The strap, sadistic bastards and unfairness
John Crighton
I live in Sydney, and a news item about a local man
receiving over one million dollars damages as a result
of being given the strap when he was a school boy
reminded me of the way the strap was applied to kids
like me and a work mate of mine back in Scotland.
First day back at school after the summer holidays as
a 12 year old, about 1961, in Fife, I was looking forward
to being in "the big school", secondary school.
Studies like woodwork, metalwork, science and technical
drawing sounded cool.
The last two periods of that first day in secondary school
were for metal work. I was excited! I was a big boy in amongst
benches, lathes and machinery. This was great! Then some kid
spoke out of turn or did something wrong and Mr Galately,
I can still remember the bastards name, lined up the whole
class and gave each boy four whacks with his leather strap
on our hands. When it came to my turn I can still remember
what he said "Come on boy, don't be frightened." I was not
frightened! I was disappointed and disgusted at the man's
crazy behaviour. This was no different from primary school,
it was worse. I thought I was a grown up and here I was being
belted for doing no wrong by a guy whom moments before
I had liked and respected. Talk about confusion!
That morning, I went to school looking forward to all the
technical things I was going to learn and came away totally
pissed off.
A few years ago, I was working along side another Scot,
I can't remember how this came up but he recited Newtons
three laws of motion with formulae and other stuff.
He explained that every Friday afternoon in his school,
somewhere in Glasgow, two classes would combine
for science. One teacher would ritually ask the other
teacher. "Ok, Mr X, will you be judge or executioner?"
So one teacher asked the kids to recite formulae and
definitions and when they got the answer wrong they
were sent out into the corridor, where the other teacher
strapped them. He had a full time job belting kids, all lined up.
So here was my workmate with useless bloody formulae
"imbedded" into his mind that he "dare not forget."
Yes, I was sort of glad to hear that news report about the million
dollar damages award against the catholic school/church. Some
of those Brothers were cruel. With all the sexual abuse allegations
the organisation needs to lift its game. As a boy he was hit eight
times on his hand in the one day causing injury.
With all the killing going on in Iraq, payouts like this seem like
madness. There will be no Judge Judy, handing out thousand
dollar settlements for injuries and suffering to Iraqi kids. To the
"west" their lives and injuries are worth nothing.
Sorry for the ramble, just pissed off with all the needless killing,
unfairness, madness and stupidity going on at he moment.
Regards,
John Crighton
Sydney
Kevin McMurtrie
"John Crighton" <joh...@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:3e82b6b7...@News.CIS.DFN.DE...
Strange you should point this out but the most sadistic teacher at my school
was a techie teacher as well. I had him for technical drawing and metal
work. Mr Brannigan was his name and I have never forgotten him. I could spot
his face in a crowd of thousands even now. He was one of those teachers who
always carried his belt over his shoulder, under his jacket. He would catch
you out for the most trivial things in class or the playground. I remember
being caught throwing a snowball one winters morning. It was about 5 mins
before classes started and he belted me twice on red raw, frozen hands. I
thought my fingers were going to snap off. It was bloody sore. First class
was physics and I couldnt write. I coulndt hold ny pencil. It was 30 minutes
later before any sensory feelings returned to my fingers. I was in a bike
club at the time and the physics teacher was the person who ran the club. He
took pity on me and let me sit there with my throbbing mits lying like lumps
of butchers meat on my desk. Thanks Mr Hill.
Mr Brannigan without a doubt had a screw loose. Someone who should have
never have been allowed into teaching as he had no synergy with the weans he
was teaching. It was a chore to him. His obvious reply to his personal
defects were taken out on school children. So, I agree a sadistic bastard.
The snowball incident was nothing special. I wasnt throwing it at the staff
room window but at a pal who was about 50 feet away. It landed well short of
the target but as far as he was concerned it was a serious crime.
Kevin.
Elaine Goldberg
Kevin wrote:
>Strange you should point this out but the
> most sadistic teacher at my school was
> a techie teacher as well. I had him for
> technical drawing and metal work. Mr
> Brannigan was his name and I have
> never forgotten him. I could spot his
> face in a crowd of thousands even now.
My 'memorable' and only incident occurred during a sewing class when I
was in 9th grade. We were always seated alphabetically, so that meant
that I (Andrew) had to share a large sewing table with Judy Anderson,
whom I didn't particularly care for. She was big, generally loud and
annoying.
When Judy leaned over the table to cut out a pattern, the temptation was
too great to resist. Without thinking, I stuck her in the butt with a
pin. She screamed bloody murder. I should have known better,
especially as we were in the front row of tables due to the
unimaginative alphabetical arrangement.
