# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/81 "2016-02-01T11:45:15Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > 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. Big question - did ALL parents trust ALL the teachers that much? Was their ever an incident when a teacher was brought up for being abusive? Was their ever a teacher threatened by either personal injury or lawsuit if they touched someones kid? ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/82 "2016-02-01T14:26:55Z")
I graduated high school in 1979, and lived in the Nashville, Tennessee area. The teachers would deliver corporal punishment on occasion, via wooden paddle. I never got spanked, though. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/83 "2016-02-01T16:23:20Z")
I don’t think we did, I never saw corporal punishment applied (1940-50s, small town Midwest). But we had the rest of the chain of command. We had private tutoring, major disruptions and general disorder, and were taught colonels of truth. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/84 "2016-02-01T17:09:20Z")
I was paddled in 1985 by my fifth grade teacher. I will never, ever be a fan of corporal punishment. All it did to me was humiliate me and shame me and make me hate school, which up until then I loved school and loved going every day and loved learning. Maybe the crazy little shits are helped by paddling, but I highly doubt that, too. We had a troublemaker in class who got paddled every week…don’t think it was helping him, especially as he just laughed like a loon. And like I said, it was just humiliating for me and made me never want to go back. Oh, and my mother most definitely did not back up the verdict. She was furious that someone else would dare to lay a hand on me, and trust me I was not spoiled - she just didn’t think it was the right of a stranger to beat me. After all, she brought me here from India, where the teachers consider it their God-given right to beat the kids in their charge. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/85 "2016-02-01T18:37:29Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Oh yeah !!! And you never been whacked with a wooden ruler until you been whacked by a pissed off 4 foot tall Nun… According to the old joke, there are no dwarf nuns. Maybe the good sister was a penguin! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/86 "2016-02-01T19:14:29Z")
Anderson, Indiana public schools mid-1950s to HS class of 1967. At Shadeland Elementary (K-6) kids were sent to Principal Sluder’s office for punishment. School legend said he had a paddling machine in there. It wasn’t true. I saw him dealing with one little girl; she wouldn’t hold still, so he hoisted her up by one arm while he whacked her bottom with a ping-pong paddle. At Central Junior High (7-9) teachers did there own paddling, and most of them didn’t paddle at all. The bad kid was taken out into the hallway for privacy when getting paddled, 4-10 strokes. At Anderson High School, violators were sent to the Dean of Boys, or Girls. Dean Belangee used a fraternity paddle. He didn’t deliver very many whacks per boy, but he was a big man with a golf-like swing, delivered on the up stroke. Three was plenty, they said. I never heard about the Dean of Girls. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/87 "2016-02-01T20:57:07Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Anderson, Indiana public schools mid-1950s to HS class of 1967. > > At Shadeland Elementary (K-6) kids were sent to Principal Sluder’s office for punishment. > School legend said he had a paddling machine in there. It wasn’t true. I saw him dealing with one little girl; she wouldn’t hold still, so he hoisted her up by one arm while he whacked her bottom with a ping-pong paddle. > > At Central Junior High (7-9) teachers did there own paddling, and most of them didn’t paddle at all. The bad kid was taken out into the hallway for privacy when getting paddled, 4-10 strokes. > > At Anderson High School, violators were sent to the Dean of Boys, or Girls. Dean Belangee used a fraternity paddle. He didn’t deliver very many whacks per boy, but he was a big man with a golf-like swing, delivered on the up stroke. Three was plenty, they said. I never heard about the Dean of Girls. I think part of the frustration with CP is it was basically boy only so it taught sexism early on. I remember we boys noticed it very quick that the girls were little “teachers pets” and didnt get the discipline even when they were being just as bad as we were. ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/88 "2016-02-01T22:00:37Z")
I went to Our Savior Lutheran School in the Bronx circa 1960. I was in the fifth grade. Got paddled several times. The procedure was to take you to the back of the chapel, bend you over the organ bench and hit you with a paddle that was a large bread board with a taped handle. The teacher in question (Mr. Irving, you prick) really wound up and let go. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/89 "2016-02-01T22:13:17Z")
> [@Bosstrain](#): > > Yeah, now they have to ‘call the parents’, and can’t even touch the child. :rolleyes: > > Then they all stand around and wonder “why are teenagers shooting up schools?” :smack: > > Over half the time parents don’t even correct their children, don’t get me started on the screaming kids in the supermarket (seriously, don’t, I’ll go on for hours) > > Oh yeah, that’s right there’s even some horrendous law about spanking your children :smack:. When I was a kid (a whole 14 years ago, grew up not long after I turned ten) the only thing that kept me in check was the threat of my dad’s belt. That’s the only thing he’d use, and I only had to get it once, after that I made sure to not do anything that deserved more than a swat from my mom, end of story. > > (I live in the USA, but now thinking of moving somewhere before the next generation grows up…scary, they’ll make gang wars look friendly) I realize this is a zombie thread, but c’mon. I’ve seen this before. “I was so well behaved because I was afraid of my parents” - gah. The people I have known who were hesitant to discipline (a word that means “teach”, not “leave visible injuries”) their children because they were afraid of CPS had plenty of other, unrelated reasons to fear CPS, like having drug dealers living with them. