“Did You Get The Belt At School?”
A discussion in late 2008 on a board for Glaswegians started with a contributor posting “a sample of official regulations for the use of the belt in Scottish schools” that they’d “found on the web”:
1. The punishment should be inflicted in front of other pupils in order to act a deterrent.
2. The pupil should be called to the front of the class and told to hold out one hand, palm uppermost, and supported by the other hand. This makes it more difficult for the boy to move his hand away during the infliction of the cuts.
3. If the teacher is inexperienced he should hold the belt midway along the handle to give better control. Otherwise, the belt should be held towards the end to maximise its swing.
4. Prior to each stroke the tails should be rested lengthways on the pupil’s upturned palm. This allows the teacher to judge the stroke.
5. The belt should be drawn back over the teacher’s shoulder and brought down on to the pupil’s palm with some force, so that the tails strike the fingers and palm.
6. If more than one stroke is to be given, the pupil should be briskly ordered to ’swap hands!’. When the pupil offers his other palm the second stroke should be given, once again with force, and this process should be repeated until the allotted punishment has been completed.
Isobel commented that: “Yes I can remember getting the belt on a couple of occasions. Don’t think it did me any harm.”. Linda went into more detail:
I regularly got the belt both in high school as well as primary school & always for talking or being late to class[I never felt these were belting offences so always felt unfairly treated plus I copped many a belting by a few teachers mistaking my identity].I sometimes even got the belt when others were talking as the teachers always said the listener is the encourager of the talker so yeah Ive had many a hard time with teachers & the dreadful belt.Some were Black or Brown, thin & some were thick two prong three prongs etc .
After reading the belt rules I don’t think I ever met a single teacher that utelised the exact rules when belting me ,I regularly got the belt on the same hand & my hands were always side by side as though one were about to cup ones hands, it was a fierce & very brutal way to recieve the belt as both hands would feel the licks of the prongs at the end underneath their hand/hands or on the wrist & arm too so No I don’t believe the belt is a good idea as the pain in ones mind lasts a lifetime no matter what I don’t think the lessons need to be a life time in nature.
Petalpeeps added:
I too got the belt at school a few times , usually for something silly , that wouldn’t even be considered naughty nowadays… There were times i was scared to answer my parents in case i said the wrong thing , or answered the wrong way and got belted . I was brought up at the end of a leather belt.”
And Jeani gave a detailed description:
many years ago when i was in glenwood i was given the belt by mr. doyle (maths teacher) , a few of us had not finished our homework in time so he picked me to belt to set an example to the class (why only me ? i dont know , but have often wondered over the years ) just for the record most of the others were boys !! he belted me twice on both hands, my wrists had welts for days, he was a large man ! i am still only 5 feet tall now, yes i was scared, and hurt and bewildered, he sneared afterwards and asked if i had learned my lesson, !!!!
