Corporal Punishment in Schools

deisemum

Please move if this is in the wrong place.

I would like to know if anyone here has ever been hit or thumped or know someone who has been hit by a teacher since the ban on corporal punishment in schools was introduced in 1979

aphex™

Yes in junior/senior infants, 1990/1991 there was a guy who got whacked with a ruler every day.

Turned out he had dyslexia and he ended up going to a special school for it later on. I kid you not.

Only got it once myself, but then I don't have dyslexia so I was lucky.

crazy_dude6662

my sister, the teacher usually got the kid sitting beside her to jab a ruler into her ribs when the teacher wasnt hitting her knuckles with a ruler.....she went to st pauls..so nuns and all that

and it was after 1979

i was verbally asulted by a teacher (not sure if that counts) and the same teacher hurled a copy at my head (on purpose)

Ruaidhri

Eh,yeah every student in my primary school.
Handful in my secondary school.

Peteee

Yep, in primary and seconday. Not much, and certainly nothing compared to before that, but still.....

Yeah, was thrown halfway across a room by a teacher when I was 6 for sitting down in the wrong place. Horrible, bitter woman. I gave her such dirty looks for a month she never did it again. She used to hit kids all the time though, mostly the slower ones who turned out to have special needs. It was like she thought if you weren't clever you were worthless.

Another teacher in a different school was just as bad, she verbally abused people all the time. One in particular stuck in my mind, to a girl who wasn't the brightest but was sweet: 'Your sister did all the right things beautifully and you do all the wrong things horribly.' Later in the year, to this same girl, she lost her temper when she came in late and slammed the door. The girl was still coming through the door, got her hand stuck and lost part of her thumb. God knows how these people are still teaching.

Silverfish

Got a cane across the palms of my hand several times in baby infants - in - er... 1981? 82?

In sixth class got pushed against a blackboard full force by the headmaster, after he hit the back of my head once or twice with his knuckles. One good thing came of that - I always know where to put the decimal point now.

Piste

when i was 6 or so the principal told a boy in my class how she'd love to give him a good slap. This would'vt been around 1996/97

She was a scary dragon of a woman, but I saw her at my sister's (who's still in primary school) school play and realised I cant be scared of her anymore because I'm now much taller than her.

Pwnt.

projectmayhem

a teacher in my old primary school was legendary for hitting kids with a ruler, and hit this fat ass huge ruler when she felt a bit more naziish.

i swear if i ever see her again i wont be held responsible for my actions

sportswear

yeah . lots in primary school. not terribly badly or sore though. usually done with a hurley.

also this one teacher in primary school if he caught you playing with any of your stationary while he was speaking he just picked it up and fecked it out the third story window into the bushes. bye bye sportswears new parker
pen that he got for his holy communion!!!

in 6th year secondary school my maths teacher used to throw me ferocious digs and used to try and throw me into the girls toilets. but that was just a bit of banter and i gave as good as i got...

senordingdong

Why did none of you report it or fight back?

Brother To God

I had a bully of a teacher in primary school and I never forgot this man,
I plan revenge someday!! He hit a few students and one "hero" hit him back and it burst into a brawl on the floor with the teacher winning,The guys mother came in to chat about it and went away in tears,this teacher told my mother I ran around the class room with a dustbin on my head,this never happened or else someone slipped me something wacky!

chrismon

once in primary school i got thrown over a table for no reason. i was in 5th class, everyone who i still chat to from my class rembers it!
Once in 6th year my maths teacher wouldnt let me go to the toilet, genuinely had to go, so i walked out of class to the toilet, done the buisness, zipped up my fly and teacher walked in behind me and pushed me up against wall and started roaring at me, so i pushed him back and told him he was crap teacher. He lost plot at this went for me again, tripped over himself onto the floor, so i just went back to class never speaking to him again.
Really wish i reported him :mad:

Roen

I would like to know if anyone here has ever been hit or thumped or know someone who has been hit by a teacher since the ban on corporal punishment in schools was introduced in 1979

I don't know what it's like now but all during the eighties, from primary up to the end of secondary people in my class were hit, either slapped or punched in the face. And I do mean punched. One lad behind us by a year or two had a tooth knocked out by a duster, although I do think that particular incident was accidental on the part of the teacher, he probably just meant to concuss him instead!