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/90 "2016-02-01T22:22:38Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I also remember that if you ever got caught by a teacher tattling on someone else, you had to wear donkey ears all day so everyone knew you were a tattletale. > > Edit: Gdi lol zombie thread. What if the person who got told on had done something to justify it? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/91 "2016-02-01T22:25:46Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I think part of the frustration with CP is it was basically boy only so it taught sexism early on. I remember we boys noticed it very quick that the girls were little “teachers pets” and didnt get the discipline even when they were being just as bad as we were. I also think that part of the reason it was abolished was because there were enough teachers who enjoyed doing it, not just because they were mean, but for sexual reasons too. I’m sure there have been plenty of instances where kids were singled out because they were the wrong skin color, had the wrong last name, lived in the wrong neighborhood, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/92 "2016-02-02T05:12:20Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I also think that part of the reason it was abolished was because there were enough teachers who enjoyed doing it, not just because they were mean, but for sexual reasons too. I’m sure there have been plenty of instances where kids were singled out because they were the wrong skin color, had the wrong last name, lived in the wrong neighborhood, etc. Yeah when certain parents have clout thru connections on the school board or the community, you can bet they were left alone. Also teachers quickly learned what kids parents would and would not allow it. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/93 "2016-02-02T06:33:09Z")
High School. Early 70’s. Shop teacher was a big bull of a man, 6 foot plus, missing the two middle fingers of his right hand. He would pick up miscreants by the neck with his big finger and pinky, and pin you to the wall off the ground or on your tippy toes. I assume, but don’t know for sure, that he also abused his kids (one in my grade) in some fashion. Guy was a total dick. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/94 "2016-02-02T10:41:12Z")
I would also like to think the end of CP also came about by the admission that it is a poor substitute for good teaching methods like actually engaging the students with interesting lessons that they want to do, plus good classroom management techniques. Basically more professionalism in the classroom. I remember one old time teacher told me he gave up the paddle when a former student admonished him to “lay on the oak” to his younger brother and he realized that all the efforts he had put into writing lesson plans, his lectures, his presentations, grading papers, all the lessons he had done from his chalkboard had been in vain. They only remembered his paddle. He didnt want to be remembered that way. Those sadistic paddle wielding brutes of the old days, they really had very little formal teacher training. Nowadays teachers get 4-6 years of education with heavy mentoring. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/95 "2016-02-02T18:45:57Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > Public school in Oklahoma, graduated high school in 1987. Vice Principal still had the paddle, and would use it. I, however, was a sweet innocent angel who never needed to be managed by that level of oversight. I grew up in Oklahoma too, near the panhandle in a small town. From where do hail? Graduated HS in 1980, we had corporal punishment through my senior year. Bend over, grab your ankles… ouch ouch ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/96 "2016-02-02T19:06:29Z")
grade school (Catholic) - yes. I got some raps with a ruler – everyone did. high school (public) - no ---
**Author:** ![Kevinont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/85f322/32.png) [@Kevinont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevinont)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/97 "2017-05-22T18:46:06Z")
ontario, canada, public school 1970’s once in 73, hand swats by vice principal in front of class, few more times 1978, ruler to hands and one time strap…it is all banned now and has been in public schools shortly after 78 ---
**Author:** ![femmejean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/0ea827/32.png) [@femmejean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femmejean)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/98 "2017-05-22T19:11:14Z")
No…went to a school in Ireland and from what I gathered from an old teacher who retired in 11th grade, it went in the late 60s. Don’t be fooled though friends…just like African countries being ‘free’ from colonization at that time didn’t mean they were actually free is the same way that people students weren’t necessarily doing better. The violence and agression from the hypermaculine teachers just shifted to verbal platform. Gendered slurs, threats of physical violence and detention, vulgar language… Honestly, bringing this up reminds me how backwards Ireland still is. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/99 "2017-05-22T19:46:21Z")
Zombies only go to school for bbbbbrrrrraaaaaiiiiiinnnnnnnsssss!!! ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507/100 "2017-05-22T20:54:06Z")
Its still legal in Kansas. When I was a kid (70’s) it was still a threat. Frankly it was often abused. I knew one man in college where he got it in jr. high. (80’s). he said what happened was to deal with problems in the lunch room they would idfentify all the kids causing trouble that lunch period and they would line them up for a swat. Well he got it once and he kept asking “what did I do?” and they had no answer. so basically it was just some person who thought he had done something wrong. After working with schools quite frankly, I wouldnt trust many of the idiots teachers and principals to do this. I would rather be informed of problems. Now I know one Christian school in Olathe that still uses it. However their are many steps that happen beforehand; 1. Teacher must document the problem. 2. Parent must be called. 3. Teacher must use alternative forms to deal with the issue. 4. Parents must be called in for a conference. 5. When it happens, parents must be called and be allowed to witness it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-school-still-have-corporal-punishment/592507.md?page=6)