Things that would pan out differently today...

[the ringo kid]

I remember the discipline of parochial school even now.Morning, before class, Mass. Afternoon, after the school day, Mass again. The nuns patrolled the aisles of the church, carrying yardsticks, & if you got tired of kneeling & tried to rest your posterior against the bench, a nun in ninja mode would creep on you & whack you across that posterior. This is one of my earliest memories of organized MOB ACTIVITY. If you were starting to exhibit wayward tendencies, it was time to visit Father Superior. I never saw this particular device used, & it might have been kept as a form of mental torture, but he kept a spanking machine in his office. Imaging a small metal seat, with the center removed. Four very stiff paintbrushes stuck through, mounted to a belt driven axle. This might be a little hard to believe for some , But I attest that its true. One thing I never understood was why I went to parochial school but my sister always went to public schools...not fair at all!

There, I slightly fixed it for you. I say that because--when I went to Epiphany, we were treated so badly that you'd swear it was the Gambino Crime Family running the joint.

 

[the ringo kid]

In grade school I played football. In west Texas, school football was a big thing. Our coach was Mr. McCain and he looked like Sgt. Carter on steroids.

On afternoon in eighth grade a linemen, Ritchie, and coach McCain got into an argument in the locker room after practice. When coach turned his back and walked off, Ritchie gave him the one finger salute. Ritchie forgot that there was a full-length mirror at the end of the room and coach McCain saw the gesture clearly.

That's when the coach turned on the lineman, grabbed the boy's finger and pulled him over to the toilet and put his hand into the water. Next he took that finger and put it into Ritchie's mouth. Then without saying a word, coach McCain walked out of the locker room.

I gave a "birdie" to a deserving teacher once-and was after school. They got in the bad habit of forcing all students out of the building within 5 minutes of the bell. One particularly hot day, I was scooted out while telling the teacher I needed to use the restroom. She forbit it even though I was starting to cross legs etc-to relieve pressure. I was also thirsty. My last class of the day had me about 100 yards from the nearest place to "go" get relief. I was legit--I needed to GO badly and begged to be let back in. They locked all doors once students were forced outside.

Anyway, this particular ""goddess"" refused my permisson to use the restroom-which was about 30 feet away from the door we were shoved out of. I didnt see the other teacher because of the sunshine outside-dark inside. I flipped that teacher the birdie as she was swaggering away-and basking in the vast power she had. The other teacher saw my giving that street salute. Man o man, that door came unlocked and I was yanked inside faster than a bolt of lightning. On the way to being hauled to Mr. Sherwoods office-I broke away and ran to the restroom barely making it before going. I came outside-also drank my fill of cold water-then frog-marched to Mr. Sherwoods office. However-he was gone and I had to see the Asst principal--who was an ------- to say the least. We called him Penguin--named after the Batman villain.

This jerk would not listen like Mr.Sherwood would have--and expelled me from school for 3 days, then on return--I had a weeks detention-and had to stay after school for an extra hour for a week. Had I seen Mr. Sherwood? he'd have understood the entire situation--not given me any worse punishment than a lecture and to tell me flipping a teacher off may be warranted but--not on his campus. He then would have instructed said teacher to let students have enough time after final bell-to get drinks and use the restroom.

After that incident, we had 20 minutes after the bell-to get whatever from our lockers-to call for rides-etc.

 

[mtgianni]

Senior year of HS 1972 we had just finished gym and were in the showers when the fire alarm went off. Someone yelled "lets go" and 60 of us hit the outside door with nothing on but soap bubbles. We didn't get far. No repercussions IIRC.

 

[BC38]

I just remembered another too. My 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Henry had cats-eye glasses and long nails that seemed to be about 1/8" thick. Whenever you did something that set her off she would get right in your face and start lecturing you while poking you about once a second with her index finger claw - right in the sternum. By the time the lecture ended you'd swear she had drilled your chest right down to the bone.

 

[G.T. Smith]

Exactly

I had a Grizzly Bear of a mother. That teacher would have had a black eye purty durned quick. On the other hand if a spanking had been justified and administered by the teacher, I would have got another one when I got home.

This is my story to the letter. I got a spanking for following another kid out the window. The other kid was not spanked. My mom took me to the school and told the teacher that if I needed a spanking then she would do it and if it happened again, the teacher would be the one on the receiving end. It did not happen again. This was around 1958 or so.
Peace,
Gordon

 

[G.T. Smith]

In high school in 1964, I traded a kid a .22 rifle for a .303 British rifle and we both took them on our buses to school, put them in our lockers then traded then rode home with them on the buses. Nobody cared. The bus driver even told me he had owned one like the .303 and liked it. He said I made a good trade. Probably wouldn't pan out so good nowdays.
Peace,
Gordon

 

[model70hunter]

Rule # 1, pray your folks do not hear about the spanking you got at school. Home punishment is worse.

Rule #2. in the era of paddles with drilled holes keepa your mouth shut.

