I grew up in the 50s and 60s in a pretty conservative rural Southern community. We had cp in the schools but only in the elementary grades(1-7), not in high school. Admit being surprised to learn that schools in some places did use in high school. Both teachers and the principal were allowed to use it, and there was no sort of formal policy for it like you read about, no designated number of smacks, requirement for witnesses etc. The community accepted it in the school without question and often as not parents said " get at school, you get it at home too." Some teachers used it, and others did not, or very sparingly. As I said,no formal rules, the teacher could give whatever she( no male teachers in my elementary school)felt was sufficient. The paddle was most common, but some teachers used the switch. One was my fourth grade teacher, a grumpy elderly lady who was very strict. Both boys and girls got it. One offense she used it for was not doing your homework. Boys had to pull their pants leg up to about the knee( no one wore shorts to school) and receive several switch lashes on their bare legs. Girls all wore dresses(no jeans or shorts) so it was easier for her to get to their legs, though she never lifted dresses up to expose panties to the class. Most cp from teachers took place right there in the classroom. I always shake my head when I read someone claiming they are writing a true account of their school cp and say they got spanked on their bare bottom by a teacher in front of the class, total spanko fantasy. Our principal was a tough but fair lady whom nearly everyone liked or respected. She used a fearsome Board of Education paddle, complete with holes. However, the general feeling was that if you got sent to her office for paddling, you had really done something bad. Don't recall her ever paddling girls, but will not say it never happened. I had this fantasy though in high school, liking to picture her using her Board of Education on some of the girls that could be described as " pretty, snooty cheerleader types." We had uniforms for gym class a jersey and shorts, but people could wear their own shorts if they wished and many of these girls did. Some wore ones that were very short and/or tight. I delighted in picturing them having that paddle applied long and hard to the seat of them, something that would certainly take them down a few pegs! I never personally experienced it, being a pretty well-behaved kid and a good student. However knowing it was there if I got out of line or broke school rules had an effect.A deterrent, you could say, I knew to watch my behavior. The only time that principal may have been out of line was when I was in the fifth grade and we had some sort of school program to which the public was invited to attend. Seems several older boys misbehaved in some way at it and she was furious. She had the school meet in assembly and she paddled those boys in front of the entire student body, feeling that their behavior merited something more than a paddling in her office. And it was severe, the boys were all crying and yelling as she laid that paddle on hard to the seats of their pants with them bent over a stool, and not just a few swats, someone said it was 30. Everyone there stood silently, shocked and scared. No one dared talk or laugh for fear that it would happen to them.And I would not be surprised if at least some of those boys also got it when they went home. |