Why did none of you report it or fight back?

We did at times, but what's a 12-17 year old going to do against a fully grown man, your just not physically developed enough to have a hope, all that ended up happening in these cases were that the students would get a worse beating. Don't get me wrong these incidents were few and far between but they did continue right up until I left school in '89. I have no doubt that similar occurrs still today.
As for reporting it? Well it's not that long ago but times were different then, if you got a smack you felt (rightly or wrongly) that you probably deserved it and so were ok with just taking the dig and letting the incident rest there and then instead of getting paretnts involved. There was only one time that I really got an awful half day of repeated punches and smacks from a brother that I did nothing to deserve. I went to my parents about it and nothing came of it. A lot of people were probably in the same position, their parents would probably side with the authority figure that had pulled their offspring up over something.
That said I do remember one or two incidents of parents catching brothers by the neck after their little uns had got a smack.......
.....just my experiences and thoughts, could be right or wrong.....

Guy:Incognito

Yep, I got a few slaps on the hands with a ruler. It never did me any harm and I probably could have done with a few more truth be told.

This was primary in the mid 80's,

deisemum

senordingdong wrote:

Why did none of you report it or fight back?

It came to my attention last year that my then 9 year old son was being routinely hit or thumped by a male teacher that I did not know even taught him. Whenever his usual teacher (resourse teacher) took the weaker pupils out of the room the thug male teacher would take over the main class.

If they got something wrong he'd thump them or jab them in the ribs from both sides and hurt them. The bigger the child the harder he hit them. My son is one of the biggest in the class so he got hit harder than most. He's a hardy enough child who's used to knocks in rugby and hurling but said he was nearly in tears sometimes.

To say a red mist descended when we heard this would be an understatement. I spoke with a number of other parents who sounded out their children just so I'd be sure of the facts before I got on to the school. 1 child said yes that this happened on a regular basis but that he wasn't hit which my son confirmed, another mother sent me a text confirming that her son had been hit and that it hurt but that it was only messing (typical way for a child trying to cope with bullying) but the mother didn't want to do anything about it. Other children that were hit denied it to their parents and others admitted to being hit but their parents thought that nothing would get done about it anyway and were afraid of what might happen to their children if they rocked the boat.

My husband phoned the Principal who wasn't surprised and said he would stop it. My MIL taught in that school for 20 years approx. and my SIL was a pupil of this male teacher and said he is a sadistic bully. The Principal took it seriously and I do have great respect for him. There are a lot of Principals who have teachers in their schools that they'd like to get rid of but can't.

I reported it to the Gardai because it is classed as assault and it is now on record. I have now made it my business to inform as many parents about what is going on in classrooms that the majority are not aware of. Having spoken to lots of parents (from other schools as well) I'm still shocked by some of the thuggery carried out by teachers. I'm strongly urging parents to report such incidents to the Gardai and forget the BOM, Dept of Education (who have an informal procedure to drag it out for years). It's a crime and should be reported to the Gardai.

The Gardai that I spoke with were very helpful and disgusted and would urge parents to come forward. The Gardai will contact me if or more likely when they get another report against the teacher that hit my son. I'll press charges then.

I was in Inter Cert when the ban on corporal punishment came in. One of the boys was putting up the newspaper article about the ban on the school noticeboard and one of the nuns caught him. She marched him to the staff romm and walloped him along the way. In leaving cert I saw a thug of a male teacher punch one of the lads in my class and split his lip. He's still thumping pupils but pays out a fiver each time.

As part of raising awareness about this I've spoken on radio about it. Anyone here still in school I urge you to get your parents to report it to the Gardai. Any parents reading this remember Not all children tell lies and not all adults tell the truth.

Drag00n79

deisemum wrote:

Please move if this is in the wrong place.

I would like to know if anyone here has ever been hit or thumped or know someone who has been hit by a teacher since the ban on corporal punishment in schools was introduced in 1979

The ban on corporal punishment in Irish schools came into effect in 1982 not 1979.

