At the all-boys school I attended from around the age of 11 onwards, corporal punishment wasn't heavily used but it was not unusual either. There were two styles. Firstly, there were fairly informal punishments doled out in the classroom. Most times these involved a slipper (gymshoe, plimsoll, whatever) although rulers and other implements were also used, but not ones that would be specifically designed or made for giving punishments. These punishments weren't usually especially severe - my impression was that they were mostly used to calm things down a bit by making an example of one miscreant. I'm 99% sure these were never recorded in any sort of punishment book or student file. I'm pretty confident that most of the class, excepting the one on the receiving end, positively enjoyed the spectacle - I certainly did!
Then there were other occasions, rather more rare, when someone did something more seriously wrong and they would be sent to the deputy headmaster's office and he would cane them across the seat of their trousers. It was apparent to everyone that these were no laughing matter and left formidable marks that would last a week or more. I would guess that about nine times out of ten such cases just involved a single pupil and it must have been quite scary being made to stand in the office with this intimidating senior member of staff telling you off and knowing what was likely to follow. However, on just a few occasions there was more than one pupil involved - in one instance for example, three boys from my class were sent to him for bullying a younger pupil.
That scenario fascinates me but as I never had to make such a visit the the deputy head, either alone or with others, I can only speculate on the different emotional experiences. I imagine, but I could be wrong, that the telling-off part would have been slightly easier to cope with if you weren't on your own. But after that... Take the 'three boy' scenario I mentioned before. Suppose, because of where you were standing, you were going to be the last to be caned. Do you think you could get any enjoyment from seeing the first one being caned or the second? Or would the thought that this was a about to happen to you be too scary to entertain any pleasure feelings? Conversely, suppose you happened to be first - once you'd had your caning, it would obviously still be hurting quite a lot but knowing that the worst is over, would you be able to get any enjoyment from watching your colleagues getting theirs??
Then there were other occasions, rather more rare, when someone did something more seriously wrong and they would be sent to the deputy headmaster's office and he would cane them across the seat of their trousers. It was apparent to everyone that these were no laughing matter and left formidable marks that would last a week or more. I would guess that about nine times out of ten such cases just involved a single pupil and it must have been quite scary being made to stand in the office with this intimidating senior member of staff telling you off and knowing what was likely to follow. However, on just a few occasions there was more than one pupil involved - in one instance for example, three boys from my class were sent to him for bullying a younger pupil.
That scenario fascinates me but as I never had to make such a visit the the deputy head, either alone or with others, I can only speculate on the different emotional experiences. I imagine, but I could be wrong, that the telling-off part would have been slightly easier to cope with if you weren't on your own. But after that... Take the 'three boy' scenario I mentioned before. Suppose, because of where you were standing, you were going to be the last to be caned. Do you think you could get any enjoyment from seeing the first one being caned or the second? Or would the thought that this was a about to happen to you be too scary to entertain any pleasure feelings? Conversely, suppose you happened to be first - once you'd had your caning, it would obviously still be hurting quite a lot but knowing that the worst is over, would you be able to get any enjoyment from watching your colleagues getting theirs??
2 comments:
Ah yes I remember it well only at my school it was the Senior Teacher. I'm sure the man was appointed on his ability to cane hard and nothing else.
Old Tom
Oh my ! Why, I gotten that cane across my bare bottom from mom, at home !!!
Nice detailed post, James. In actual fact, the botty smacker at home for me & lil' sis, was not a thick, brutal cane like this, Thank The Lord, but a harmless (real nasty) whippy-thin, extremely flexible, top quality piece of rattan cane. For young, misbehaving daughters. Like a slim dowel rod but much more expensive, quality-assured & flexible!
Just perfectly designed for administering extreme discomfort (!!) aka caring, loving, strict, parental TLC punishment upon the fairy-soft, sensitive-skinned surface of our chubby, bare, porcelain-white princess botties !! I am 61 now, but the sting & spanking experience was unforgettable. That is the idea. Lessons gotten learned, James.
Such a much-feared whuppin' was just normal 1950s corporal punishment in our house & most houses, "in front of God" with "the rod". It was called a spanking, James. Or a "switchin".
It was harmless and no big deal! Although sister & me gotten to loudly scream to Hell & back already, with the unbearable, ferocious sting on an unprotected botty (and as my two now grown up traditionally raised daughters will also ruefully concur). We endured it for ever throughout childhood. Mother sure gotten two well-behaved, compliant, sorry lil' angels after our knickers-down switchings!!
As you know James, every State in the US is "a law unto itself" regarding Legislature, including CP in schools. When I was born in 1959, CP was similar between the US & UK in both schools & homes. There has been a huge divergence, obviously. We are now two nations divided, not by a common language, but by different spanking attitudes ha-ha!
The British naughty schoolgirl & schoolboy (like you, James!!) is simply iconic, & gotten to be a foundation stone of the genre: and of those spanking magazines like Janus, Roue, Kane etc. I always loved the contrasts & similarities between spankings in UK & US across the decades.
CP in Georgia schools & the South in general, is common today, naturally. And CP at home is even more common! I vividly remember the paddle at school in suburban Atlanta in the 1960s/70s, but sister & me never gotten it. Not once. Our mother was far too scary & fierce for us girls to dare misbehave in school. Oh my !! She would have skinned our lily white backsides with that stick, already. We proceeded with utmost goody two-shoes, due care & caution at School....and also at Church, Bible Class & Cheerleading. Everywhere !!
The cane just gotten permanently kept in that downstairs cupboard for our tender, bare bums :-(
Our religious, God-fearing mother was surprisingly not bothered about supporting the notion of CP at school. She said "school is for learning & home is for spankings !!"
Oh my ! She gotten to be known as one of the fiercest, strictest moms in our suburban Church group. But also kind too, in that guided, arch conservative, bubblegum cute authoritarian, Ol' fashioned way of the 1950s. Democrats & Republicans alike too!
Kind regards. Thank you for your great curating & Blog.
Brenda xx
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