My secondary school had the cane, which was very rarely used, by the headmaster, for serious misdemeanours, and the slipper, which was used by the boys' PE teachers for virtually everything. It was easy to avoid the cane but not the slipper. We had one teacher in particular who really seemed to be slap-happy and he liked to whack any boy who he deemed to be slacking. Over the course of four years under this man's tuelage (he left when I was in 5th Year) I don't think there can have been one single boy who didn't feel his gymshoe at some stage. You had to bend over the benches at the sides of the gym and grip the bottom of them, and three almighty whacks would be delivered to your rear. Wearing only nylon gymshorts (strictly no pants allowed in the gym) this truly was no joke. I was a shy kid who kept out of trouble but I still must have got the slipper nearly a dozen times in PE lessons, including, once, four sessions in one single lesson - twelve whacks. My bum was sore for days
I was frequently slippered ("pumped") at My Church of England Infants' (1958-1961) and Junior (1961-1965) School. The slipper was a gym pump especially designed for spanking bottoms with a totally smooth sole to avoid leaving marks on your skin.
I first encountered the pump when I was caught in the Girls' Playground aged 6 in 1959 watching the girls doing cartwheels and handstands. The Headsmistress made me touch my toes in front of the girls (including my twin sister) and gave me 3 whacks across the seat of my underpants. After that i was slippered every 2 weeks or so at Infants'.
At Junior school the pump was used even more. My Form Mistress used to say,"If it doesn't go in your head, it goes in the seat of your pants" and whacked me 3-4 times a week. At the Swimming Baths, the last person out of the pool (often me)had to touch their toes in front of the class of girls using the pool next and Mrs Booth whacked my bottom with a float, much to the amusement of the girls I played out with.
In top class juniors (Year6 now),the Headmaster gave a mental arithmetic test every Wednesday before lunch. People like me who got poor marks had to line up touching their toes with bottoms facing the class (often 16 out of a class of 38) and the Head whacked you. This hurt more than usual as the Head flicked his wrist making it more painful much to the amusement of my twin sister. However I got my revenge on the rare occasions (3-5 times a term) when she had to touch her toes for the pump across her navy-blue knickers.
The most ludicrous slippering I got was from the Deputy Head for not moving my swimming bag 2 feet after being told to.
At Secondary School,I hadto do cross-country runs with the girls as I was so slow and the person who finished last (often me) had to touch their toes for the pump from the PE Mistress. Usually the pump wasn't too painful but the cane was quite another story
and often after receiving that I could not sit down for a week
Yes, I remember the slipper. I was at school in England in the 70s. Teachers would punish pupils in front of the class, the pupil touching his or her toes (or near enough) and one or two strokes of the gymshoe (or plimsoll). For serious misconduct, a pupil was sent to the Headmaster or the Deputy (female for girls) for three or four strokes. The cane was used very rarely for offences such as vandalism, assault and smoking (how things have changed!). I kept out of trouble at school, and I never got the gymshoe (aka slipper).
Although I think I was well behaved most of the time, my father was strict, and misconduct was readily punished. For example losing my temper, climbing on a roof, bullying and drinking some sherry from his drinks cabinet (the sherry was horrible). He punished me with his slipper - this had either a leather sole or a rubber sole depending on which type he had most recently bought. It was usually three or four strokes (although six for the sherry), bending over the end of my bed, stomach and chest on top of the bed, feet on the floor. The slipper was always on the bare bottom - more painful and humiliating than over clothes. Even the last time, at 15 (sherry) was on bare bottom. He made me take my things down before bending over. When younger, I refused out of fear, and he did it.
The gymshoe was never given that way at school. Sometimes it was given over gym kit by PE teachers - thin shorts only and therefore more painful than otherwise.
I suppose nobody knows for sure, but I guess that the slipper isn't used at all domestically. There is considerable awareness of social services and their potential involvement if a person is physically punished in some way. All forms of corporal punishment have been banned in schools. It's not surprising that young people today have no knowledge of 'the slipper' and its use - it's history
The worst part was having to go in the showers afterwards. It was your typical boys' school shower, a long narrow corridor furnished with showerheads, without any cubicles or curtains, where we all showered together. The communal showering took a bit of getting used to but you got used to it. But having to go in after getting slippered in the gym just made it so much worse. You were forced to expose your red, sore bum to the entire class of boys. Sometimes someone would make a comment about your marks and you had to pretend to be all nonchalant about being slippered, even though I always felt upset about it.
Just to clarify my earlier post. I thought that my punishments with the slipper had stopped soon after I had turned 12 as I did not get the slipper at 13 or 14. I guess my behaviour improved as I got older. When I did get punished, then I got grounded, or had some privileges taken away. That's why it was a terrible shock when my father told me that I was going to get the slipper for the sherry incident (there's a bit more to the incident which doesn't reflect well on me). I certainly wasn't expecting the slipper. And it hurt terribly, as you can imagine. I have two brothers, and they were also punished with father's slipper.
