I don’t think it hurt at all. But I was 13 – I was one of the oldest boys in the school, I had a really high opinion of myself and thought I was very grown up. And this happened in public – dozens of people saw it. I disintegrated into tears. I was totally mortified, utterly embarassed. Looking back on it, it was probably a very good thing considering my attitude. In a second, that man completely reminded me that no matter what I thought of myself, I was still a child, and he was the one in charge, and I could not get away with defying him in any shape or form.

I see a lot of tough kids in schools today, getting into deep, deep trouble – and I wonder if they’d have learned the same lesson