Willymuncher

One teacher I had in secondary school used to have an iron bar to hit students across the head with, sometimes he hit them fairly hard too, other times he'd use his big shovel hands. Got reported a lot but nothing ever came of it. A knacker went for him one time after being hit, that was funny to see

Another teacher used to have students in tears coming from his class, a mate of mine came out crying on a regular basis. I'm not usually a nasty but the dickhead died soon afterwards and a lot of us were better off because of it.

I've never been hit myself though thank god. Out of all the teachers I've had, my two favourites were nuns strangely enough

deisemum

Shamrok wrote:

The ban on corporal punishment in Irish schools came into effect in 1982 not 1979.

Sorry you're right, it was announced in 1979 that it was going to be banned but it took until 1982 to have it passed.

Reading most of the examples here happened since then which is wrong.

projectmayhem

senordingdong wrote:

Why did none of you report it or fight back?

probably because anyone who got hit by a teacher was under the age of puberty.

slipss

Yeah there used to be a wood work teacher in my school that hit me a few times, just a slap like, or pushing me against a wall, I always thought I should have hit him back but I had a bad reputation in the school and I knew I would have got expeled so I never did anything, untill I saw him hit me little brother one day, and follwed him home with a few of me mates and threw two hammers through his front windows of his house and when he ran out of house I told him if he touched me brother again they'd be fire bombs next time. He rang the gaurds and I ended up getting done for criminal damage and threatining behaviour but I was only 15 so nothing happened over it I just got a JLO. But it was worth it because he left the school and moved down the country two months later.

lodgepole

A certain amount of it went on while I was in secondary school ('93-'99). I don't recall much about it in primary school, although my teacher in sixth class had a habit of poking you near the collar bone with two joined fingers. Hurt like hell... I'm not sure that a blanket ban is that helpful since it removes certain powers from teachers. I think it's safe to say that behaviour in school is at an all time low and getting worse. Not that I necessarily believe the ability to hit a child would remedy this, but in some cases physical intervention could help.

Fair play to you for highlighting what happened to your son though. As you found out a lot of parents don't care about it enough to put themselves forward.

slipss wrote:

Yeah there used to be a wood work teacher in my school that hit me a few times, just a slap like, or pushing me against a wall, I always thought I should have hit him back but I had a bad reputation in the school and I knew I would have got expeled so I never did anything, untill I saw him hit me little brother one day, and follwed him home with a few of me mates and threw two hammers through his front windows of his house and when he ran out of house I told him if he touched me brother again they'd be fire bombs next time. He rang the gaurds and I ended up getting done for criminal damage and threatining behaviour but I was only 15 so nothing happened over it I just got a JLO. But it was worth it because he left the school and moved down the country two months later.

You sound like a class act.

Litcagral

I think the ban was introduced around 1982. I was in second year post primary at the time. The day before it's introduction, one teacher gave us all a hiding. It took a few years for many to adjust to it. They appeared to think it meant a ban on 'formal' punishment e.g. with a cane. They continued to thump us or use a ruler/book/umbrella as a weapon for several years. The wooden duster also served as an excellent missile for those of use caught whispering in class. It left us rubbing our wound and covered in a cloud of chalk dust. Then again some teachers had an aura of calm and control and never required it. When I was six, (1974) I got six lashes of a cane for running in the toilet area. I found that quite traumatic at the time but otherwise it didn't do me any harm.

Piste

On the flipside to all this violence, in most schools teachers are very wary about pupils especially since all the church shild abuse scandal has come out. The defenseless child they smacked with a duster fifteen years ago could sue them tomorrow. I know that most teachers are reluctant to touch a pupil at all, and if they have to be alone in a classroom with them they make sure that they are in view of the door and that the door is open to prevent pupils falseley accusing them of assault or abuse.

Sully

In primary school I was made get up and walk around the class with the legs of my trousers pulled up -- because I scratched my leg. He made me walk around the class while he made jokes and comments about it. I was young at the time, and a complaint was made but he denied it and we were asked to just leave it by the school priest.

Still teaches to this day, not sure what hes like tho.

In secondary school there was always one teacher that hit people across the head or back with a ruler or his hand. Joking tho, I dont think he meant to hurt anyone.