Yes - I was on the receiving end twice in junior school in Suffolk in the 1970s. The first for being out of bounds and the second for trying to skip a cross country run. Both occasions hurt and I cried but the second time was much worse as a I only had thin PE shorts on. But most of all I remember the embarrassment of being told to to bend over. It certainly did deter me, though I would never advocate
well i certainly remeber the slipper in junior school we had a sadistic teacher i will call him mr H he said one day girls I am sorry i have to do this but i remember having to bend over the desk and he gave me an almighty whack it was a large white lace up with a ridged sole it stang like buggery But after that i did not get it for some weeks.
the teacher seemd to enjoy the sport of slippering us boys girls looked on in fasination
Tuesday 30 July 2013
Remembering
My secondary school had the cane, which was very rarely used, by the headmaster, for serious misdemeanours, and the slipper, which was used by the boys' PE teachers for virtually everything. It was easy to avoid the cane but not the slipper. We had one teacher in particular who really seemed to be slap-happy and he liked to whack any boy who he deemed to be slacking. Over the course of four years under this man's tuelage (he left when I was in 5th Year) I don't think there can have been one single boy who didn't feel his gymshoe at some stage. You had to bend over the benches at the sides of the gym and grip the bottom of them, and three almighty whacks would be delivered to your rear. Wearing only nylon gymshorts (strictly no pants allowed in the gym) this truly was no joke. I was a shy kid who kept out of trouble but I still must have got the slipper nearly a dozen times in PE lessons, including, once, four sessions in one single lesson - twelve whacks. My bum was sore for days
I was frequently slippered ("pumped") at My Church of England Infants' (1958-1961) and Junior (1961-1965) School. The slipper was a gym pump especially designed for spanking bottoms with a totally smooth sole to avoid leaving marks on your skin.
I first encountered the pump when I was caught in the Girls' Playground aged 6 in 1959 watching the girls doing cartwheels and handstands. The Headsmistress made me touch my toes in front of the girls (including my twin sister) and gave me 3 whacks across the seat of my underpants. After that i was slippered every 2 weeks or so at Infants'.
At Junior school the pump was used even more. My Form Mistress used to say,"If it doesn't go in your head, it goes in the seat of your pants" and whacked me 3-4 times a week. At the Swimming Baths, the last person out of the pool (often me)had to touch their toes in front of the class of girls using the pool next and Mrs Booth whacked my bottom with a float, much to the amusement of the girls I played out with.
In top class juniors (Year6 now),the Headmaster gave a mental arithmetic test every Wednesday before lunch. People like me who got poor marks had to line up touching their toes with bottoms facing the class (often 16 out of a class of 38) and the Head whacked you. This hurt more than usual as the Head flicked his wrist making it more painful much to the amusement of my twin sister. However I got my revenge on the rare occasions (3-5 times a term) when she had to touch her toes for the pump across her navy-blue knickers.
The most ludicrous slippering I got was from the Deputy Head for not moving my swimming bag 2 feet after being told to.
At Secondary School,I hadto do cross-country runs with the girls as I was so slow and the person who finished last (often me) had to touch their toes for the pump from the PE Mistress. Usually the pump wasn't too painful but the cane was quite another story
and often after receiving that I could not sit down for a week
Yes, I remember the slipper. I was at school in England in the 70s. Teachers would punish pupils in front of the class, the pupil touching his or her toes (or near enough) and one or two strokes of the gymshoe (or plimsoll). For serious misconduct, a pupil was sent to the Headmaster or the Deputy (female for girls) for three or four strokes. The cane was used very rarely for offences such as vandalism, assault and smoking (how things have changed!). I kept out of trouble at school, and I never got the gymshoe (aka slipper).
Although I think I was well behaved most of the time, my father was strict, and misconduct was readily punished. For example losing my temper, climbing on a roof, bullying and drinking some sherry from his drinks cabinet (the sherry was horrible). He punished me with his slipper - this had either a leather sole or a rubber sole depending on which type he had most recently bought. It was usually three or four strokes (although six for the sherry), bending over the end of my bed, stomach and chest on top of the bed, feet on the floor. The slipper was always on the bare bottom - more painful and humiliating than over clothes. Even the last time, at 15 (sherry) was on bare bottom. He made me take my things down before bending over. When younger, I refused out of fear, and he did it.
The gymshoe was never given that way at school. Sometimes it was given over gym kit by PE teachers - thin shorts only and therefore more painful than otherwise.
I suppose nobody knows for sure, but I guess that the slipper isn't used at all domestically. There is considerable awareness of social services and their potential involvement if a person is physically punished in some way. All forms of corporal punishment have been banned in schools. It's not surprising that young people today have no knowledge of 'the slipper' and its use - it's history
The worst part was having to go in the showers afterwards. It was your typical boys' school shower, a long narrow corridor furnished with showerheads, without any cubicles or curtains, where we all showered together. The communal showering took a bit of getting used to but you got used to it. But having to go in after getting slippered in the gym just made it so much worse. You were forced to expose your red, sore bum to the entire class of boys. Sometimes someone would make a comment about your marks and you had to pretend to be all nonchalant about being slippered, even though I always felt upset about it.
Just to clarify my earlier post. I thought that my punishments with the slipper had stopped soon after I had turned 12 as I did not get the slipper at 13 or 14. I guess my behaviour improved as I got older. When I did get punished, then I got grounded, or had some privileges taken away. That's why it was a terrible shock when my father told me that I was going to get the slipper for the sherry incident (there's a bit more to the incident which doesn't reflect well on me). I certainly wasn't expecting the slipper. And it hurt terribly, as you can imagine. I have two brothers, and they were also punished with father's slipper.
Yes - I was on the receiving end twice in junior school in Suffolk in the 1970s. The first for being out of bounds and the second for trying to skip a cross country run. Both occasions hurt and I cried but the second time was much worse as a I only had thin PE shorts on. But most of all I remember the embarrassment of being told to to bend over. It certainly did deter me, though I would never advocate
well i certainly remeber the slipper in junior school we had a sadistic teacher i will call him mr H he said one day girls I am sorry i have to do this but i remember having to bend over the desk and he gave me an almighty whack it was a large white lace up with a ridged sole it stang like buggery But after that i did not get it for some weeks.
the teacher seemd to enjoy the sport of slippering us boys girls looked on in fasination
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