Smacking at school 80s

[Ilostit]

Leading on from another thread about the 90s. I was prob about 6-7 so 1985-1987 ish and I was smacked by my headteacher. It only happened once. I don’t remember why (I was a very well behaved child but came from a troubled house and I may have played up if things were bad at home).

I was called into the office called a naughty girl and smacked.

I hate that it’s one of my memories from childhood. My parents never physically abused me. That Headteacher is the only person to have ever hit me.

Was anyone else hit at school in the 80s?

I remember a boy being smacked in junior school, this was late 80’s or 90/91 by the Head Teacher.

It didn’t feel right at the time and thinking back to it now how shocking that was.

One teacher masking taped a girl to her chair who wouldn't stop getting up from her seat.

When I was at junior school in the '70s, we were in one of those big classes of the time and there were over 30 of us and one teacher. She was a young woman and one day she lost it with us. She took the three worst boys to the back of the room and stapled them to the wall by their shirts. They were there with their arms stretched out, unable to move. One of them ripped his shirt, which caused a huge fuss. Admittedly, we were horrible children and I understand her not coping, but even in those days it was pretty strange. She didn't teach for long.

One teacher masking taped a girl to her chair who wouldn't stop getting up from her seat.
One teacher at my dc's school made a child kneel all afternoon for swinging on his chair - the school supported the teacher. That was in 2008!!! The family left the school.

The teachers at my primary school clearly had a problem getting those old habits out of their system because it still went on into the 1990s.

I remember starting Year 1 and can't remember what it was over but we were only in school a few weeks and the teacher slapped me across the face. I told my mum who came to the school and made a big fuss, the teacher actually ended up leaving.

However in year 6 and 7 we had a male teacher and this was in 1998 or so who was very physical with the class especially the boys, he would bully them a lot. He would grab them by the back of their necks and throw them down onto chairs if they would not sit still or drag them up to the board if they would not sit still. He was physical with me once and lifted me off my feet and pushed me up to the board by the back of my neck. I actually think we were just used to him doing these things and never told our parents. The boys he picked on would actually flinch when near, he was emotionally abusive. Looking back these boys were definitely from poorer families and would often not have their glasses or books etc. This teacher would pick on their appearance also. He would get so angry that white foam would appear on his mouth when shouting at you, I can't believe he got away with it and was still working on the school until at least 2010. Everyone was just so afraid he was but intimidating and tall.

Went to Senior school 1982-1987. Was slippered numerous times for very minor offences. Tippex bottles were thrown at you. Worst of all, I, with a few others, were made to stand outside in our underwear (whilst on a school trip to Jersey), and the girls were led along the line, and they were encouraged to ridicule us. Unsurprisingly, I wasn't a fan of school and I left at 15.

Not in the 80s but I had a large board rubber thrown at my head by a teacher at primary school in the 90s! I had some conjoined fingers (at the time) and before my operation I used to write incredibly slowly. I guess he lost patience with me one day along with his temper. I was moved out of the school shortly after but he never faced any repercussions from it. Still think about it now and I am in my mid thirties. Terrible man.

As an aside do schools still make you face the wall as punishment? That happened to me the first day of secondary (though in the teachers defence, I was chewing gum quite obnoxiously at the time so I deserved that one )

Never smacked at school in the 80s but do remember in P2 holding the door open kindly for my class. The headteacher suddenly starting shouting at me to get to class which I did then shouting at me in the assembly later that week for not listening to him when he told me to get to class. I still to this day don’t know what I did to deserve that as I was a well behaved kid generally and had done as he had told me. The ironic part is the head teacher had one of the worst behaved kids I have ever met in my life whom he doted on and saw no fault with.

That business of throwing the blackboard rubber - a friend of mine was hit by one aimed at the boy behind her. Her mother raised cane and the teacher was really pulled over the coals - rightly so!
As for facing the wall I think I knew the pattern of the wall in the naughty corner at primary school quite well as I stood there fairly often!

Think the facing the wall thing still happens - and for one child I knew his desk faced the wall for an entire year - little kid was only 5 years old and this wasn't too long ago.

Lots of horrific stories. In 80's we had to sit with our hands on our head for punishment and they also punished us by refusing us to use the toilet, even during break time.

In 90's I remember the teacher lost it and she started throwing everyone's bags across the room and we all ducked for fear of getting hit.

