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?

So called “Christian schools” in the South of the USA seem keen on paddles even though paddles are not mentioned in the Bible.

EAL drew attention to a hearsay report of the appalling use of an improvised scourge on dumb animals in a place of worship. The panicked egress of the terrified animals was an avoidable hazard. There is no mention of the SPCA or of Health & Safety, or of paddles in John’s report. It provides no comfort to “Christians” who paddle children.

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 weird thing is that it was used here in the north in schools but it was never a popular form of domestic cp around here, i don’t know of anyone who was paddled at home… also its use here seems to have come and gone between the end of ww2 and the 1980s around . domestic cp around in rural pennsylvania was most commonly by hand and if an implement was used it was usually a dual purpose object like a belt or a hairbrush or a ruler or yardstick, or something you could create quickly like a switch… when my father was a child in the 1930s school teachers also seemed to use whatever they felt like… rulers, belts, even lengths of rubber tubing, but by the 50s the paddle was the choice for school cp… though rulers and yardsticks remained in play, i’m not sure if the paddle migrated north and never took firm root or there was some other factor in the mid 20th century but it wasn’t native to this region and it didn’t really last.

Founded December 5, 1776 Phi Beta Kappa. America’s snootiest. Did they use paddles in college initiation in the 18th century? The secrets were soon destroyed to keep them out of the hands of the British.

Eugene Register-Guard – Dec 8, 1951

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Kentucky style judicial punishment. A paddle and an empty sixty gallon whiskey barrel with breeches down! Their folks always choose corporal punishment over confinement.

In many southern schools statistically students overwhelmingly choose the paddle over suspension. Maybe the girls choose the paddle less often over suspension than the boys. That may account for some of the extreme gender disproportionality as well as potential disparities due to parental consent between the genders.

Daily Public Ledger. (Maysville, KY) March 12, 1900

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The origin of the US school paddle

The school paddle seems to be popular only in the USA, and mainly in the South although it is known in the Philippines, a former US colony. It is frequently suggested that the school paddle derives from the slave paddle but a direct connection seems unlikely given that slavery ended long before compulsory education began.  The school paddle is or was most used in the former slave states so some indirect connection is possible.

My current view is that US parents favoured the paddle (for reasons unknown) and had and have more influence on the running of schools than teachers and educational professionals as is the case elsewhere.

Marking was and remains a major concern to all. Those who favour school CP are anxious not to provide visible evidence for the antis to complain about.

Heavy paddles are potentially dangerous. See:  is-the-paddle-suitable-for-school-cp-t3404.html

but i don’t see much evidence the paddle was every used that frequently in homes… maybe in the south but never in most of the country but the paddle was extremely widespread in its use in the u.s. public education system in the mid 20th century and while home cp was also common not generally done with that implement.

The initiation paddles as sources colleges that prepared (female) school teachers were not likely to be attending.  Some were devoted strictly for teaching and called Normal Schools. The likelihood of having sororities would be small in those colleges.

Wood scraps were kept in woodsheds where boys and girls through their teen years were taken usually by their fathers would be frogmarched.  It provided a modicum of privacy and the handiness of tools.

The words, “cut me a switch,” or taken to the woodshed are still words dreaded among blacks and whites in rural areas respectively.  Little wonder those are the very areas where students get to see the inside of  principal office and the woodshed.

This poor girl is being taken to the woodshed.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vYPxSnHgH0A/S … odshed.jpg

There is a lot of material in the hundreds of posts above, presented in order of discovery and therefore lacking in clear themes or structure. I have attempted to collate and summarise the info on occasions but not in any systematic way.

The origin of the fraternity paddle and its relationship if any to the school paddle remains obscure.

One of the major concerns when compulsory education was introduced was cost. This concern was often most acute for small rural communities. One of the solutions was to hire woman teachers who did not have to be paid as much as men. Few would have had college education or would have been exposed to sonority paddles, as noted by American Way. Such teachers might be expected to rely on punishments they were familiar with, especially used on younger children at home.

Parents often opposed the introduction of compulsory education especially in rural areas where child labour was required. Some did not what their children exposed to alternative philosophies and new ideas.  They objected to school CP on principle or found it a useful issue in their war against the school.

Switches are frequently mentioned in accounts of school life prior to about 1900. A green sap-filled switch would have been very severe and marking. Wooden shingles and barrel staves would have been near ubiquitous in many communities and used for diverse purposes including spanking.

One of the difficulties with historical research is that everyday ordinary activities usually pass without comment or documentation. Newspapers report unusual or untoward events only. Often, their advertisements reveal more about the ordinary than their news. Works of fiction and illustrations can be informative.