The Library of Spanking Fiction: Wellred Weekly


Wellred Weekly
Volume 1, Number 5 : February 7, 2012
 
Articles
Items of interest regarding all things spanking

Recollections: A Canadian Perspective
by Canadian Spankee

My first recollection of corporal punishment in schools was when I was in grade two. The boy sitting in front of me did something I have long since forgotten, but he had apparently been warned several times not to do whatever it was. The teacher pulled her chair around to the front of her desk and called the hapless young boy up to the front of the class. With twenty-eight pairs of eyes watching he was placed over her lap and given around a dozen spanks with her hand. I recall thinking that this was one teacher I did not want to annoy!

In the elementary schools most teachers used their hand to deliver punishments, but if one got into serious trouble the principal administered the strap across the hands. I remember talk among my classmates saying they would prefer the strap any time, mostly because one was not in front of an entire class and would probably receive less total smacks than from an angry teacher.

There was nothing special about the strap in most of the schools; it was usually made of webbing and attached to a handle by rivets. It did little to strike fear in any of the boys I hung around with - except for the fact that our parents would be informed of the event and that meant trouble at home. Spankings given in the classroom were rarely communicated to the parents unless the teacher brought it up at parent/teacher interviews. We always tried to make sure we did not get spanked too close to that particular night for fear of what would be in store from our parents once we got home.

In grade six in Winnipeg I attended an Elementary School along with a lot of other army brats, as we were called. I cannot recall the name of the teacher at the time, but her method of discipline was fairly simple. If one did not complete a homework assignment you got sent to the last desk in your row which was never occupied by a student. One bent over the desk and the teacher assigned a row of students to walk past you. As they did so, all of them gave you a slap on the butt. Some students would not slap hard however among the boys at times it became a competition as to who could give the hardest slap or who could take the hardest slap.

Anyone caught seriously disobeying the rules was bent over the desk and the whole class got to line up and give one slap each as they passed. Everyone always used their hand but with an average of twenty-eight students in the class there was a good possibility one would have tears in their eyes before the class finished. These punishments were equally applied to boys and girls, although I cannot remember one girl who ever got it from the entire class.

The Junior High I attended was a public school in Alberta where the only punishment was carried out in the principal's office with a strap. I managed to get strapped only once in grade eight when the principal suddenly appeared behind me as I was drawing pictures in my textbook instead of doing the assigned work. I got three on each hand and a lot more from my parents when I got home that night after presenting to them the required note for signing.

Halfway through Grade 10 I went to a Junior/Senior High in British Columbia. This was the strictest school I attended. All the teachers carried wooden paddles about two feet in length and about half an inch thick. The strap was also given in the principal's office, however few students were ever sent there. The only two students I knew who did get sent to the office were strapped and expelled for a week, so one tried to ensure punishment was done at the classroom level if possible. The grade 10 boys had the job of making extra paddles as their first assignment in woodwork class. If they failed in that assignment they got to be the test subject for several of the paddles made by other boys in the class.

All the teachers applied the paddle to any boy in the school. The girls were exempt but instead had to write an essay with a minimum length of a thousand words. Many girls expressed the idea that they thought the system was extremely unfair and often asked to be paddled instead, but they were always refused.

Our parents knew of the paddle in the school. None ever complained about their boys getting paddled, and often reinforced the paddling at home if they found out about it. The only way a parent found out was if they saw the marks across their children's butt, and most of us were really careful to make sure our parents had no chance of seeing the evidence.

A lot of our classes, like mathematics, were split into separate groups for boys and girls. There was a mistaken belief in the school that girls were slower at math then boys. That belief also caused a lot of complaints from the girls but we often referred to it to show just how much smarter we boys were than girls. This was always done in fun, no boy wanted all the girls in his grade too mad at him - the school dances would be a disaster if that happened.

I recall one grade 8 class of boys who apparently had not behaved during class. To get out for for lunch that day, each of the boys had to bend over at the door and the teacher applied the paddle once over their bottoms to assist them out of the classroom. It was very common for the boy to jump ahead at least several inches whilst bent over holding his knees. By the time the class was out a small crowd had gathered and laughter was heard throughout the school.

The paddle was used for any reason the teacher thought appropriate. There was no consistency among the teachers, just whatever the teacher felt at the time. There were certain teachers who never let a single day go by without using their paddles at least three times. One in that school quickly learned which teachers to avoid making mad and which ones were less likely to paddle your bottom.

The teacher could apply up to six strokes at one setting, if they felt six was not enough, one got six at noon and then six just after school ended for the day. There were many new students whose parents were in the military and one was always amused to see a new student quickly learn that what they got away with in their previous schools warranted a paddling in this one.

When I left in the mid sixties the school still had the same rules. I can tell you that in that school during my time, there was little swearing, no disrespect to any teacher or many other things one sees in the school system today. During my years in schools around the military camps in Canada, spankings were common in the school and most parents would spank one again at home. It was a time when spanking kids was what happened, especially to boys.
 
26 comments:
bendover said...
Great write-up, CS. Those were the days.

