ollkiller wrote: » Never had any corporal punishment in primary but then entered a Christian Brothers secondary school in the 90's in Mayo. A vicious den of punishment. Canes, branches, fists, kicks, dusters, the lot was used basically. One teacher was a champion boxer in his day. Regularly clocked children in class. Knocked one lad unconscious and left him there till the end of class. Wasn't a day in his class without someone getting hit. Music teacher had a branch to beat people up with. Got a new branch every year. Science teacher broke a lads front tooth in half by hitting him across the back of the head and his tooth banged off the marble science table. Same teacher broke two ribs of another guy by kicking him into the radiator for a few minutes. About half the teachers would give out physical punishment of some kind. I fortunately was lucky that i only got beat up once. On my second day in secondary school the christian brother science teacher beat up 28 lads out of 31 lads at half nine in the morning because we were talking and he had a massive hangover. Went round the class one by one and 5 or 6 roundhouse slaps across the back of the head. The three he didn't beat up were sons of Gardai. I got the required 5 slaps but he cut me across my eye. Went home that evening and the ould lady asked where did i get the cut. Regaled the story, next morning the ould lad went into the science teachers class, put him up against the wall and he got the message i was not to be touched. The ould lad then went to the principals office and plainly said if i was ever hit he would take out retribution on the principal. For the next 6 years not one teacher touched me and i am eternally grateful to the ould lad for that. Suffice to say the day i finished secondary school was one of the best days of my life. A horrible experience.
road_high wrote: » This was in the 90s? Holy Jesus that’s so recent! Clearly very serious issues in that school regarding staff discipline and training
....... wrote: » We were regularly beaten with the metre stick, dusters, open handed slaps. But the worst single occasion I remember still haunts me now. I genuinely cannot remember my transgression, perhaps I was talking in class - I dont think it was to do with schoolwork. But whatever it was, I was sent to the office. The head nun took me by the arm and began to beat me on the backside with her hand. The sudden viciousness and violence frightened the life out of me and I simultaneously began to bawl screaming and crying and wet myself - I was about 5 or 6 years old at the time. The nuns hand (and the floor) got splashed with my urine and she became truly incandescent with rage. She beat me all the harder, roared at me for being a filthy child. When the beating was over I was sent to sit on a wooden chair and await my mother to collect me. I dont know how they sent home for my mother, I dont think we had a telephone in those days, perhaps they phoned a neighbour. Anyway, she arrived, and this was the worst part - she apologised to the demon in a habit that had just violently assaulted her child. And the nun suggested I get further punished when I went home. We left, with my mother behaving in a servile manner with that woman - when she should have punched her goddam lights out. Vicious evil bitches those nuns were. Shortly afterwards corporal punishment was abolished in schools, but by then we had moved house and I was in a non religious orders school where no one was getting beaten (in my class anyway), but I remained in terrible dread of school for years, Sunday evening mass would fill me with dread.
....... wrote: » Although it was outlawed in 1982, a teacher couldnt be prosecuted for physical punishment until 1997 - so it carried on until then in a lot of schools.
road_high wrote: » What was their weird obsession with left handers? Was this another freaky Roman Catholic hang up? What difference does it make what hand people wrote with? Some people are gay, straight, male, female, black, white, talk, small- just one of these things people can’t help. The stories on corporal punishment and the Irish school system of the recent past could fill a thousand books and then some with what went on.
retro:electro wrote: » This has genuinely made me so mad. I hope the vile bitch is rotting.
ollkiller wrote: » Aye, I finished in 97. It still went on for a few years after that.
Feisar wrote: » It's an ancient thing, the left hand was always considered bad/dirty. In some cultures you'd use the right hand to eat, the left to wipe. It's about as Catholic as Halloween.
road_high wrote: » Right I didn’t know that. That’s why that cow we had felt she could get away with it so. Always wondered that
EdgeCase wrote: » Such a screwed up society when you look back on it. They had the population so cowed that they never seemed to question what was going on.
EdgeCase wrote: » To be honest, I would tar them or certainly their collective profession with the same brush along with the government bodies and ministers who stood by as it was going on. Even the good ones knew what was going on. They could have gone on strike over it for example. The politicians were quite happy to turn a blind eye to all sorts of abuses that were going on in plain sight for decades and were just accepted as normal. Considering for example school kids of the mid 20th century lived in terror of being sent to Artane. My grandmother took on a guy who'd been in Artane as a shop assistant in the 1960s and she was absolutely horrified at what he'd been though when he told her that whole story. He'd dipped a paper aeroplane into an inkwell and thrown it across the class. The teacher dragged him out beat him up and he was sent off to Artane where he was badly abused until he was released and went job hunting. The guy was a nervous wreck and had twitches and everything due to the ordeal. My grandparents more or less worked on trying to rebuild his self confidence and got him to do some night classes in the tech while working in the shop during the day. She made representations about what had happened and wrote to TDs, ministers, bishops and all she ever got was polite replies.
Deebles McBeebles wrote: » I often wonder if it really has died out in all corners of the country. I saw a Christian Brother slap a guy full force across the face in the late 90's. Far as I know nothing was done and he definitely did not lose his job.
SlowBlowin wrote: » Offended again, how does more = only, pretty much the opposite meaning ?
EdgeCase wrote: » There are absolutely no excuses anymore. If you hit a kid as a teacher or even as a parent you can be charged with assault.
gozunda wrote: » Are you offended? Well that's how it was. Btw c you stick to the discussion and maybe not try to be pedantic or whatever? That would be great.
