On one occasion I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. My brother caused the ruckus and quickly freed the screen, and consequently, I was still at the scene, Dad gave me a hiding with one of the timber panels from the pinewood apple boxes and it still had nails in the panel.
He later discovered that my brother was at fault, but then he said, I guess that you did not deserve the hiding, but there were many many many times you got away with being naughty.
A doctor in Cairns was fined $5,000 in this past week for spanking an unruly child of a patient. From what was reported this kid was running wild in the surgery, switching lights on & off, generally he deserved what he got. No attempt was made by the parent to reign in their child.
The doctor should have kicked them both out of the surgery but unfortunately for him he did what most sane parents would do & paid the penalty for "assault"!!
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
Just to set the scene. I was once described by a neighbour as, " That little s..t next door". Looking back I have to agree that he was right.
Having twagged off school many times (to go fishing) they caught up with me and Father got a visit from the school inspector.
The following day he marched me off to see the Head master. This fellow had the best name any boy could have had. His surname was C--kerill as opposed to the the barnyard fowl spelling which ends in el.
Into his office we go with me in front of his desk and Father behind me. After a verbal harangue he said the words that no boy wanted to hear. Six strokes on each hand. Surely Father would say something but he didn't. The cane was just a little thicker than your little finger. I thought that there was no way that they would see me cry and I managed it. After the punishment I was sent back to class with two palms that looked like pieces of raw meat. I remember going into the washroom and holding my hands under the tap to no avail.
But it rebounded on them because they had to send me home cos I could not hold a pen! Cruel maybe, but it was a lesson learned, I never did it again. I was about 12yrs old at the time.
PS. Mother went nuts when she saw my hands and the old feller got a right old bollocking!!!.
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Those who wish to reap the blessings of freedom must, as men, endure the fatigue of defending it.
There must be something in the water up in Cairns. There have been a few of these brought before the Medical Board with similar results. One in particular must have been a pretty good display of summary justice as he was also charged by the police with assault occasioning actual harm, meaning, the child suffered visible injuries although no life threatening.
I used to get parents that would bring their children in when having an interview and I would just inform them that if their kids continued to misbehave then the appointment would be over as I was not going to compete with the kids for their attention.
As a child I got caned a bit at school, usually for trying to be class clown. My dad was a police officer and just the look on his face was enough to frighten me. He never hit me as I can recall but he only told you once.
Flogging kids is really just demonstrating that you have lost control. I remember the teachers at school who never had to flog kids and could hold our attention and make us behave just by talking to us. The ones that did the flogging were not very bright as I recall.
When I was younger my parents didn't take me to a psychiatrist.
They were able to open my chakra, stabilize my karma, and clean my aura with one single slap.
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As I was mentally composing my response, I scrolled to '67hr's' post. Cut me up & threw me off my thoughts .. A good one.
In my youth, at home we had the razor strop behind the bathroom door that we were often threatened with, but I can't recall it ever being used. The treat was enough it seems.
But the School Cane was a different issue. It was often used & I was a regular recipient of 'The Cuts'.
Offenders would line up outside the Headmaster's office door awaiting judgment. Only the headmaster could administer and 6 was the maximum at any one session, but you could, on rare occasions, be sentenced to more than one session.
The cane was a meter (yard) length of lawyer cane as thick as a little finger.
Once the penalty was decided you would have to hold out the designated hand .. LH for right handers .. and not withdraw it as the cane came down. Any strokes cruelly administered to the back of the hand on the upstroke were not counted and sometimes given to repeat offenders.
We enjoyed watching a particular classmate getting the cane. Brian could not stop pulling his hand back just as the cane came down. Eventually, he received a 'fair' stroke and that was the best part of the fun. He would wring the hand and jump about with it between his legs calling out 'ow ow ow' etc until he could eventually be quietened down enough for the next stroke to be administered, with even more of the preliminary withdrawing of the hand.
Of course, relating the episode to the rest of the class (with actions & exaggerations) was a great event too, and eagerly awaited.
From time to time, rumours circulated about the effectiveness of rubbing alum? onto the hands causing the cane to split & break, which was considered a great achievement, c. Not sure if it worked, but we tried it. Putting the hand under running water was thought to be effective in reducing the pain.
-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 25th of January 2025 02:05:21 PM
-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 25th of January 2025 02:07:53 PM
Copped the cane a few times at school and did get the odd spanking at home but quite frankly deserved it at the time.
I didn't get it very often as the threat was enough.
I can honestly say that I certainly don't have any hang ups because of it nor did I resent my parents as a result.
In fact quite the opposite. I was very close to my folks and Dad and I were as much best mates as father and son.
Worked with Dad for much of my early career up until he retired which made me both glad and sad.
Glad for him being able to go and do what he wanted in retirement but sad because I was losing a close and valued work mate.
The lessons he taught me both in trade and in life have stood me in extremely good stead throughout my life and I have absolutely no regrets that he and mum took a firm hand with me when needed.
Hi D-Maxer,
You said there must be something in the water in Cairns - there isn't now. There's a hullabaloo in Qld at the moment with councils wanting to save money by not fluoridating the water supplies vs the dentists saying it's a necessity to prevent tooth decay.
Townsville still does it, Cairns used to but it was stopped 12 years ago. Townsville's newly elected but now suspended on full pay is/was in favour of dropping the practice.
And as far as punishment in schools in the good old days (my time) - yes there were teachers who got respect without having to dish out the stick but others either used it willy nill or were known to use it. We had a jerk late in grade 3 who broke numerous yard sticks on boys who didn't know their tables. (Mr) Delina was his name.
In grade 4 we had the deputy head master Mr McEvoy (carried the knick name of Smack-a-boy) & yes I fell foul of his portable stick once - a piece of wood about 15" long, 1.5" wide & about 3/4" thick. He carried it in his back pocket.
In high school a wood work teacher had the knick name of Killer Carney. Am not certain where the "Killer" came from but often anyone talking in class & "competing with him" often had a short piece of wood thrown at them! However he was a good teacher. Another jerk was an Indian - he was a cruel bloke who wander around the class & twisted side burns!
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
