Seeing a ‘fanciable’ one, I would then try to catch his eye and grin at him – so that later, conveniently returning and passing by at exactly the right moment, I could catch him coming out and attempt to walk along with him, to commiserate and maybe hear the details.
The situation at our homes was similar, but probably corporal punishment was in fact more widely used
.I can well remember (you can imagine why) a discussion or debate we held on the subject in my fourth form general studies class.
To the surprise of our female teacher, the view of the class was overwhelming in favour of the quick option of corporal punishment.
To give an indication of its use, we were asked to indicate if we had received any form of corporal punishment at home during the last year.
Surprisingly, two-thirds of the class raised their hands – probably three-quarters of the boys, and half the girls.
A further question (all I can remember, unfortunately) revealed that virtually all were punished on the bottom with some implement (e.g. strap, slipper or cane).