B
7 February 2012 20:59
blimp said...
Now don't try and tell me those were the good old days, CS. Interesting article though.
7 February 2012 22:14
Janine said...
That was really interesting, CS! I thought the practice of having the other students spank as they passed by the student at the end of the row to be especially memorable. Sounds like you changed schools and locations a lot as a child! Life as a military brat, huh? :)
20 February 2012 14:41
TheEnglishMaster said...
Thanks, CS - this is a really interesting, personal account. With your nomadic life, you certainly got to experience different types of regime. It's interesting how random it all was, too - as well, of course, as how it was casually assumed to be such a natural, harmless, everyday thing to do! I would imagine CP was also rather more common and accepted in military circles.
20 February 2012 21:28
BrianWilkes said...
Thanks for sharing. I went to school in some of the same areas that you did, albeit rather later. Corporal punishment was never a threat while I was enrolled, but it's very interesting to read your reminiscences of it. Thanks again.
29 May 2012 18:42
turk said...
Very nice explanation of the environment in several locations in Canada. The strap did not seem to strike fear but the paddles were unique, good description and analysis. Turk.
17 April 2013 21:07
virginiacherry said...
Thanks. I'd be one of the girls complaining.
18 April 2013 01:22
paddlerouge said...
That really seems like a school to tutor the spankers of the next generation. I was at schools were the cane was used but never to that level as far as I know. I was a goody two shoes!!
18 April 2013 02:38
cindy2 said...
Thank you for the well-written and very interesting story, CS. Perhaps running the gauntlet where a student's bottom is warmed by the strokes of other students in the class is a way that child survives the cold Canadian winters.

You mentioned in one school, the girls were exempt from the paddle but were required to write a 1,000 word essay. Perhaps the girls should have been required to describe in their essay the punishment of the boys. With so much experience under their belt, those who chose to, upon reaching adulthood, could obtain library cards at the LSF and almost immediately be seasoned writers of spanking stories.
18 April 2013 03:26
MichaelT said...
Thanks for a very interesting recollection. I have always associated Canadian punishments with the strap and did not realize that the paddle was also used in schools there.
18 April 2013 13:38
redstar said...
Hi, thanks for the recollections. I just can't fathom this idea of 'spanked at school means spanked at home'. Two punishments for the same misdemeanour is quite unfair. If my parents had treated me like that I would have lost a lot of respect for them/.
19 April 2013 12:38
Cal33 said...
Okay, so now I see why Canadians are always so polite and well-behaved.
20 April 2013 14:52
Dream said...
Thank you for recollections. I liked the idea of the class lining up to give a slap; it must be fun for everyone except the spanked one :)
2 May 2013 17:57
CarolinaPaddler said...
It was a different day and time. Thanks CS for this excellent account.
7 May 2013 14:02
Goodgulf said...
Someone once said "the past is a foreign country" to indicate the differences between now and then. We can't visit it but it is always interesting to hear how things once were.
8 May 2013 19:45
Guy said...
I went to school just south of the border. Spankings and/or paddlings happened in all school grades, but not nearly as frequently as what you describe.

In elementary school we also had hand punishments (with a ruler). The one time it happened to me it was more of a symbolic punishment. I'm sure I must have felt it, but there was no memorable pain. I certainly felt no after-effects.

Thanks for the writeup CS.
19 May 2013 01:19
bearbottom0228 said...
Paddlings were common in my public schools (in USA) as well. Thanks for the trip down memory lane (and for all the fantastic fiction you write!).
30 July 2013 16:04
islandcarol said...
Yes, life was different in the 60s. My k-8 experience was similiar to yours. the diocese split the boys and girls in Highschool. What was interesting was the boys were still paddled, hard.
There was not paddling or hand strapping in the girls school. We speculated that with the high pregnancy rate, girls might miscarry if spanked.
8 September 2013 00:14
Backbeat said...
This article pretty much reflects my experience as well, as a boy in public school in the mid-60's in Ontario. I don't remember an paddling in school, but the occasional teacher would spank in class (on rare occasions only) and the strap across the hands in the principal's office was not uncommon. I remember one or two times where seriously delinquent girls 12 or 13 years old allegedly got the strap, but otherwise this was pretty much an all-boys domain. I also remember two memorable occasions around grade 4 or 5 when a boy made the mistake of hitting a girl on the schoolyard...He was hauled up to the front of the class after recess, put across the teacher's knees and all the girls in the class were invited to line up and take a swat, which they did with obvious glee. Of course, I myself was never party to any of these punishments since I was always obsessively "good" in school, the exception being birthday spankings. I think my grade 3 teacher must have been a closet spanko herself since she made a point of giving birthday spankings (to both boys and girls) in front of the class...and I was clearly a spanko myself, even at age 8, since I remember making sure that she was reminded when my birthday was coming up! After the morning announcements, she would announce the recipient's birthday, hauled out her chair in front of her desk so the whole class had a good view, and would call you up to go across her lap. I remember she gave you a choice between her hand and the yardstick...I chose the yardstick, but she threw in one or two really hard swats with her hand by surprise just for good measure. Alas, that was my only experience of CP in school, but it's burned solidly in my mind as if it was only yesterday. Nowadays, of course, she would be tossed into prison immediately and they'd throw away the key. Oddly enough, at the time it only seemed like harmless fun, and I can certainly attest that the class found these events endlessly entertaining. I guess those were the good old days...
8 September 2013 14:26
liverpool said...
I never got spanked in school but did at home a lot thanks for your account of your school days
20 September 2013 22:14
reader68 said...
A good highly informative article.
15 November 2014 22:10
dougmorton said...
While I began attending school in the early 40's near Minneapolis, MN, none of them practiced cp, unfortunately. Not that it was against the law in Minnesota. Count yourself lucky, CS. I enjoyed reading about your various experiences with school spankings.
14 August 2017 23:29
Often123 said...
Thanks for the recollection, CS. I did get the yardstick several times in school.
Now the teacher in your first paragraph who delivered spankings OTK with her hand intrigues me.
30 August 2017 07:11
reader68 said...
Good article! A very different time indeed!
15 November 2017 23:49
sueheinz said...
Great article,but I think you really underestimated the effectiveness of the strap. It was a nasty device in the hands of a skilled teacher. Extra scary because it was designed solely for punishment unlike repurposed items such as hairbrushes or belts.
7 February 2019 17:38
JohnCook said...
When did this happen? The 50s, 60s, or 70s?
30 March 2019 22:34

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