Piste

On a related note, my mum went on to www.ratemyteachers.ie and saw a woman who used to teach her in secondary school who is still teaching and now teaches my cousin. She has great reviews now but my mum said she was an awful b!tch back in the day, so maybe teachers do change for the better. Or maybe the corporal punichment ban just forced them to change.

senordingdong

projectmayhem wrote:

probably because anyone who got hit by a teacher was under the age of puberty.

And being under the age of puberty prevents you from telling your parents?

zuma

Boys in my town went to the convent school from 5-7 yo and from 8-12yo went to an all boys school.

In the convent when I was 5-7 the head nun would walk around with a ruler and hit you on the back of the legs whenever she thought you deserved it.
When I was 6 the teacher pulled me by my ear so hard it tore from my skin a little and SLOWLY over a month or so fused back together causing more of my ear to attach to my kneck.

From 8-12 the boys only school's male teacher would carry a 1metre length or so of bamboo and use it on our fingers when they wanted to...SCARY sh!t when they wached it aginst the table tops and fingers!

BTW I was born in 1981....so all of the above should NEVER have happened but it did and a lot worse...10 year old boys being physically knocked about by the teachers for making smart remaks during class.
Dont even get me started on Secondary school...teachers kicking chairs HARD in the ass with pupils still sitting in them....head being put in vices* and them being slowly closed!

*=This man later became an alcoholic and currently has mental problems!

projectmayhem

senordingdong wrote:

And being under the age of puberty prevents you from telling your parents?

of course not, but at that age you'd be fairly scared of what'd happen if you did. that's why all those child sex/abuse people came out in the 20s and 30s

deisemum

It's not as if the teacher who hit the pupils in my sons class was in the habit before the ban came in as he only qualified in the late 80's. Unfortunately he has a long time to go before he retires. He's too long in the tooth to change and it's probably only a matter of time before he hits someone.

oranmore

I remember a female teacher lining a few kids up in school and giving them 3 hard lashes with the metre stick accross each palm. we were only 8 years of age. it was an image that has stuck with me since and still disturbs me. the most amazing this that this was in 1983 (so after the ban) so if teachers were so fast to cane for beaking the rules why didnt the dept of education inforce the law and sack her for breaking their rules

Kojak

In my national school it was common place when you reached 5th and 6th class to be getting slaps/belts from the principle - he was a bit cracked.

One day a lad hit him back and he was so shocked that he went home straight away and we didn't see him for nearly a week.

Jumpy

slipss wrote:

Yeah there used to be a wood work teacher in my school that hit me a few times, just a slap like, or pushing me against a wall, I always thought I should have hit him back but I had a bad reputation in the school and I knew I would have got expeled so I never did anything, untill I saw him hit me little brother one day, and follwed him home with a few of me mates and threw two hammers through his front windows of his house and when he ran out of house I told him if he touched me brother again they'd be fire bombs next time. He rang the gaurds and I ended up getting done for criminal damage and threatining behaviour but I was only 15 so nothing happened over it I just got a JLO. But it was worth it because he left the school and moved down the country two months later.

And you didnt think that following the official route rather than the violent scumbag route would have done anything?
Bought any new hoodies recently?

connundrum

I did my primary schooling in South Africa and corporal punishment was still legal there when I left in '96 (or maybe it wasn't and my school just wasn't told?! :rolleyes: )

Nearly every day someone would get brought up to the top of the class and hit with a sjambok (Endurance Man might correct my spelling of that) - it was a +/- 3 foot long stick bout 1/2" in diameter... very frickin sore! But it was normal and accepted there and I made it my business to steer clear of it at all costs!

When I came over here I went into secondary school and there were one or two situations.. got a duster in the neck once, the teacher was aiming for someone else's head. Got a few slaps here and there but nothing serious.

I remember my uncle telling me of being brought off by a christian brother and bet with a hurl for about 10 minutes... that was in '81/'82. He laughs about it now but... Jesus Christ like

cooperguy

In third year of secondary I was hit right across the face by 1 of my teachers, what harm but I was a really quiet guy in secondary school. This was about 2000

slipss

Jumpy wrote:

And you didnt think that following the official route rather than the violent scumbag route would have done anything?
Bought any new hoodies recently?

