# Did your school still have corporal punishment? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507 "2011-08-12T20:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/41 "2011-08-13T15:02:47Z")
Lived various places in my youth. There was no CP in NY or Oregon, but there was in Austin Texas circa 1984. My Mom rescinded permission when another mother told her that her son got punished for “being in a fight” that consisted of a bully picking on him :rolleyes: Not that I got CP at home anyway. > [@Bosstrain](#): > > the only thing that kept me in check was the threat of my dad’s belt. So… what keeps you in check now? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/42 "2011-08-13T15:09:44Z")
Upstate NY public school in the 80s and early 90s and no CP was used there. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Bosstrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstrain)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/43 "2011-08-13T16:27:53Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > So… what keeps you in check now? (a) I’m an adult, the belt ‘woke me up’ so to speak, so I don’t do stupid stuff anymore. (b) I learned from my brothers mistakes to respect and fear the police, he came extremely close to being locked up in prison, having two strikes and all after turning 18, it just took one more and he’d have been out (or in to be exact). When an officer gives you an order, the best thing to do is obey as quick and calm as possible, I’ve only twice had to even talk to an officer, (1) when I opened my truck door into his GF’s car (whoa was that a mistake), (2) when my brother made a right turn into a YMCA in a bad neighborhood without a turn signal (I’m still learning from my bro’s stupidity, he’s just that dumb :smack:). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/44 "2011-08-13T16:38:09Z")
It’s a nice summer’s day, and I plan to relax with some friends and put back a couple of brewskis. It would be nice if my SDMB workload were light on such a nice day, so if y’all keep the tone conversational and not turn this into yet another corporal punishment debate that I’ll have to move to Great Debates, I’d be happier than cat chasing a fat squirrel around a tree. Peace out. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/45 "2011-08-13T16:51:33Z")
My H.S. gym teacher had a mean tennis backhand and a paddle. He’d allow students to work off demerits by accepting swats. The alternative was a lower citizenship grade. I just assumed that a lower citizenship grade mattered so little in PE that I never gave a damn. Come to think about it, that teacher was pretty much a bone head anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/46 "2011-08-13T19:02:29Z")
My elementary school had it when I was there in 1982-86. I think the principal used a paddle, although I never got spanked so I wasn’t sure. My middle school and high school did not have spankings. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/47 "2011-08-13T19:44:45Z")
Yes, we had the tawse (a leather strap) in both my primary and secondary schools. I was at school in Scotland from 1973 to 1985, but it was outlawed a couple of years before I finished. Had it a few times, for minor enough things like getting a fit of the giggles, or not stopping talking. One time I got 3 on each hand when I didn’t actually do what I was accused of, which still rankles a bit (squashing someone else’s pottery in art class, whereas I was actually trying to show my classmate how to repair the damage caused by someone else, grrr). Some teachers definitely did it with more joy than sorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/48 "2011-08-13T19:59:03Z")
My junior high and senior high schools both used CP. But only until the kid was big enough or mean enough to fight back (late 60’s/early 70’s). ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/49 "2011-08-13T20:25:03Z")
English, went to a Grammar school, which was by competitive entry. I was brought up in a "Sink "estate, lots of people on welfare, petty crime the norm. I received corporal punishment on several occasions, as did my mates . We got a very thick cane across the part of the hand just below the fingers. The pain made us feel sick and unable to function for a while, and we used to go to the toilets and compress our hands for about half an hour to try and ameliorate the pain. We never felt badly about being punished, do the crime,do the time, as it were. And it most certainly DID stop us from committing further infractions, but not totally. If we were only going to get detentions etc. we would have been totally out of control. We were intelligent, self motivated and imaginative. It was ALWAYS recorded, the offence, the number of strokes etc. We always jeered at schools that caned people with thin "Whippy "canes. In our school the cane was the punishment used to enforce lower punishments. Didn’t do “lines”, (Writing again and again I must not answer back in your own time) Then you get detention. on’t turn up for detention ? You get the message. I saw some hardened bullies completely change after being caned for bullying. Yes there are some psychopaths who any amount of physical punishment won’t change their ways. I never, NEVER, saw anyone become more violent because of receiving physical punishment. I think that where cause and effect gets confused, is with those who have had a gentler life,when concerned with the home and the family. My father was a violent, alcoholic psycopath . He used to regulary beat, very badly us kids, and our mum, when he was drunk. Which was virtually every night. He was a sadist who actually enjoyed dishing out he beatings, and used to make up excuses to do so. Even as a victim of this I knew the difference between his actions and genuine punishment. But unfortunatelty there are those who can’t differentiate between the two, and think that any sort of physical punishment brutalises the victim and then turns them into a sadist. God protect the kids from these well wishers. