Memories of corporal punishment

realitykeeper · 18-02-2019 11:05PM #1

Recently I was thinking of my school days when corporal punishment was practiced. Even when I was not the recipient of this form of punishment but just a witness, it was very frightening - especially when the children were punished for things like poor homework or classwork (as opposed to behaving badly).

Paradoxically, I retain tremendous respect for one teacher who beat and terrified kids but got the job done. His frustration always came through when he was shouting at us and this made me aware of the need to study hard and focus.

I also remember the smell of freshly baked bread from the bakery of the way to school and to this day, I feel a sense of dread when I smell freshly baked bread.

Instances of corporal punishment were still common in the early eighties but not so much after that. Anyone else have, memories of corporal punishment, be they witnessed or experienced? If so, you might find it cathartic to share them (or not).

I do remember the various impliments used. A duster, a strong angular stick, a leather, a short rounded stick, a hand, a pencil. Scary stuff for a seven year old.

corner of hells · 18-02-2019 11:12PM

I can remember the son of a famous Dublin footballer getting seven shades beaten out of him on a regular basis by a Kerry teacher in the 70s for no particular reason other than Kerry and Dublin.

gozunda · 18-02-2019 11:14PM

Oh I remember the days - how we would laugh when they beat the crap out of us. And if you went home and told what had happened - you'd get another clatter because teachers like priests could never be wrong. And still we laughed ...

hatrickpatrick · 18-02-2019 11:19PM

I have rather fond memories of the first time I was with a woman who shared my interest in sending me home red-assed and howling :pac: I've never looked at a ping pong paddle the same way again

freshpopcorn · 18-02-2019 11:19PM

I'm not old enough to remember corporal punishment. I had a teacher that never gave out a detention/etc and he wasn't gone it.
He did say that a few bullies/people who treated people badly deserved it and some of those were in the staff room.

Recliner · 18-02-2019 11:22PM

A timber metre stick across the palm of the hand was the weapon of choice for the nuns in my primary school.
If you had given any reason to displease the nun during the day, you knew what was coming.
Lined up at the end of the day with your fellow criminals, one hand behind your back and one outstretched palm side up. And woe betide you if you pulled back your hand before the slap.
The teachers pets got to pass judgement on us as to whether or not we escaped punishment, depending on the severity of our crimes.
Really took bravery to assault sobbing 6/7/8 year olds.
Jesus thinking about it now actually horrifies me. What sort of creatures would willingly do that to children and call themselves godly people?
And I'm very aware that what I experienced is on the very mild end of what went on.

Giveaway · 18-02-2019 11:27PM

Wooden spoon broken over brother's head. He was an adult at the time too

thebaz · 18-02-2019 11:34PM

I was schooled just before corporal punishment/ beatings were to be phased out - as a 9 year old kid I was traumatised by a particular teacher , it was not until I was 16 that I got the strength to fight back - and I did - with a vengeance - which got me into more trouble - so I dont have fond memories of corporal punishment , it was not until later life when I heard other friends who had been traumatised much worse , abuse , that I fealt at peace and forgiving , and a little grateful just to have got physical abuse.

Snowfire · 18-02-2019 11:36PM

Elderly neighbour was recalling his school days and corporal punishment. He said headmaster would send them out to the playing field to fetch a stick from the hedge to beat them with.
“And like a fu#kin idiot we’d bring him back a good solid one”

Your Face · 18-02-2019 11:36PM

I got a few digs in the arm, nothing serious.

Some lads got a bit worse and deserved them too.

tayto lover · 18-02-2019 11:39PM

The cane and “six of the best” was the norm in our school.
We feared that teacher. I saw him lift a boy off his feet by the cheeks and slam his head off the blackboard. Cruel cnut.

_Brian · 18-02-2019 11:41PM

Was hammered daily for being left handed.
Bleak times.

SlowBlowin · 18-02-2019 11:44PM

Remember the old blackboard rubbers, the heavy wooden ones ?

We had one teacher who would lose his temper and throw them at us. Split one kids head open, and he stopped doing it after this, but I dont think he got into any trouble.

The slipper (normally gym shoe) and cane were common. The slipper when correctly delivered was most painful, I had it from one teacher who used to make you pull your trousers and pants down prior, not sure that would be acceptable nowadays...

mvl · 18-02-2019 11:45PM

nah, I was usually on the favorites list of my teachers // so no corporal punishment for me.
except the geography teacher: I was so scared of failing her (something like that had to be followed by public humiliation in front of the class), I would often forget my words. this had an effect on my lack of interest in geography/geology, as it felt I was not good at it.

