When my husband was a boy, a short time after the ark was grounded, punishment often meted out at school were 6 of the best! That meant 2 to 6 red lines across his bottom and absolute secrecy from his dad. If dad got wind of the hiding then it meant another one from him to back up the headmaster.
In his year as a matric student there was a young man named Garth Gillespie who was the same age as my husband but was much lower down the school. Garth was called 'stupid' in those days of total ignorance of pupils with learning problems. (He later proved his brilliance by becoming a property owner of note.) He was understandably rebellious but he was always cheerful even when he was in the line at break waiting for his daily dose of corporal punishment. He got into trouble all the time and caning boys was common practice for the slightest of misdemeanours.
One day Garth was first in line and greeted the headmaster politely after putting his pack of sandwiches up on the window ledge outside his office. He put his toes on the line marked on the floor and bent over and touched his toes waiting for the familiar 'thwack' of the cane on his bum. Instead he heard Mr Grinaldi say "hmmmm Gillespie, it looks as though for the first time this year your name is not on list for cuts. You may go!"
"Oh sir, seeing I'm here you might just as well give me a couple to make up for the ones I got away with," Garth said with his usual smile on his face.
The headmaster went red in the face and Garth Gillespie came out of the office tight lipped and rubbing his rear after 4 of the best, sincerely regretting his moment of levity!
As a child my sisters and I had many adventures but when it came to discipline we were seldom smacked. Our mother in particular was fairly vague about the necessity for reprimand and our dad was the gentlest of souls. When our children were small the occasional smack was considered a fair reprimand with an explanation why it was being given. I found our two daughters generally co operative children and discipline in our home was not a big issue.
There was one occasion however that stands out in all our memories.
Our two daughters were 6 and 4 at the time. They were in the bath together as always and after helping soap behind the ears and sponging little backs I left them to play with their bath toys for a while. I had given 'Himself' a cup of coffee in the lounge and he was absorbed in the share prices in the newspaper.
Suddenly there were blood curdling screams from the bathroom and in terror we rushed in..........unfortunately for the girls 'Himself' got through the door first. I think it was the adrenaline coursing through his body, the shock of the extreme screams and the relief of seeing his two little girls red faced and filthy, but SAFE that he handed out two smacks, one on each wet bottom which made them screech even louder.
I was of course left to sort out the mayhem which ended just short of murder! 'Himself' flounced back to his cooling cup of coffee and resumed reading the paper with a sharp flick of the pages which had not left his grasp during the entire two and a half minute episode.
Raquel the adventurous younger child had climbed onto the platform at the back of the bath. I had hung a shiny leafed, luxurious creeper from the ceiling. It was held in a string macrame holder with a tassel underneath the pot. The temptation was just too much for her.
She grasped this tassel firmly in her still pudgy hands and had swung out over her sister's head as she sat demurely in the water squeezing a pig shaped pink sponge. Of course the hook in the ceiling was far too flimsy to hold her weight and down she crashed, creeper, soil, pot and metres of macrame, like an enveloping octopus, on top of her sister.
To add insult to injury she grabbed the towel rail as she fell and it broke off the wall and thumped well behaved Tracey on her shoulder. The screams were fortunately from fright and fear of retribution and not serious bodily harm..... that is until their father administered a smack on each round bottom. Then outrage, especially from the innocent Tracey, shredded the air. I'm surprised that the neighbours didn't alert the police!
The mud had to be scooped into a bin, the bath rinsed, little sobbing snotty red faces had to be washed and hair shampooed. Sobs eased gradually into hiccups as wrapped in towels they were eventually soothed.
What a night of high drama with dreams for my older daughter punctuated with retribution and justice on her sister's head. Dreams for Raquel I think were of adventures of Tarzan and her as 'Jane' swinging easily through the trees of some faraway forest.
Corporal punishment is illegal in many countries around the world. Most grandads, beers in hand around the braai, reckon that a quick sharp smack on their rears did them no harm in those long gone days but educators have, in my opinion, done a good job in banning them.
Sadly however, discipline in schools, everywhere in fact, is sadly lacking and learners know their 'rights' that often prevent an institution from giving sound education. Drugs, knives and even guns are prevalent and methods of effective discipline is absent sending increasing ripples of alarm through the schools, colleges and universities around the world.