Rule #3. Never sit next to the class clown. Class clown punishment can sometimes have collateral damage. You know, 2 spankings for the price of one.

I went to school with a guy named Donald. He delighted in getting a spanking everyday from every teacher who spanked.

His Dad ran off and left his mother with a bunch of kids to raise. I now know Donald used comedy to detract from his thread bare clothes.

Oddly enough his last name was very close to beathim, odd he was beat so often. He would laugh while the teacher whailed away.

In the 8th grde we got a new teach, 1st year, had his UK fraternity paddle, no talking in his class or else. Beathim fired up and the 1st spanking made a believer of Donald. The guy swung for the fences, knocked Donald into the wall, than gave him the next 2 with Donald braced against the desk.

He would spank either sex. One day a girl next to me was yakking to her friend an isle over, I was quiet and serial as they used to say.

Teach spun around and said I heard you talking get down here, we all looked at her, we knew she was going to get the Babe Ruth swing like all before her, she turned beet red, Teach said now, she did not move, I remember this clearly, he looked at the seating chart and said DUANE DOWN HERE NOW. I said I was not talking, you have the wrong person, he said now, well 2 swats from him hurt like hello. He got to taking the girls out in the hall and having them pull up their dress and their panties was the only cushion, this got him fired and barred from teaching.

Now if I ran across a guy carrying a UK fraternity paddle with 1959 or so on it an he was a skinny little jerk and he admitted to teaching in my school in 1959, I might wear out the paddle on him. I'm waiting, get down here now Mr child beater...

 

[grizz700]

We had several old school teachers that would discipline students. Usually with the yard stick to the back of the hand or head or arm or just about any other part of your body. Or there were the female teachers that would quietly walk up behind you and smack you on the back of your head with their hand. But the one that stood out was our P.E. teacher that packed Big Red. We had a guy that today would have been a candidate for meds. He was wired very tight, always in trouble for one thing or another. One day after P.E. we were just getting out of the showers when the teacher hollered for this kid to get over to his office in the locker room as he was getting out of the showers. He walked over and was told to grab his ankles. nothing there but a bare wet butt. You could here the air swooshing as it hit him on the rear and he was lifted about 6" off the ground. The teacher turned and went back in his office and I don't remember anything ever happening to the teacher for that. He left after that year, but we had a lot of 1 year teachers anyhow so I don't know if he left because he had to or just moved on. This was back in the early 70s.

 

[the ringo kid]

In high school in 1964, I traded a kid a .22 rifle for a .303 British rifle and we both took them on our buses to school, put them in our lockers then traded then rode home with them on the buses. Nobody cared. The bus driver even told me he had owned one like the .303 and liked it. He said I made a good trade. Probably wouldn't pan out so good nowdays.
Peace,
Gordon

I too remember the great days bringing long guns to school. We all who had cars--also had racks with various rifles in them. If one brought into a building? you could take it class to class-or leave it at the Principals office. The only rules--no rounds in chambers-and you had to lean it against the wall nearest your desk. Now? they'd absolutely freak out about it.

 

[CCantu357]

When I was in kindergarten in the early 1990s my teacher -an older black lady- would often use the ruler on our hands when we were out of line. Looking back, considering how young we were and the fact it was 1992 I am surprised there was no big deal made of it. I think her methods were literally "grandmothered" in. The ruler method was much more effective at teaching respect for elders than some silly time out.

 

[NYlakesider]

When I was in kindergarten in the early 1990s my teacher -an older black lady- would often use the ruler on our hands when we were out of line. Looking back, considering how young we were and the fact it was 1992 I am surprised there was no big deal made of it. I think her methods were literally "grandmothered" in. The ruler method was much more effective at teaching respect for elders than some silly time out.

Man that was SOP for both Catholic schools that I went to and any Catholic school I ever heard of in the 50s-60s. Optional weaponry for the nuns was a long pointer.

 

[Ed Fowler]

5th grade, Truman had fired MacArthur our 5th grade teacher asked us what we thought. MacArthur was one of my heroes at the time, I said we should impeach Truman! I got to write a 100 word theme on impeachment, then a 500 word theme then a 1,000 word theme, each time he asked if I still felt we should impeach Truman, I said YES.

I got to stand at the black board for 2 weeks with my nose in a circle that dictated that I stand on my tip toes. He would ask if I still thought we should impeach Truman and I always said yes, and received a swat on the fanny with his yard stick.

Finally one day the principal came into the room and asked my why I was standing at the black board, I said "because I feel we should impeach Truman for firing MacArthur." He asked the teacher to accompany him to the hallway and when the teacher got back I got a number of swats with the yard stick and sent back to my desk.

I learned a lot in 5th grade!!! Always wanted to meet up with that teacher again but don't know where he went.

 

[cmort666]

5th grade, Truman had fired MacArthur our 5th grade teacher asked us what we thought. MacArthur was one of my heroes at the time, I said we should impeach Truman! I got to write a 100 word theme on impeachment, then a 500 word theme then a 1,000 word theme, each time he asked if I still felt we should impeach Truman, I said YES.

