Did teachers hit students in your school growing up?

[noisyturtle]

I was telling someone it happened all the time growing up in the 80s and parents were mostly OK with it. I distinctly remember one teacher who would leave welts on kids thighs from hitting them with a chalk stick, and every time we would tell our parents their response would be, "What did you do?" It seemed common in the 80s, but then again that was a long time ago.

[fohat.digs]

Yes, of course they did. But I went to school in the 1950s and 1960s (college in the 1970s).

In Junior High, the assistant principal (the Enforcer) had 2 paddles: a regular one, and one with holes in it. From acquaintances of mine who experienced both, the one with holes was more painful, presumably because it could develop more speed on the swing because of better air flow.

[rowdy]

Yes, but not that often.  Those who got caned really deserved it.

[tp4tissue]

Hahahahahaha....

Grew up in china..

The teachers back then most definitely did..  I think even today, it's common.


One of my buddy got a whoopn' I think it was kindergarten.


Most of the kids thought it was unjust..    SO ol' Tp4 waited an entire semester, snuck back into the classroom during recess, broke the teacher's glasses,  and set them neatly back into the case.

(this was a big deal back in the day, because glasses were extremely expensive to replace)


Don't worry, it's one of them air-head teachers who were little more than babysitters.,  not a wise ol' woman trying to better youth..

[SBJ]

My wife had a teacher that would walk around with a stick and hit their tables with it, it made a lot of noise and really scared the children in that class.
But as far as actually hitting them; no.

[Duckyreddy]

The worst I got was a blackboard eraser on the forehead and a bamboo stick to my palm.
This was Elementary school.   )

[kiwi99]

I'm not even that old and in french school I got hit on the hands/wrist sometimes 

[Findecanor]

I'm from Sweden. Back in the late '80s, I twice got manhandled by the neck: once removed from a class, and once dragged into a classroom by a teacher who had spotted me out of class.

Today, that kind of treatment is borderline illegal, mainly because of how parents have become more sensitive. There was a recent case of a teacher just holding a troublesome pupil, which got to trial — which the teacher rightfully won.

Actual corporal punishment in schools has been illegal since the 1950's. Parents hitting their kids became illegal in 1979 if I'm not mistaken.

[chyros]

Hah, no ****ing way, they'd have gotten fired immediately.

[clappingcactus]

Yeah, got multiple slaps. One time a meter stick on the side of my arm repeatedly. One teacher actually made me stand outside in terrible weather, and to make sure I did it, she stood with me.

As ****ed up as it sounds, the punishment usually scaled evenly with my misbehavior so I never saw it as something I didn't deserve. Though I could totally see that it also wasn't necessary at all. It's not like I knew I did something wrong because I was punished for it.

[chyros]

We once had a Singaporean exchange stude.t who said she couldn't imagine raising children without caning them.

I mean, what the hell?

[dante]

Regarding the 80's/very early 90's No.  At that time we weren't terrified of the teachers we were terrified of our parents.  The moment my dad started pulling out his belt I was already in another zipcode.

I did however have a teacher in High School that used the word dago once.  A day or two later he apologized to the class and that was that.

[algernon]

Attended school in the 80s/90s, no teacher I know of ever hit any of their students. There was no need to, either. Those who they could have used force on, wouldn't have learned anything from it anyway, the rest of us were easy to put into place with non-violent punishments. Like, if someone was clearly not behaving, teachers made the entire class write a sudden test on the spot, with stricter grading rules. The class as a whole then took care of the baddies, persuaded them not to do things that result in even more tests. This involved lots of shouting at times, having them sit alone at lunch, or a week of silent-treatment, and only very rarely violence (in which case everyone was punished with more tests again ).

Worked reasonably well, in my opinion. Teachers also encouraged forgiving the culprits, if they learned their lesson, so there's that too.

