Question - if you went to a school where any sort of classroom punishment was used but especially if corporal punishment was employed, how did you react when someone else was in trouble? There are frequent references in anti-CP writing to how children are traumatised by seeing someone else get punished. In this image from an adult site a number of the girls are looking scared, distressed, revulsed or disturbed.
I can't say I ever experienced that reaction - quite the reverse. For me, it was the highlight of the day! I don't think that was just me being an uncaring b*****d (perhaps it was!) but if was definitely something more than simple schadenfreude. And it wasn't very different if I saw someone being sent to the headmaster for punishment - although we wouldn't get to witness the actual act we knew it would be more severe than we ever did see in the classroom and that made up for the lack of spectacle. Having no brothers or sisters I can't really imagine whether I would have reacted similarly in a domestic situation.
I can't say I ever experienced that reaction - quite the reverse. For me, it was the highlight of the day! I don't think that was just me being an uncaring b*****d (perhaps it was!) but if was definitely something more than simple schadenfreude. And it wasn't very different if I saw someone being sent to the headmaster for punishment - although we wouldn't get to witness the actual act we knew it would be more severe than we ever did see in the classroom and that made up for the lack of spectacle. Having no brothers or sisters I can't really imagine whether I would have reacted similarly in a domestic situation.