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/50 "2011-08-13T20:33:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It’s a nice summer’s day, and I plan to relax with some friends and put back a couple of brewskis. It would be nice if my SDMB workload were light on such a nice day, so if y’all keep the tone conversational and not turn this into yet another corporal punishment debate that I’ll have to move to Great Debates, I’d be happier than cat chasing a fat squirrel around a tree. > Peace out. DAMN YOU SPAWN FROM HELL ! Have a nice pint ! ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/51 "2011-08-13T20:48:47Z")
United states. It was available in the 60’s in a private grade school and in the 70’s in a public high school. I was punished once in grade school and never in high school. Not only would parents back the school in such instances they would reinforce the verdict at home. Of course, when I was a kid I could ride to school on my bike when I was 4. Different era. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/52 "2011-08-13T21:20:43Z")
Our vice-principal and all the coaches had big thick paddles and they’d whoop ya for just about anything. This was back in the early to mid eighties in Memphis, TN. In the elementary school the teachers usually handled the punishments and some were known for their creativity. From having kids hold dictionaries while standing for ridiculous lengths of time to the “crush” handshake, their abuse (and yes I fully believe it was abuse) was never questioned. Recently on FB some of the people I went to school with reminisced about Mrs. Luckett, who was known for pinching the underarm until it bruised (she called it the hug, and she was the one who had the “crush” as well), pulling us by the ear across the room and when she was in a hurry just thwacking kids over the head with a yardstick. Worse, we received these punishments by getting our names on the list she would have one kid make so she could run off the smoke in the teacher’s lounge. Your fate depended on your friendship with the kid put in charge. This is just how it always worked and nobody questioned it; you just hoped you’d get picked to be in charge. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/53 "2011-08-13T21:24:27Z")
Do schools that punish corporals also punish the privates? ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/54 "2011-08-14T03:37:34Z")
East TN, mid '60s. Once the principal grabbed a friend (male), drug him into the bathroom & stuck his head in the toilet…then flushed it. I believe that technique may have been used at Guatanamo Bay… ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/55 "2011-08-14T04:01:57Z")
The sounds of paddlings echoed regularly through the halls in the Jr. High where I taught at least until '94. The last paddling I witnessed must have been around 2000, at the request of the parents, who didn’t want their kid suspended. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/56 "2011-08-14T04:02:06Z")
Preschool and kindergarten in Ohio around 1980? No idea. The rest of elementary and middle school and the first half of high school in Texas, up through the 91-92 school year? Oh yes. I was well behaved and I suspect they would have been more hesitant as I was a girl and all but I knew people who got paddled. They tended to prefer it as being more painful but a whole lot shorter than detention. I can kind of see their point. Bring on the detention! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/57 "2011-08-14T11:25:19Z")
I had them in my public elementary school. My parents gladly signed off for it. But I never got a spanking. You had to be pretty bad. And then you had to act up even when you saw a teacher brandishing the paddle. It would have been 1995-1996. (I went to a private school before then.) I also assume that running laps doesn’t count, or I did have that in private school. I actually have a bigger problem with that as punishment. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/58 "2011-08-14T17:00:39Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > It was a parochial school circa 1960. But when push came to shove, shove came to blows. There was never a thought as to any repercussions such as complaining parents Oh yeah !!! And you never been whacked with a wooden ruler until you been whacked by a pissed off 4 foot tall Nun… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/59 "2011-08-14T17:11:28Z")
I am 68. When I went to Detroit public schools, some teachers used corporal punishment. Some liked doing it too much, We all dreaded being those classes. getting beat up does not make you learn better. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/60 "2011-08-14T18:23:51Z")
Graduated high school 1970 in Tennessee. CP was prominent up through 8th grade - but non-existent in High School. Elementary school principle had a leather strap he always carried with him and had no qualms in utilizing it. All teachers had wooden paddles. In the upper grades, CP was usually handed down in the hallway outside the classroom door. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507.md?page=4)