[tp4tissue]

Attended school in the 80s/90s, no teacher I know of ever hit any of their students. There was no need to, either. Those who they could have used force on, wouldn't have learned anything from it anyway, the rest of us were easy to put into place with non-violent punishments. Like, if someone was clearly not behaving, teachers made the entire class write a sudden test on the spot, with stricter grading rules. The class as a whole then took care of the baddies, persuaded them not to do things that result in even more tests. This involved lots of shouting at times, having them sit alone at lunch, or a week of silent-treatment, and only very rarely violence (in which case everyone was punished with more tests again ).

Worked reasonably well, in my opinion. Teachers also encouraged forgiving the culprits, if they learned their lesson, so there's that too.

What they've eventually found out..

Is that THAT type of psychological punishment often create more life long damage, leading to things like stress disorders, maladaptive coping methods (drugs, alcohol, etc).

So, overall.. alot of people have a misunderstanding that physical violence is the worst.. Well now we know it is absolutely NOT the worst..

Both from school psychology experimentation and prison experimentation.

[algernon]

What they've eventually found out..

Is that THAT type of psychological punishment often create more life long damage, leading to things like stress disorders, maladaptive coping methods (drugs, alcohol, etc).

So, overall.. alot of people have a misunderstanding that physical violence is the worst.. Well now we know it is absolutely NOT the worst..

Both from school psychology experimentation and prison experimentation.

I don't think it necessarily leads to more life long damage. If you let it go out of control - yes, definitely. One has to strike a balance, as with everything. Mind you, I still maintain that violence is very, very, very rarely the proper course of action. And when it is, it is most useful when applied by someone the subject trusts or respects. Kids in school who'd deserve a slap rarely respect their teachers, I found. A slap, or anything like that coming from someone you don't respect just adds fuel to the fire. Let your Mom spank you, and that's a whole different thing.

[tp4tissue]

What they've eventually found out..

Is that THAT type of psychological punishment often create more life long damage, leading to things like stress disorders, maladaptive coping methods (drugs, alcohol, etc).

So, overall.. alot of people have a misunderstanding that physical violence is the worst.. Well now we know it is absolutely NOT the worst..

Both from school psychology experimentation and prison experimentation.

I don't think it necessarily leads to more life long damage. If you let it go out of control - yes, definitely. One has to strike a balance, as with everything. Mind you, I still maintain that violence is very, very, very rarely the proper course of action. And when it is, it is most useful when applied by someone the subject trusts or respects. Kids in school who'd deserve a slap rarely respect their teachers, I found. A slap, or anything like that coming from someone you don't respect just adds fuel to the fire. Let your Mom spank you, and that's a whole different thing.

algernon,   the perceptions you have is same general knowledge that we've all operated under.. and they know now, there are complexities and consequences to it which are very different from our average prediction.


A consequence as perceived by an adult (such as a slap, or standing facing the wall in front of classmates) is not received the same way by young people. They do not have the same mental faculties to deal with high levels of stress.

[chyros]

Attended school in the 80s/90s, no teacher I know of ever hit any of their students. There was no need to, either. Those who they could have used force on, wouldn't have learned anything from it anyway, the rest of us were easy to put into place with non-violent punishments. Like, if someone was clearly not behaving, teachers made the entire class write a sudden test on the spot, with stricter grading rules. The class as a whole then took care of the baddies, persuaded them not to do things that result in even more tests. This involved lots of shouting at times, having them sit alone at lunch, or a week of silent-treatment, and only very rarely violence (in which case everyone was punished with more tests again ).

Worked reasonably well, in my opinion. Teachers also encouraged forgiving the culprits, if they learned their lesson, so there's that too.

So you're basically my age and your dad BELTED you?! Oo

[ygor]

Only sexually.

[tp4tissue]

So you're basically my age and your dad BELTED you?! Oo

I don't even understand how belting works..  I've tried using my own belt as a whip once.. and almost hit myself in the eye..

[xtrafrood]

One teacher in High School would drop a book just right for optimal echo to wake someone up. Mostly funny moments like that--no slaps on the hands in elementary iirc. Early 90s Florida.

[fohat.digs]

So you're basically my age and your dad BELTED you?

Times change. My father spanked me with his belt, but I never did it to my son.