While I agree 100% with Truman's decision to relieve Truman, I have a real problem with political opinions being IMPOSED from above, ESPECIALLY by violence.

I'm sure that teacher would have loved being in the Soviet school system... until his third cousin a thousand miles away got arrested as a "Polish spy" and one day HE just didn't show up to teach, and his picture got cut out of ALL of the school yearbooks...

 

[eveled]

I have heard similar stories from my mother and her siblings. But my grandmother has told me she went to the school and straightened the teachers out, but the kids never new. Even though she disagreed with the discipline, she would not undermine the authority. Out of respect for the authority.

That is the difference today, the kids know what the teachers can and cannot do.

 

[Dave_n]

In high school in the UK, if you visited the headmaster, you were facing his "Gallery of Dueling Pistols" whilst you were "persuaded of the error of your ways!" That was in the middle 1950s, not in today's UK. Dave_n

 

[Ed Fowler]

The lesson I learned that year taught me that authority must earn respect or it is nothing but tyranny. It was probably one of the most valuable lessons from my school days.

 

[Inusuit]

This is not in line with the previous posts, but when I was in junior high in 1956-57, our science teacher kept several .22 rifles in a cabinet in the school room. With a note from your parents, you could check one of those rifles out for the weekend and buy some standard velocity .22 cartridges from him for 50 cents a box. Just couldn't take the rifle home on the school bus.

Today, kids get suspended for pointing a finger and saying bang bang.

In high school, every kid in the vocational agriculture program, and many others, carried a pocket knife. You were considered a bit odd if you didn't.

Yes, it would all pan out differently today.

 

[Huskerguy]

Attended public school for first three years in Junction City, KS which is home to a military base. The things I remember most are keeping my head shaved because I was constantly getting stitches in my head. We lived in a trailer court that was all white with a uppity private one right next door and a all black one around the corner. Everyone fought and you were getting jumped all of the time coming home from school. It was a way of life.

Moved to small town in Nebraska after parents divorced. Mother insisted on Catholic school. Worst 4 years of my life. My ears must be two inches longer from being twisted. Knuckles banged with rulers and I saw kids desks tipped over and things thrown all over. I hated that place with a passion and still do today and I am almost 63 years old.

Mom remarried and we moved to a really small rural town in Nebraska that apparently had a hard time hiring teachers because they came for two years, screwed around (sometimes literally) and left, never to be heard of again. We dislike nearly all of the teachers, it was a common malady and we frankly made fun of them, had names for each of them.

One particular teacher was the ultimate jerk and was the English teacher. He had each of us write about others at school and then he would read them out loud to other classes when they contained things about us. Made me furious. We would make fun of the way he laughed while we were in the lunch room, sometimes pretty loud so he would know what was going on. I was generally in trouble, that was my nature in those days. One day one of the "goody twoshoes" kids was sitting with us at lunch and started imitating the teacher really loudly. I could see the teacher and he was getting madder and madder and his face kept getting redder and redder. He was a huge guy, forearms like a gorilla. He came over to our table and pointed at me and said to come to his room after lunch. I hadn't done a thing, perhaps one of the few times.

So I walk into his room all confident and cocky and he asked me what I was doing and I said nothing and then proceeded to tell him he has it in for me because of my long hair which he admitted was true. So sat in the old desk with one way in and one way out and not backing down from him. He told me to leave and as I got up and walked away I looked and my buddies were at the door looking in through the window and I made one last smart remark about picking on me and about that time I had opened the door and the guys started to scatter because I didn't hear him coming up from behind me. He grabbed me on the back of the shirt and threw me across the room and I hit several desks as I slide across the room. Desks went everywhere and I was laying on my back with a desk on top of me holding it as he was standing over me with one of his patented thick yard sticks he use to shatter on desks and with his tie flipped across his shoulder and his arm raise all I could see was his beat red face and hear him breathing. He caught himself and told me to get out.

Several years later I heard about some **** he pulled with the girls in my class. What a sick o.

All of this in the back drop that I then spent 32 years in education as a teacher and administrator. I never wanted people like that around kids as long as I lived. I still have ill feelings towards many of those teachers now that I know what works and what does not.

 

[cmort666]

Moved to small town in Nebraska after parents divorced. Mother insisted on Catholic school. Worst 4 years of my life. My ears must be two inches longer from being twisted. Knuckles banged with rulers and I saw kids desks tipped over and things thrown all over. I hated that place with a passion and still do today and I am almost 63 years old.

Unfortunately in Chicago in the '60s, you had three choices:

1. Catholic School
2. Ida Crown Jewish Academy
3. Illiteracy

If I hadn't gone to Catholic school, I might have ended up in the same shape as a classmate who transferred in from public school, namely being unable to read "The End" at the end of a film strip. Coincidentally, he was reading at least at grade level by the time we graduated.