Pinch Flat · 18-02-2019 11:46PM

Went to a Christian brothers school. Some genuinely nutty people teaching there.

Some of the situations were mad. Sent to the head brothers office for a lash of the leather. Another teacher preferred the back of the knuckles. But to top it off, we had one brother who preferred a cane. Used to jump on the air hitting fellas.

Except Christmas. The cane was josephs staff in the crib, so we got a few weeks of a reprieve.

mjsc1970 · 19-02-2019 12:31AM

Back in the 80's in secondary school. Not even sure corporal punishment was outlawed or not by then.
One of the lay teachers in our CBS used to too easily loose his shït on some poor unfortunate.
Was interesting one day when he picked on the wrong 13 year old. A bit of a stand off ensued.
Teacher was asked was he brave enough to step one foot closer. He didn't. For 10 seconds he'd the whole class looking straight at him and for the first time the fear was on him. I never forget that.

Irish Guitarist · 19-02-2019 12:31AM

I'm just barely at the age where it had been scrapped when I was going to school.

There was one instance in fifth class or sixth where I started scribbling on the desk. The teacher said "would the lad who's writing on the desk stop". I somehow thought he was talking about someone else and kept scribbling. He then hit me across the knuckles with a ruler. I put the pencil down but he just kept beating my knuckles until he drew blood.

This was in the late eighties and corporal punishment had just been stopped a couple of years before. I got the impression he had wanted to give someone a good beating for years. I wonder what he would have been like when it was still legal.

Autosport · 19-02-2019 12:35AM

I remember it well, I was one of the unfortunate girls who the teacher loved to hit/slap etc He made me terrified of men and as I was a quiet/shy girl I never told anyone. The day I heard he died I smiled and said He can't hurt anyone anymore

This was in the 90's so not that long ago.

decky1 · 19-02-2019 12:38AM

Ah the ould 'CHRISTIAN' Brothers and their Black Jacks[where did they get these things made?] did'nt spare them on us right into secondary school and we let them away with it, we had a relief teacher one summer in national school and he killed us for the 2 weeks he was there [with a piece off a chair , he lived a few miles outside our town hav'nt seen him since that summer would love a go at him now,same school a guy in our class did'nt seem to have any feeling in his hands the poor ould brothers used to beat him and all he did was laugh at them,same guy used to catch Wasps and keep them in his ink well on the desk[that's go'in back a bit,] we had another brother and god bless him he was the tallest ugliest man in the world if you were misbehaving he'd just walk up to you and hit you a box yes it did hurt.we had a duster trower in secondary school a lay teacher who owned a pub in a very popular part of the county [near bray] great shot .An alcoholic also had a go at teaching us science well from wednesday on that is monday and tuesday he'd be to sick to talk, Ah the good ould days.

EdgeCase · 19-02-2019 12:46AM

I started primary school quite a while after corporal punishment was banned, but I still had a few odd incidents.

I was regularly held upside down over the classroom bin by my feet. You know those metal frames with a black bag stretched over them.

I also got made wear a Dunce's Cap and stand in the corner and we used to have a teacher who would "freak out" and run over the tops of the desks. So we lived in fear of causing this to happen.

The absolute weirdest one was a female teacher who threatened to glue us to the ceiling with super glue if we misbehaved. She also chased us around the class with a broom.

In secondary school in the late 90s I had dusters thrown at me and one of our teachers actually smashed a window hurling a heavy book in a fit of rage.

I also went to school on the continent and generally though Irish schooling was like something out of the dark ages. Uniforms, military discipline, yelling and screaming teachers, little or no opportunity to ask questions a lot of the time or discuss any topics. Mostly a top down, learn by rote system.

I hope it's changed.

foxy farmer · 19-02-2019 01:00AM

In primary school late 70s early 80s. Principal was a tall greyhaired man with an obsession with the Irish language. Came from the gaeltacht. Mad about any budding GAA players. He had a handshake that would dislocate your shoulder and a slap in the arse would lift you off your feet. Often saw him clattering lads. Had a manipulative streak where he would catch you out. Pulled it on me once over me not drinking the carton milk that was delivered everyday. Nasty piece of work. We nicknamed him Crowbar. A 5th/6th class teacher was supposed to have put lads in hospital with broken arms. He got his comeuppance yrs later.
Saw another teacher make a lad kneel down and put his head in a bin for 2 days because he ran into another chap and split his head on a rough dashed wall. Strung him up on a coat hook as well. Teachers came in their turns to ridicule him. And last but by no means least we had someone who was recently sentenced to a second term in prison for abusing a lad in the 90s. He was first convicted for abusing girls back in the 70s.

freshpopcorn · 19-02-2019 01:03AM

EdgeCase wrote: »

I also went to school on the continent and generally though Irish schooling was like something out of the dark ages. Uniforms, military discipline, yelling and screaming teachers, little or no opportunity to ask questions a lot of the time or discuss any topics. Mostly a top down, learn by rote system.

