I got through school without being whacked, so I can only go by hearsay, but playground lore said that 1 with the cane was worth 3 with the slipper; and that 1 with the slipper was worth 3 with the hand – although whether anyone had actually got to compare 6 strokes of the cane with 54 spanks I can’t say!!!! There was a general feeling that 1 on clothes was worth 2 on the bare, regardless of implement, although apart from some apocryphal gym teacher-related stories, no one was ever punished with pants down. (And anyway, dignity was a more important consideration than pain in deciding if you’d rather have more strokes in your clothes or fewer strokes undressed.)
Corporal Punishment Comparing Impliments17