Can’t remember any teachers losing it like that or imposing punishments where we couldn’t go to the toilet. Seems most unacceptable. Remember having to stand with my nose to the blackboard along with about five other kids because the teacher decider we were chief offenders in a rowdy class before she came in. The thing I remember is her icy calm as she told everyone off. She left us there at the front for what seemed ages but what was about probably five minutes or so then gave us all a smack on the bum before we went back to our seats. Felt punished but not abused

1967, primary school. I was sent out of the class for being cheeky to the teacher. Standing in the corridor, the scary headmaster came along and slapped me hard across my face. Shocked me to my core.

Terrible! No child should be hit across the face. If we were caught by the head standing outside the door we could expect to be told off and smacked but across the bum or legs. Never across the face.

I saw my headteacher smack 2 children in my time at school in the 90s. One child had quite severe SEN, and was also adopted. I knew it was wrong as a child, told my mum who told the parent and their response was ‘she probably deserved it’. This was a well known local Christian family who fostered many children and adopted 2.

Primary school in the 70s and we had a particularly brutal teacher. There was a boy he didn't like, and one morning this boy had stood up on a high stool to write the date on the blackboard before the teacher arrived. He thought he was being helpful. The teacher came him, shouted at him, then kicked the stool from under his feet so he went flying.

I was really upset and told my Mum about it that evening. Unbeknownst to me she spoke to the head teacher about it. A couple of days later the head teacher came into the classroom and asked us all, in front of the brutal teacher, to put our hands up if the teacher had ever hurt us. Everyone was too scared too move so no one put their hands up. The head then screamed at me "don't you go telling tales to your mother again Sarah". It was awful. We were all about 7. It's barbaric when you think about how kids were treated then.

I can hardly read this thread as it's reminding me how much I hated my primary school due to this constant atmosphere of fear around smacking and the cane. My mum wrote a letter saying under no circumstances were me and my brother to receive corporal punishment. The bad old days are not far enough away. Hideous way to treat children.

In primary school we would get ruler on the hand which was embarrassing but i can't remember it hurting. Sometimes randomly smacked on the bum as well. I remember one time (I can't remember what this girl had done), a teacher lost her shit at this girl and was dragging her around, man handling her while shouting at her. That stayed with me for a long time.
It could be worse, I heard stories that in other schools some people were hit on their bare bottoms.

I am really glad this doesnt happen now. I would hate my DD to have to go through what so many of you have been through.

Yep when I was in Reception I had a habit of shading in the numbers 6 and 8 for some reason! I remember taking some sums up to the teacher for checking and she smacked my leg because of it. Crazy really. I'm an August birthday too so would been barely 4. Remember it vividly nevertheless.

I wasn’t personally, but a teacher did threaten me. I was born in 1980. I’m autistic, but academically able so at school I would get screamed at for misunderstanding ‘no excuse. You understand other thins so why not this?’. The teacher would assume I was being naughty if I misunderstood her instructions (sitting down on the floor instead of on a chair for example). She would threaten to smack me.

I do remember a boy being dragged out of the swimming pool and smacked by a male teacher for doing something dangerous.

How times have changed for the better.

I must have been around 5-6 so 1979/80 when the head teacher smacked my hands with a ruler for scribbling in my 'rough book'. It was crazy, I wasn't ever a naughty child, my mom who was a rough diamond had the rage and went in his office and as he tried to justify it she tipped his desk up on him! Rarely got smacked at home but the threat was there

I got slapped across the hand with a ruler when I was 8. My grandparents raised merry hell with the school. I was moved into the other class and for the next few months if I passed the teacher in the corridor or playground they’d make a dramatic show of raising their hands up above the head and making comments as if I’d lied. GP’s moved me to another school thankfully. Shortly after that the same teacher was sacked for slapping a child across the face hard.

I wasn't smacked but the primary school head had a slipper that they used to smack naughty kids in the lower years and a cane for the older ones.
Some teachers would throw chalk board rubbers across the room to get kids to be quiet. One time it hit a kid on the head and made a huge bruise.
When we were older I came across one kid who had been caned and apparently his parents took him out of the school when they saw the bruises.

@Kellie45 it was horrible. It was over 50 years ago but I remember it clearly. By a strange coincidence many years later I ended up working with Mrs Headmaster. She was very meek and mild, a kind woman but quite nervous. I wondered then if he was as cruel and bullying at home as he had been to me

That sort of bullying is terrible. He probably was as horrible at home. I know if we were outside the door and the headmistress came by we would quail at the telling off then whatever we got after was the icing on the cake.

At the colonial school I went to we were smacked or slippered in the lower school if we were naughty. In the senior school we got the slipper and the head did have a cane but I don’t think she used it very often at least not the times I was sent to her thankfully!