Girls got paddled too
Posted last week on the Angry Czeck’s blog:
Throughout my public school experience, “corporal punishment” was the prime deterrent to misbehaving. If a classroom became too loud or out-of-control, a teacher only had to pull out her paddle to silence the mob. Rarely did she wield it, although there were some teachers who leaned on the paddle harder than others.
But it was the threat of punishment that proved most effective. If given the option of writing sentences or copying dictionary pages versus three “licks” with the paddle, the former was nearly always chosen over the latter…
Girls were always treated differently than boys. Firstly, it was a singular day indeed when a girl received a paddling. It was like walking outside one night and seeing Halley’s Comet. Secondly, when a girl did get her licks, the force applied was significantly reduced.
I recall one afternoon when a female classmate was to get her corporal punishment. She was led into the hallway like royality on her way to the guillotine. We waited breathlessly for the sound of three smacks. But when she reappeared from the hallway, with no smack to herald her return, we knew we had be gypped. The boys in the class could barely conceal their disdain.
