Corporal Punishment

By Daniel True

NO, this is not about penalizing a criminal following the sentencing by a judge after being found guilty by a jury of one’s peers. No, this is about “the good ole days” and what we went through as kids!

Actually, I really can’t say that they were the good old days. For in the past 50-some years since I lived at “home” and went to elementary/high school, there have been SO many advancements in the world (that we probably feel that we can’t live without) that make life in this, the 21^st Century, so much better or at least easier. But, with those changes came a shut-down of many of those “home-town”  charms and features (good or bad) that register a prominent place in our memory-bank.

It is only natural to remember the GOOD things, like the treasured friendships we had, or Mom’s cooking, or visiting Grandma on Sundays. But, there ARE a few things that tend to go to the back of the brain-bank. One most prominent is the type and methods of punishment awaiting us when we were “caught” doing something wrong (and we were ALWAYS caught)!

Comparing the trends in the home and schools of today, ALL of our parents and teachers would still be in jail, serving prison terms for “child abuse”! But, let’s just reflect on that for a moment.

In all our homes, there were rules (you remember – things you could and could NOT do?) and there were punishments, carved in marble, that you could expect IF those rules were violated. They were kind of like the Ten Commandments except there were many, MANY more.

Most today don’t know what a “strop” is (yes, it is in the dictionary). Anyway, it was a wide strip of leather that “old men” and barbers used to sharpen their straight razor prior to shaving. It is seldom used anymore. However, for those of us whose dads had one, chances are it was used to apply “corporal punishment” to one’s backside (yes, boys and girls, although the girls’ punishment was applied in a gentler fashion). In lieu of a strop, the belt was the second weapon of choice . Both worked fine!

Mom usually didn’t apply the punishment herself; she would say “wait until your father comes home”! That threat in itself sent waves of anticipation, terror, remorse, appeals of forgiveness (that seldom worked but, hey, it was worth a try). When dad finally came home (much too soon for us) he received the scorecard from mom and we waited for his response, his application of THE STROP, which we knew was forthcoming. Will he whip us before supper or later, just before he sat down to read the paper or turn the radio on? He always let the expectancy weigh on our minds; giving us more time to reflect on what we had done that deserved punishment.

My dad’s favorite time was when I was in my room putting on my pajamas, with only my shorts and my almost bare bottom exposed. He would bend me over the bed and apply the punishment. Afterward he would tuck me in and hug and kiss – loved on me – until my rump-roasting subsided. I knew that I shouldn’t have done it and I also knew that daddy really didn’t want to do what he had to. Correction is a part of love.

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Punishment at school was similar; each teacher either had a paddle, a ruler OR (shudder) we would be sent to the principal’s office. Our principal, Mr. Horne, was literally a giant among men. He had a paddle that was about four feet long (or so it seemed) riddled with rows of holes, designed to enhance the impact. He, like dad, would have you sit in his office for an eternity then, at his timing, would have you bend over his desk and he applied the “Board of Education”. Everyone in the building would hear and feel each impact, kind of like the sonic boom of the Space Shuttle. They would cringe in sympathy for the recipient yet rejoice that it wasn’t them. I never had the  –  pleasure? – of having to go to the principal’s office but I DO know that those who did RARELY got into trouble at school again. He left a lasting impression on them!

Now, this article may seem comedic yet this is a very serious writing. When the courts decided that school officials and, later, parents did not have the right to physically punish wayward children, this Nation and its families have lost all control. Children (and later, as adults) have very little respect anymore. They know that they can get away with just about anything, for parents are ham-strung by the courts and ne’er-do-well “Family Services” workers, prowling around trying to find children being corrected by their parents.

It is an unfortunate situation, for if the parents are prohibited by mis-interpreted civil law, they are prevented by following God’s law and guidelines. There are many accounts; instructions in the Bible, about the responsibility of parents in the raising of their children – but the most prominent one is: “train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

That MAY be a key to the many wrongs in our society – families, entertainers, and our public officials and leaders. One cannot return to training that they have never received.

I don’t have a solution to offer. I would not encourage anyone to violate “man’s law”, yet God’s law is still “on the books”. We need to show  parental love for our children, yet the children need to respect their parents, as well as their fellow man and governmental laws.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13)