I am not sure whether it is better or worse. He didn't do it often, and I almost always deserved it.

PS - he had a beautiful and unusual belt buckle that I inherited and wear every day now

[tp4tissue]

So you're basically my age and your dad BELTED you?

Times change. My father spanked me with his belt, but I never did it to my son.

I am not sure whether it is better or worse. He didn't do it often, and I almost always deserved it.

PS - he had a beautiful and unusual belt buckle that I inherited and wear every day now

Hahahaha.. while it is the case, that the net effect of your father's influence on your life, feeding you, teaching you --stuff-- is positive..   You can't use that to justify physically beating you.


That's the same as battered wives clinging onto marriage because they believe (net positive) that their husbands --Love them-- and brings home food....


You've fallen for the same trap..



Hahahahahahahahahaha

[tp4tissue]

Although,  I've always wondered,  Technically,  it should be possible to quantify HOW MUCH positive offset is required to justify physical abuse..

Of course no one would ever fund that research hypothesis..   Except perhaps Monsanto or Phillipe Morris or Pfizer,  oh wait..  hang on.. makn' some fone callz.


Hahahahahahhaahhaaha

[iLLucionist]

Although,  I've always wondered,  Technically,  it should be possible to quantify HOW MUCH positive offset is required to justify physical abuse..

Of course no one would ever fund that research hypothesis..   Except perhaps Monsanto or Phillipe Morris or Pfizer,  oh wait..  hang on.. makn' some fone callz.


Hahahahahahhaahhaaha

This might interest you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

[iLLucionist]

In my school, I HIT TEACHER

[chyros]

So you're basically my age and your dad BELTED you?

Times change. My father spanked me with his belt, but I never did it to my son.

I am not sure whether it is better or worse. He didn't do it often, and I almost always deserved it.

Nobody deserves beating, especially as a kid. There's been tons of research on it and it all points to kids associating solving problems with violence, and obeying their parents actually less. Basically if you beat your kids regularly, you're ****ing up their future :/ .

[dante]

In my school, I HIT TEACHER

In Russia the building hits the student.

[tp4tissue]

This might interest you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

I don't think these are totally valid.. because they don't give people the TIME to think.

They're operating under instincts.. and everything is really fast..


If you pushed one person to do something really quick,  the rapidity confounds the experiment, because it may impart that the Pain is large, yet the duration is short,   Multiplying out to be a smaller (perceived net effect).


We'd really have to break significant ethical boundaries if we want to REALLY find out,  how much good offsets bad.

[kurplop]

 

So you're basically my age and your dad BELTED you?

Times change. My father spanked me with his belt, but I never did it to my son.

I am not sure whether it is better or worse. He didn't do it often, and I almost always deserved it.

PS - he had a beautiful and unusual belt buckle that I inherited and wear every day now

I find myself in the awkward position of sharing the same sentiment as Fohat ; that of uncertainty.

 Over the years I've  see the latest and greatest technique for raising children soon wind up on the scrapheap of failed good intentions . Many young parents and teachers subscribe to them with an almost condescending attitude toward the last generation's methods. Rest assured, in 20 years their own children will expose the folly of their parent's technique as they try a still newer and even more improved method. Along the way, subsequent generations seem to have at least as many maladjustments as the last. The poor self esteem of the past has been replaced with delusions of grandeur. Inadequacy with indifference. Fear of authority with anarchy. Not that all suffer these fates; we are a resilient bunch and most make it.

Maybe the biggest oversight is in thinking that there is a one-size-fits-all solution. Different tasks and situations require a full repertoire of methods. I've seen parents and teachers skillfully de-escalate situations by redirection before the occasion requires severe action. If time-out works, then no needs for spankings. Better the carrot than the stick. One thing that complicates analysis is that children are different. Good parenting sometimes results in difficult children and bad parenting sometimes produce saints.

I'm not against spankings by parents and, with parents permission, even by others. I think it should be a rare option though and almost always unnecessary. 

