In truth, although it hurt (and of course it was meant to), the cane wasn’t too bad. At least it was quickly over with, and we only ever got it through our trousers (or the seat of a skirt for girls). It did leave marks, though, which would last a couple of days.
For me, the worst part was having the letter home, which had to be signed by a parent and returned. In our house, Mum handled all the discipline and this ‘Notice of Punishment’ would always result in another smacked bottom when I got home with it, in my case my mum’s slipper.
At home, Mum would get the smacking slipper out of her dressing table and put me bare-bottomed across her knee, big boy as I was. This childish form of discipline continued up to the age of 14, by which time it was truly humiliating.
The worst part of the home smackings was that unlike school, when the cane was applied and everyone moved on, Mum would talk about how naughty you’d been – and the sore bottom you’d been given – for days on end afterwards, even to relative strangers in front of you. That was the real shame and pain!