Yes I bought a navy nike hoodie last weekend, ehh bought any jeans lately? (is that how we play this game?)

The official route wouldn't have accomplished much as there had been complaints made before about this teacher and nothing had ever happened over them. But besides that, if anyone lays a finger on any member of my family ever, I'll ****ing butcher them, he got off very very lightly.

nlgbbbblth

One of my teachers in primary school [1976 - 1984 for me] continued to hit pupils after 1982. Drumstick or leather.

On one occasion he gave a guy the leather across the face,

The guy's father came in to complain, a shouting match started which ended up with the teacher punching the father. No charges were pressed.

Our man in Havana

Is there no disciplinary procedure for dealing with scumbag teachers who assault their pupils. Is this going to end up like the clerical abuse cases and come out in 20 years time?

nlgbbbblth

Bond-007 wrote:

Is there no disciplinary procedure for dealing with scumbag teachers who assault their pupils. Is this going to end up like the clerical abuse cases and come out in 20 years time?

It's not just a case of 'scumbag' teachers.

What if the pupil provokes / goads the teacher?

Obviously hitting a pupil is wrong. But provoking a teacher is also wrong.

Both actions deserve punishment.

Unfortunately if a teacher hits a pupil nowadays he is likely to be severely punished and the pupil may get off scot-free.

Diarmsquid

Personally I've never been hit or physically harmed, been roared at and all that but nothing much.

But I was the moderator of my primary school on ratemyteachers.ie and the amount of stuff people were saying about the teachers were unreal.

Stuff like "This ****er kicked the **** out of me every school day"
and "This guy was a bully to kids and should never have been allowed teach"

Some of them could have been in the school before the ban but still.

DeVore

Happened all the time in my day. Teachers hit the lads, some of the lads hit back. One guy got caned by the headmaster and went and took the fire axe of the wall and came back with it threatening the head (who was teaching our class). The head told us all to leave and the pair of them went at it. After a short while the head appeared dragging the student along the ground (pretty much unconscious) both bleeding. That was the last we saw of him.

I guess I went to a tough school!

In primary I had a reputation for being a fnckin' nutjob who was harmless but would explode and fight to the bitter end if needed, I guess it was a defence mechanism and something that took some time for me to work out of my personality (and I've still a bad temper, though no longer violent). One teacher lined a load of lads up including me, unfairly. He lifted each off the ground by both locks of the hair. I was last and each was told to go when he was done, it was AGONISINGLY painful and I'd had it done to me before so I told him that I hadnt done anything and if he did it to me I was going to knee him as hard as I could in the balls. He couldnt really do it without putting both hands up and getting close to me so he told me to "piss off".

Violence was an everyday occurance and we just accepted it. I dont think its something we should go back to be I do think discipline in schools should be stricter. When I moved to the Jesuits, they made us toe the line without beating us and it was something I'm forever grateful for.

DeV.

Megatron

Reading the thread it's like most of my friends childhood memories from school.

I had a Headmaster ( the teaching kind , not the transforming kind :P ) in primary ( 82 -88 ) and he would slap the head off anyone he wanted.
1 lad he hit kept saying "wanker" every time so he kept getting hit harder.
So the headmaster litterly knocked the poor kid out. Only thing wrong was that while the kid deserved what he got , he dad was a lawer , so the headmaster got his ass fired.

In Secondary ( 89 - 94) there where a few teachers that hit pupils.
Some of them , while breaking the law, i believe it did help maintaine disiplin in the class room.

While others just did it becuase it made the feel important.

But what i found most disturbing was the constant verbal about i would recieve from some of the teachers. Yes they where extremely frustrated by the rest of the class, but I was usualy the venting point.

I've been hit with a hur , lifted by my locks, made stand in teh room's bin and had all my books and bag thrown at me ( teacher told them to do it), hit so hard a flew out of the desk and very nearly cracked my head off another desk, made stand up for the whole year of a particular class.

it's only when i came towards the end that i started putting up any sort of fight.
I was told that in my 'Moc's for the Leaving cert i would HAVE to do a religon exam , i refeused to do it. Big row , parents eventualy called down. it was only then i was asked why i didn't want to do it.

