Memories of corporal punishment

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'm surprised parents didn't complain so.

Even parental attitudes had started to change quite dramatically at that stage in terms of smacking and how harmful it was or at least how utterly useless it was but would have thought they would have had concerns if teachers were still hitting kids at that stage, 10 years after corporal punishment was banned.

While I believe you, I'm still in disbelief if you know what I mean.

Yea but it was very subtle at times. “Light” hitting like stuff with pens flicking ears and knuckles. It definitely happened with regularity- I could name the kids in my class it happened to as they stood beside her desk. It’s clear as day to me. Remember a few times she went too far and she was all remorseful and praising of them after. I’d say she was selective perhaps in what kids she hit as the parents may not have been like my ma would be and came in. This was a school on a small rural town. Even then they still had some authority and possibly the backing of the local bollocks RC priest who was school patron

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Well I know the post could be bad in the 1980's but even a small rural town should have got the memo by 1990 :P

Maybe in her mind this wasn't "corporal punishment" because she didn't use a leather or a cane/metre stick- sounds like she was a right b1tch, up her own backside, total power in a small rural school.

Our school was actually pretty big by small town standards, think there was nearly 200 kids in it.
She was a total skitzo. Could be so nice one part of the day, all affectionate. The next a total nutcase. She was by the far worst I ever had punishment wise.
For all that she was a good teacher in the sense I learned an awful lot with her.

Hunter Warm Lasso wrote: »

Didn't go to school anywhere near when corporal punishment was used but still there was teachers who were cruel owl cnuts.

One teacher when I was in 1st class had a problem with me in particular going toilet. It was an hour before finish one day and she was reading to the class, I had my hand raised for maybe 10-15 minutes and was ignored till I wet myself. When I went home and my mother found out she was livid.

The same in secondary school, a few particular teachers had the art of psychological abuse down to a tea and made little of many of the venerable characters

Total torture was common alright! No wonder so many of us still have “issues”! Catholic punishment mindset hangover

After being in a CBS for primary and most of secondary in the 70s and 80s I didnt mind corporal punishment. What I hated was psycho teachers who made kids life hell

the three worst teachers were all three lay 2xmale 1 female for this (what I only came many years later to see as mental abuse that was rarely physical/corporal. ) . the brothers were harsh but very fair in my experience , you knew why you were getting the stick or the leather. and it kept us in line which taught me a long life lesson.

I can't be the only one feeling sick reading all the accounts of abuse , and that's what it was, against children by glorified Sadists who relished having such power to do as they did and get away with it .
I know some of them were held accountable in later years , but most weren't .
Yes , I'm of that era where it was the "norm" , I don't think anyone in my family didn't suffer at their hands , one way or another .

Thank fcuk times have changed .

Am I losing my mind or are there posts going missing from this thread?

Well f*ck me pink there is no doubt about it.

As if it isn't infuriating enough to be beaten around the head by someone who's being paid to educate you some take-no-risk admin is after quietly binning my post where I named the individual who done it.

Well done Boards. Playing straight into the hands of these low lifes and the establishment behind them.

To put it in context, you have to remember that all those teachers, nuns etc were treated the same (or maybe even worse ) in their own day..and trace it backwards from that. So for them to behave as they did, was nothing new. To add to the mix, you had religious orders recruiting kids as young as 12 year's of age...so as adults, its not surprising that some ( not all though ) turned out as they did. Its easy known that there was not any compo culture in those days... or we would have all left school with nice bank account. In my day,one particular brother had broken the glass in every picture that hung on the walls.. he did this by lifting the unlucky ( on the day) pupil up by the ears, and banging his head off the glass. The broken glass was never replaced, so he just banged your head off the picture then, or the wall beside it. The classrooms in the school were separated by folding glass partitions, so each teacher knew what was happening in the other class rooms, but they never interfered, even the "Good" ones ( and we had a few of these too, but in the minority.) I remember one day when we were playing in the yard during a break, an irate Father, came into the yard, caught a Brother by the throat and pinned him against the wall, He gave the Brother a firm warning that the next time he laid a hand on his child, he would be back, and next time he would beat him so badly his own mother would not recognize him. For all his classroom toughness against kids, he was a coward ( as all bullies are ) But he never even attempted to teach that child again....just ignored him... but never once hit him again. One thing we all learned though, was that there was a price to be paid if you broke the rules ( and sometimes even if you did not...your Family's standing in the community influenced a teacher's behavior towards you ) So when you did leave school, you always knew that there were boundaries, and you had to respect them. It's something that seems to be lacking nowadays.

Deleted User wrote: »

In fairness you can't go around alleging assault and naming people on boards.ie. We could all list off past teachers but back then, it wasn't illegal to administer corporal punishment. You're on dodgy ground naming people.

Back in my day it was in fact illegal. If push came to shove I'd stick to my word in front of any judge. Nothing dodgy about it either as that teacher did get into trouble over this kind of thing before