board and is now in vogue in the city schools. A pupil
http://www.corpun.com/uss89712.htm
4. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT ARCHIVE
Said the Judge MUNCIE, IND. — A teen-aged defendant was strapped by his father in the privacy of City Judge Walter G. Tanner’s chambers yesterday after the judge learned the youth had mistreated his mother.Phillip Lee Carson, 19, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and battery against a policeman, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.When Judge Tanner
http://www.corpun.com/usju6304.htm
5. School paddling news, USA, Nov 2009
The psychologists really messed us up on this.” Tania Thomas, who lives near Muncie, thinks Moore is right that paddling can be very effective, and she laments that schools don’t use it anymore. Her children went through Pike Township Schools, and her grandchildren attend schools in Danville and McCordsville. None of the three districts use corporal
http://www.corpun.com/09archive/uss00911.htm
6. US school paddling June 2002
The called meeting is open to the public. Star Press, Muncie, Indiana, 25 June 2002 Jay Schools consider banning corporal punishment By Ric Routledge #extract# PORTLAND – The Jay School Board on Monday unanimously approved a motion to ban corporal punishment in the district. The motion will have to be approved a second time – and by a different board –
http://www.corpun.com/uss00206.htm
The paddle seems to be very much the preferred implement in USA schools. When did it first come into widespread use? I am particularly interested in early mentions of the school paddle in dated factual or fictional literature, and in official documents.Have other cultures used the paddle in schools?
Something changed (= corrupted) my post to prevent “cross indexing”(?)
Section 4505 is quite brief – just five lines. The 40 numbered annotations beneath explain and interpret the law and various court rulings but are not part of the original statute. There is no mention of paddles.
Can anyone access an Indianapolis or Indiana newspaper that gives a fuller account of the Muncie court case (December 1897)?
The paddle seems to be very much the preferred implement in USA schools. When did it first come into widespread use? I am particularly interested in early mentions of the school paddle in dated factual or fictional literature, and in official documents.Have other cultures used the paddle in schools?
Andersonville. A Story of Rebel Military Prisons Fifteen Months a Guest of the So-Called Southern Confederacy [during the US Civil War]
A Private Soldier’s Experience in Richmond, Andersonville, Savannah, Millen Blackshear and Florence
By John McElroy, published 1879
Except.
The instrument used was what is called in the South a “shake” a split shingle, a yard or more long, and with one end whittled down to form a handle. The culprit was made to bend down until he could catch around his ankles with his hands. The part of the body thus brought into most prominence was denuded of clothing and “spanked” from one to twenty times, as Hill ordered, by the “shake” in some strong and willing hand. It was very amusing – to the bystanders. The “spankee” never seemed to enter very heartily into the mirth of the occasion. As a rule, he slept on his face for a week or so after, and took his meals standing.
Prisoners of war in both the north and the south were very poorly cared for. Many thousands died from starvation and the cold. The US is still wracked by the aftermath of the very bitter civil war.
Discipline within the prison was maintained by vigilantes, as described above.