"No one but myself can question my belifes"

My dad tried not to laugh , but in the end i didnt' have to sit that stupid f00king exam .

but some of the pupils gave as much as they got, but again like the teachers they went for the weaker ones.

any female teacher who ordered people out of her class was always told "make me" ( i went to a all boys school) , this was untill a new french teacher showed up ( man she was hot) but she had a big f00k off chuck of desk that she would bash you with if you started messing in her class.

deisemum

nlgbbbblth wrote:

It's not just a case of 'scumbag' teachers.

What if the pupil provokes / goads the teacher?

Obviously hitting a pupil is wrong. But provoking a teacher is also wrong.

Both actions deserve punishment.

Unfortunately if a teacher hits a pupil nowadays he is likely to be severely punished and the pupil may get off scot-free.

How are the thug teachers getting severely punished because I've spoken to so many people about this and none of us see anything happening. The only punishment that I've seen was the special needs assistant who slapped an 11 year old girl recently and the school had to pay out €7500.

The teacher is the adult and is supposed to be a professional (highly debatable with some of them) let them punish pupils who deserve it using one of the means that they've been shown during their training. Hitting a pupil is assault and against the law. Some of these thug teachers spend their time talking down to pupils that it becomes second nature to them and they think they can get away with anything. As a parent I'm making it my business to inform as many parents as possible about the teacher that repeated hit my son and also to advise all parents to be aware that this is going on in a lot of schools

Terry

got the cane when i as in junior infants. that was in late '79 early '80.
first class teacher used to punch me full force in the arm and knock me off my chair as he walked by me. i used to go home in tears. my neighbour (and bestest friend at the time) had a kidney problem and the teacher wouldn't let him use the toilet. he pissed himself and the teacher then paraded him around the classroom for everyone to see. the lesson was that you should use the toilet at lunch. that was when the parents got involved. my cousins (professional boxers at the time) also payed him a visit. he never layed a finger on me again. he did however continue to hit other kids in the class.
it's worth noting that i was a good student at the time. got all the gold stars and such. the teacher was just a nutball. he is now principal of the school.

third class teacher used to drag people around by their ears. i got a free pass on account of my mother having died the year before.

skyhighflyer

I'm younger than some of you guys seem to be (finished school in 2004), but I have some stories of my own.

1995 - had a mad f*** of a teacher for 4th class. I remember him lamping a duster across the room and it hitting my mate in the face, don't know if it was intentional or not that time. Also saw him literally kick the desk from under another lad making him fall on his arse, which was actually kind of funny. Another time he got a lad in a headlock and dumped him on the ground in the soccer pitch, also funny...

1998 - the vice principal in secondary was a bit of a nutjob - I remember him flinging a few guys across the room and got numerous clips round the ear... Also he made desk thrwoing an olympic sport. He was actually a cool guy though, when we were in the mocks in 6th year he used to let us smoke out the window:D and he used to be a great man for the GAA as well.

oranmore

it still amazes me how an adult could lash the small palms of a child repeatedly with a cane with no remorse in such a manner

paul666

Here is an interesting fact, in some schools in usa corporal punishment is permitted in elementary, middle and high schools, heres the code of conduct of 1 such high school in Texas ...
Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment—spanking or paddling the student—may be used as a discipline management technique in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct and [Policy FO] in the District's policy manual. Corporal punishment will be governed by the following conditions:



· The student will be told the reason for the corporal punishment.

· Only the principal, assistant principal, or a teacher may administer the punishment.

· The instrument to be used will be approved by the principal.

· The punishment will be administered in the presence of one other District professional employee and out of view of other students.

· A record will be maintained of each instance of corporal punishment.

Terry

i had this 6' blonde teacher from galway in first or second year.
she was a complete stunner.
one day 1 of the lads gave her a bit of grief. this was just before lunch. at the end of the class, as we all rushed out the door to get home in good time, she grabbed the guy who had given her lip and threw him right back down the prefab. quite funny really. the guy was a complete scumbag. it was nice to see him get a bit of comeuppance (usually his mother would come into the school and protest against any punishment given to him. "my son wouldn't do that").