Here, there were no pets. Everyone was equally subjected to the same regime of discipline. So it came as a shock to me, and indeed all the other boarders, as were all from, what at that time would considered to be, privileged backgrounds.
I can still recall the terror I felt on seeing the leather for the first time. Same fear as seeing the first girl in our class to get a slap and the first girl to get three on each hand. I can still recall vividly my own first slap and my own first [of countless] three on each hand.
In primary school, I never spared a thought for the pain and humiliation the girls went through and I thought then that it would never happen to me. But how wrong I was.
Irish & British Corporal Punishment Experiences Compared15