I hope it's changed.

Some teachers are still like that. They sort of live in a land of their own. Often forced to become teachers by their parents and now they are a little mini dictator.(They say it's the only way to keep a class controlled but other teachers manage without doing it.)
They generally aren't popular with the staff either.
A lot has improved tough.

freshpopcorn · 19-02-2019 01:05AM

My secondary school principal would push you around or poke you for not wearing shoes, your tie or wearing a coat/jacket and this was being the 2000's.

19-02-2019 01:30AM

Some of the recollections here are totally horrific.

My own experience is a bit less conspicuous, but I was taught by a temporary teacher who would frequently slap us on the face or the wrist if we didn't do as we were told. I'm only speaking here about the late 1990s.

I remember telling my Mum what this teacher was doing. She thought it was very unlikely, she simply didn't believe it.

padd b1975 · 19-02-2019 06:09AM

SNIP. Do not name individuals please.

NIMAN · 19-02-2019 06:37AM

I went to a catholic grammar school in Derry, which had its share of sadistic teachers who loved nothing more than inflicting pain on youngsters.

And the more I think about it, I actually remember being strapped in primary school, so I would have been maybe 9 or 10.

Shocking when you think about it in this day and age. When it was mentioned to our parents in them days, they would usually say "well you must have done something to deserve it" (when often it was something so slight that it wasn't justified).

Could you imagine what would happen now? The parents would be down to the school straight away, either looking to punch the teacher or else sue for a couple of hundred K.

EdgeCase · 19-02-2019 06:49AM

We definitely had a few absolute creeps as teachers. I think these days they'd have been reported to the authorities but it was just strange behaviours like very regularly trying to engage guys in discussions about totally inappropriate topics.

I assume people these days would be much more likely to flag that kind of inappropriate stuff with authorities.

I'm not aware of anything ever physically happening and the two guys I'm referring to: an old Christian Brother and a regular teacher are both dead now, but it was very weird when I look back from the perspective of being an adult.

Strange times. It's amazing what was tolerated tbh. I actually feel a bit bad about not having flagged it up at the time but I was only 12-13.

screamer · 19-02-2019 06:50AM

I’m young enough but remember vividly myself and my friend at 4 years of age getting a meter stick across the backs of our fingers for not cleaning up counters fast enough. That is one of my first and only memories of school. I also remember his dad coming down to the school and firing a chair out the window and telling the teacher she’d be next if she ever touched us again,old bitch.
Secondary I remember being made kneel on concrete floor if you forgot your book and the teacher would come around and wrap your head with the top of his knuckles whilst making you call yourself various forms of an ejit. Obviously that worked out well for him as he’s the principal now...

judeboy101 · 19-02-2019 07:18AM

Standing in the corner when bold, and getting a choice of 10 slaps with the soft ruler or 1 with the steel tipped one. Ironically there was no adhd, asd or Add back then, homework always done, no one late for school and classes quiet as mouses. Best days of my life.

EdgeCase · 19-02-2019 07:22AM

They were the worst days of a lot of people's lives though. I've heard plenty of horror stories from older relatives. You'd wonder how it impacted school dropout rates too. Ireland's got very high levels of education now but if you go back a generation or two really early school leaving was common.

freshpopcorn · 19-02-2019 07:27AM

judeboy101 wrote: »

Standing in the corner when bold, and getting a choice of 10 slaps with the soft ruler or 1 with the steel tipped one. Ironically there was no adhd, asd or Add back then, homework always done, no one late for school and classes quiet as mouses. Best days of my life.

I actually spoke to relatives about this. There was plenty of people misbehaving in class, not getting things rights,etc. The main difference was the kids who struggled got the crap beat out of them for not being able to learn off prayers or not being the sharpest or there parents weren't good enough for the teacher and they left school with a poor education. Great days!

Memories of corporal punishment

Comments