[9999hp]

During the 90's in elementary school was the last time I remember spanking in schools. I still remember one exchange I had with another kid on my on my way from the principal's office. I didn't get spanked that particular time, but he thought he was being slick and stuffed paper towels in his pants. He came back to gym class sobbing. We also had the rumor floating around about the principal's aerodynamic paddle. I didn't get it used on me, however I saw it on a stand he had in his office more than once.

I was spanked at home as well. I don't really know the effectiveness of it. Obviously, it worked in the moment however, I think it just desensitized myself to the idea that violence was: 1) An acceptable way to deal with problems and or confrontation 2) Desensitized myself to that form punishment and eventually became ineffective.

So of course, there were problems. Fighting occurred often, and even if violence was supposed to be the deterrent it didn't stop me. Which led to a string of events and influences that probably weren't for the best.

Overall, I'd say I'm in between how I feel about it. On one hand, I don't think people should fear violence as a deterrent to any societal rebelliousness or going against the grain. Think like me or I'll hurt you. Now, it could be said that stems from being punished that way. I think there are definitely problems sourced from adults who are both unfamiliar with both violence as a deterrent and those who fear acting out of expectations will result in violence.

I think withdrawal of money (resources in general) is more effective at treating bad behavior. I think any kid that received an allowance, and getting in trouble meant the difference between having a cool new Power Ranger toy or not, would adjust their behavior. Then again, I don't like that option either.  And neither is that option 100% effective.

Even reasoning with a kid can be both effective or a waste of time. I know there were occasions where I would decide that the potential for punishment or the consequences were in fact justified by whatever reasoning or desire was determined logical for varying circumstances.

It's almost like all kids are different /s

Perspective might be the best, and humbling exposure. Strong moral foundations rooted in experience.

[fohat.digs]

I was spanked at home as well. I don't really know the effectiveness of it.

Even reasoning with a kid can be both effective or a waste of time. I know there were occasions where I would decide that the potential for punishment or the consequences were in fact justified by whatever reasoning or desire was determined logical for varying circumstances.

In retrospect, I wish that I had used quick, light corporal punishment on my kids (eg a quick swat on the butt) when they were little (<5) as an immediate deterrent and gone to psychological punishments exclusively thereafter. I think that I received perhaps 2-3 painful spankings "with the belt" after the time that I had started school, with the last one at age no more than 9, and by then the mental humiliation was a greater punishment than the physical pain anyway.

My father also had an excellent technique that he used (but I never used) even well into our teenage years, and it was very effective because it was instantaneous, silent, and subtle.

It was also entirely appropriate in public, for example standing in line at a movie theater. He would flick us with his middle finger, hard, once, in the center of our forehead.
It hurt, and got our attention, but hardly anyone else ever even noticed.

[kokokoy]

In the 70's during my brothers time, it's normal in our elementary school to get hit. They even have this were students hold books on both stretched-out hands while kneeling for a few minutes. But by the 80's during my turn, it mellow down to just flying chalk, eraser or ear pinching. )

I also got belted by father but not as much as my older siblings did. Not because I was nicer rather just the same reason that time changed.

[chyros]

I was spanked at home as well. I don't really know the effectiveness of it.

Even reasoning with a kid can be both effective or a waste of time. I know there were occasions where I would decide that the potential for punishment or the consequences were in fact justified by whatever reasoning or desire was determined logical for varying circumstances.

In retrospect, I wish that I had used quick, light corporal punishment on my kids (eg a quick swat on the butt) when they were little (<5) as an immediate deterrent and gone to psychological punishments exclusively thereafter. I think that I received perhaps 2-3 painful spankings "with the belt" after the time that I had started school, with the last one at age no more than 9, and by then the mental humiliation was a greater punishment than the physical pain anyway.

My father also had an excellent technique that he used (but I never used) even well into our teenage years, and it was very effective because it was instantaneous, silent, and subtle.

It was also entirely appropriate in public, for example standing in line at a movie theater. He would flick us with his middle finger, hard, once, in the center of our forehead.
It hurt, and got our attention, but hardly anyone else ever even noticed.

