Civil Bear said:

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SFCityBear said:

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My own parents resorted to corporal punishment as I was more of a delinquent than even they knew. My mother would never spank me, so the punishment was left to my father. It only happened a few times, and they were always fair. Kids understand fair play, I think, and if a punishment is fair and not excessive, it will work to prevent a recurrence. I never became a violent person. Once I was punished in a public school in the 6th grade. In a ball game, I was playing 3rd base, and the ball was hit to me. I tried to throw home, to cut down the runner, but threw the ball too hard and it sailed over the catcher's head and broke a small window. I was called into the principal's office, and she told me I must pay for the window, $1.59. I was afraid to ask my parents for the money. They were poor, and that money would buy most of our groceries for a week. (a loaf of bread was 10 cents) So I went into my piggy bank and counted out 159 pennies and put them in a paper bag. I gave the bag to the principal and when she saw all those pennies, she was furious. She told me to put my hands on her desk, palm down. Then she took a ruler with a metal edge, and beat my hands until all my fingers were cut and bleeding badly. My parents complained to the school and got nowhere. It is not just public schools. My mother was raised in a religious school. One nun often beat her with a switch, and my mother used to hide in the coal bin so she would not have to go to school. The trouble with corporal punishment is not so much the idea, but the fact that some parents and some school officials are sadists, unfortunately. The former should not become parents, and the latter should not be permitted to have any authority in a school for kids. Not much we can do about that.

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...and Corn Pop was a bad dude and he ran a bunch of bad boys.

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