About Teachers Hitting Students Back In The Day?

Question

I have a personal story to tell. My uncle was sent to Catholic school when he was in the 8th grade; this is I think back in 1966. He wasn't a bad kid but he was pretty big and didn't take crap from anyone. He was caught talking in class while the teacher, who was a nun, was teaching and she made him hold out his knuckles so she can hit him on it with a ruler. After she hit him on his knuckles once, he kicked her under her knee. When she fell forward he then punched her across the face and she fell over hitting her head on another student's desk. Somebody heard the commotion and he was dragged out by i think 3 priests out of the classroom as though he was violent, crazy person.

When his parents were notified they were more upset at him instead of him being punished by the nun. The police were even called and he was charged with assault.

Why was it seen as acceptable for schools to physically punish the students, especially in Catholic education?

Answer 1

i was also in catholic school in the 70's. same thing if you got hit bye anun when you got home you got it times 2, it was alll bout respect then , some of these kids today need a good kick in the butt in my book, if i did half the **** they do today i would have got my *** kicked but that is why i learned good things to pass on to my kid, respect for your parent and being nice to your family not being a punk

Answer 2

Well the idea was that is you made a student feel uncomfortable they would not do the same thing again. While I must say a little swat on his knuckles should not be considered a big deal. I think him kicking this woman then punching her was wrong. If I were one of the priests I would have knocked the holy ghost out of him. I do think that some of the punishments were over board. I remember my grandmother telling me when she was in school about one teacher that would whip them until blood ran out of their legs. When they were bad they had to stand up in front of the class room and the teacher would take a switch and whip the back of the students legs if they misbehaved. That I find extreme to whip someone til blood came out. I do think that educators should be allowed to punish a student if not whipping them them at lest making them do things like empty the trash cans for the school and cleaning the bathrooms and or copying out part of a medical dictionary, word for word. I think a smack across the bottom or the knuckles of a child in like 4th grade up should be allowed to. It may hurt a little but it is more humiliating than anything. It may teach them that they can not act just any way they please, but that there are rules and consequences if the rules are broken.

Answer 3

I also attended Catholic schools in the 60s and 70s. Yes, it was common practice to issue corporal punishment to students who were disrespectful. Usually a swipe across the knuckles was enough to get students to stop talking, etc.

However, what your uncle did to the sister was wrong. One does not hit a teacher- especially the way he did. I doubt if 3 priests dragged him out of the classroom. Maybe 1 priest did --- usually a young, strong priest- one who wouldn't take any lip from some 13 year old kid.

When I was in school, if the student became unruly or uncontrollable, he/she was sent to the principal's office. I thought the Principal was a very big woman (Sr.Herman Joseph). She probably was- but I was very small (4'10).
Anyway, no one messed with Sr. Herman Joseph.

And, if we did get in trouble at school, word made it home to our parents who also punished us. Usually it was no t.v. or something like that. Mind you, there were a LOT of kids in my classes- usually 35 or more. It is very hard to keep 35 13 year olds in line.

In those days, it was o.k. to hit students (not violently). When I was teaching, I wasn't allowed to touch the students in any way. And, if I called to tell parents about how their child was misbehaving in class, it was my fault. The child could do no wrong.

I am in a different job now. I don't have the patience for mouthy kids and parents won't back up teachers.

Answer 4

It was not just in Catholic education, although friends who are (or were) Catholic tell me it was particularly strict oin Catholic schools.

Up until about 20 years ago, it was commonly accepted that children receive 'corporal punishment', which meant, in schools, that they could be hit on the hand or backside with a ruler or stick.

In Australia corporal punishment was for both boys and girls until high school (Year 7), after which it was boys only.

Also, teachers were not taught other methods of discipline, and if they could not control the class they would often just use the stick or ruler to pull kids into line.

There have been a lot of debates over the years about it, and nowadays it is no longer acceptable, just like it's no longer acceptable for kids to work in coal mines.

It's something of the past that many people would like to bring back, because they think it would be a 'magic bullet' to cure society's problems.

Of course, mostly they forget society had a lot of the same problems then!

Answer 5

That was 1966. FOREVER before that time teachers were able to physically punish children. It is called corporal punishment. A teacher could have a paddle, and ALL gym coaches did this regularly. A rap across the knuckles was popular with nuns and other female teachers since there had been female teachers. Male teachers always have the right to use corporal punishment.

It was EXPECTED, Your uncle was violent, and he acted out. In that day and time HE was the guilty party. My guess is he's had other run-ins with authority figures during his life. Hopefully he has control now and is leading a productive and happy life; the chances are, though, he's still a bully.

Answer 6

Ya, alot has changed since I went to school too. I went to public school all my life. Let me tell you what happened back when I was in fourth grade.
There was a boy named Chris had a bunch of brothers before him and the teachers in this school taught all of them at one time. All apparently had billy bad a*s reputations. Well Chris was going to follow in his older brothers footsteps because he was the one you didn't mess with or else he wouldn't hesitate to beat the crap out of you. Well he had a bad habit of hitting people and the 4th grade teacher caught onto him bullying everyone. One day something happened and the teacher had had enough of him, so she told him to come to the front of the class, sit in a chair and for all of us to form a single line (probably about 30 or so in the class) and while we walked past him she was going to allow us to hit him once. She didn't have any restrictions on what part of the body or if you had to use an open hand, nothing. Nothing as far as I know ever came from it either. I can't remember but I don't know if that mellowed him (Chris) out or made him even more of a bully.
One other thing. Just before leaving that school to go to another one they also would do this to punish bad behavior.
If you got sent to the principals office (with a note) explaining why you were sent the principal would tell you to hold out your hand, make a fist and hit your knuckles with a wooden spoon, how many times you got hit I never knew, but enough that your hand hurt like hell afterwards.

There's alot of reasons, not just the schools fault that kids act and behave the way they do. It starts with the people that decided to have the children in the first place, but are to damn lazy because there so busy to discipline there own children. Starts at home I don't care what anyone says. If you don't get it from the start when and where do you think your going to learn it?

Answer 7

OMG, authority figures actually holding a child responsible for his bad behavior! OMG! Call the ACLU!!!!

Believe it or not, at one time students were expected, even required, to obey rules in school. Maybe part of the reason test scores were better then.

I believe that differentiation was made between the two 'assaults' based on their relative severity. A punch in the face is much more likely to cause permanent bodily injury that is a rap on the knuckles with a ruler. Treating your uncle like a 'violent, crazy person' was prudent due to the likelihood that the would cause further injury to someone.

Answer 8

I went to catholic school it was like that from being in 7 years old teachers used a cain, most of us got it once a week I remember I was about 12 I had it once in the morning and again in the afternoon it was normal then - I forgot my book for the morning class, in the afternoon a teacher said I had rushed my homework. I can not remember doing anything wrong when I would have deserved it

Answer 9

Not sure why it was thought to be OK generally. My husband went to Catholic high school in the 70s. He says it was OK for the brothers to hit students in the face.

In your uncle's case -- I have a problem with a big male student not only kicking a female teacher but then following it up with a punch to the face. That smacks of misogyny and something pretty wrong with his hardwiring. A teenager is plenty old enough to know that hitting a woman is dead wrong. In his case, I can see why the school did exactly what it did.

Answer 10

In Europe, it was common practice for teachers to hit students across the knuckles. Also I heard in Texas it was also common practice. That all started to change in the late 1960s with the social revolution sweeping across Europe and the social revolution in this country.