He could've flicked your eye out Oo .

[Jerome_Ragland]

I was telling someone it happened all the time growing up in the 80s and parents were mostly OK with it. I distinctly remember one teacher who would leave welts on kids thighs from hitting them with a chalk stick, and every time we would tell our parents their response would be, "What did you do?". Nowadays, such behavior seems unacceptable, and students even use https://edubirdie.com/excel-help to simplify their studies. At the time, it seemed unacceptable.  It seemed common in the 80s, but then again that was a long time ago.

Stories like this really highlight how much things have changed. Today, there’s a lot more focus on promoting positive reinforcement and creating supportive learning environments. Back in the 80s, though, it seemed like people just accepted that teachers could use physical punishment without much pushback.

[fohat.digs]

people just accepted that teachers could use physical punishment without much pushback.

In the 1950-1960s it was common for the "bad boys" to be "sent to the office" for paddling - usually by the assistant principle.

[iri]

No, that would be completely insane.

[tp4tissue]

No, that would be completely insane.

Proof that iri's a bot, he's clearly not even Russian.

[Mandan]

They did in the South of the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.  My parents moved from California to Tennessee when I was in the 4th grade.  Some idiot teacher whacked me with a ruler.  She was obviously deranged and attacking me; I punched her in the face, bailed out of the desk, and went to the other side of the room.  I wound up expelled for a month.  I didn't care.

Later, in the 8th grade, I attracted the disfavor of the feetball coach, who wanted me to be on "the team" because I was quite large for my age.  He also happened to be the vice-principal and in charge of "discipline."  He would set "the team" on me for regular beatings, and if I did anything to defend myself, I would be expelled.  I spent a lot of time at home that year, until I got smart and went after knees and elbows when attacked.  I got a few broken teeth, broken glasses, and a bunch of black eyes before "Coach" realized "the team" was being benched for injuries one or two at a time.

At this point the principals decided I needed "licks", which was their word for "beating with a stick."  Called in to the office that time, there were the two principals and a large male teacher who were going to administer "licks."  I told them they might be able to do that, three adults on one kid, but they had taught me how to fight dirty.  They went nuts screaming about "permanent expulsion", at which point I figured since I didn't go to school there any more, there was no reason to stick around and listen to their crap.

The fallout from that got the state School Board involved, and meetings with my parents.  The principals were stupid enough to brag about what they had been doing.  I wound up back in school, unfortunately, and they wound up not having their contracts renewed the next year.

School was just a prison and punishment for being a child.

[chyros]

If a teacher here would hit a student they'd be fired immediately.

I was very bad in school, not to other students, but specifically to teachers. I made a huge mess of everything, at least two teachers quit directly or indirectly because of me. No-one ever so much as raised a hand toward me.

[fohat.digs]

bad in school, not to other students, but specifically to teachers.

I loved school because it was a place of learning, and learning was what meant the most to me.

My primary and secondary education occurred between 1958-1970 (with kindergarten happening in 1956-1957 in the basement of our church (and was secular in nature even as it was outside the public school system)) and I even had a couple of teachers in Junior High School who had taught my parents decades earlier.

Back in that time, most teachers were dedicated to real, solid education. For all of their goofiness and peculiar personality traits, there was an understanding that this was a place of learning and should be respected - and by respecting school we were building self-respect for ourselves.

I fully understand that the landscape is very different today, in the US there has been a concerted effort by the political Right to gut the public education system (after the Brown v Board of Education decision in 1954) that really began to mature and coalesce from about 1980 with the incoming "Reagan revolution" ....

It was heartbreaking to watch, and has made a wide swath of the US population ignorant and stupid and angry - for a couple of generations now.

Fortunately and luckily, my kids were able to get excellent public education - we lived in a moderately affluent and surprisingly progressive area (for the US South) - with good schools and intelligent and engaged teachers - culminating in a top-rated Magnet/STEM program for high school.

Never do I doubt or forget how lucky my children and I were, and how rare and precious our educational experiences were.