The teacher, Miss Duncan who seemed 'ancient' at the time (probably
early 50's) grabbed me and marched me out in the hall. Miss Duncan was
a spinster. She was huge. More than twice my size. She didn't
actually hurt me, but she slammed me up against the lockers where she
held my chin in her vise-like grip. I was unable to move my head from
side to side, so was forced to look into her beady eyes while she 'read
me the riot act' and told me what a rotten kid I was. Minutes seemed
like hours. I was left to stand outside the class for the rest of the
period...to my shame and humiliation. It never occurred to me to just
leave.
Miss Duncan taught all the domestic prep courses, including "Home and
Family". I always figured she was just a 'bitter' over having been left
on the 'shelf'.
Elaine
Iain
I was punished by one Mrs. Towels for being the youngest of twelve older
siblings. Of which she envisioned eight were my miscreant brothers... She
took an immediate deprecation of me while calling the roll. The roll was an
alphabetized list, and the shock and horror on her face was evident when she
reached my name. Seems she had mistakenly thought she had put up with the
last of us lads three years prior. My wee Scottish school teacher grand mum
came to my rescue. Explaining any clubbing I got, need be earned on me own.
Iain...
Don't ask... as I will not tell...
Mike MacKinnon
"Iain" <Ia...@SunnyFlorida.net> wrote in message
news:GxEga.110969$iq1.1...@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...
I remember in second year at secondary school, I got the strap more times in
the first two weeks than all of first year put together! A Mrs Davidson.
Big, fat woman with no sense of humour. I had a teacher throw keys and a
blackboard duster at me and another (female) who chased me round the class
trying to wallop me when I was about 9. Another teacher, a Miss Amos,
slapped me across the face when I was 15 and nearly got hit back as a
result.
Some say that the strap worked by establishing discipline, but I feel that
if the strap was used, discipline had already broken down.
Oh yeah, if I told my parents, I always got the same answer. "You must've
deserved it!"
M
Allan Connochie
"Kevin McMurtrie" <$@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:b5unne$hl8$1...@sparta.btinternet.com...
school
> was a techie teacher as well.
At Selkirk we had 'chisel chucking Harry MacFarlane" though to be fair the
chisels in question tended to be blackboard dusters rather than chisels, but
'duster chucking' just doesn't sounds the same. Sadly he ended up falling
down the empty lift shaft.
Allan
Tom
We had a Science teacher who use to say to the class 'Right, who wants to
play chicken today'? Normally two lads would put their hands in the
air and it would then start (yes - they volunteered!!). He would belt
one kid followed by the other with the same degree of force. The first
kid to back out was the loser. The swats got harder each time of course!
We had another teacher (a Polish art teacher though that is irrelevant)
who used to boast how he could get better force if he first threw the
belt in the air and caught it in mid-air before delivering it.This
he used to demonstrate almost weekly to a stunned audiance (ourselves).
Luckily I hardly ever saw him demonstrating on anything other than a
piece of chalk on the desk! It was more a kind of deterrant.
Then we had Miss Mills who we used to knickname 'the windmill'. Her
method was original but relatively ineffective and puny. She would
rotate her arm like a windmill and deliver successive blows in such a manner.
However, she was getting on in years and so I am told it looked worse
than it felt.
We used to have ateachers at primary school who would also teach at secondary
(eg music teachers - always the worst next to techie teachers of course).
One would boast of his selection of straps he had - for different age groups
and of differing size and shape.' When you reach secondary school you will
get this strap' - and a vile looking instrument would appear from underneath
his shoulder.
I also seem to remember them using chalk in some way - I think they chalked
the strap so that a cloud of dust appeared for greater effect.
The higher up the teaching scale you went the worst they became. The deputy
rector was worst - he had a knickname 'killer'! I remember this vivid
spectable of him once. Fighting was outlawed of course in school but it was rife.
So much so that on one occasion a hugh crowd had gathered to watch
'Cave man' fight oor 'Jolly' (if I remember). Almost one third
of the school had gathered at play-time (lunch break). Killer was in full swing,
he dashed out of the school,strap in hand and was deperately trying to
round up as many culprits as possible (ie the crowd as well as the
fighters). He was straping whilst running and boys were
everywhere, in all directions! It was like a carry-on film!He had a few other
staff members with him who joined in.
Then there was other music teachers. In primary school we had one
day the delight of a new music teacher. He entered the room without
as much as a grin on his face and announced in a low-key voice
'My name is Mr MacDonald, and if I see anybody talking out of turn
or any nonsense I will immediately have them out here in front
of the class and belt them'! Those were his oppening words!
The rector himself was known to spread it about a bit too. At assembly
once he was warning us all about not going out of bounds. His warning
was dire, like Bush warning of the fate of Sadaam only ten times worse!
After he had delivered his speech and explained what would happen to the
culprits, he then uttered a statement which will always live in my
mind
'Let us pray'!!
No wonder kids in Scotland were mixed up.
Tom
Chic McGregor
Oh boy Technical Teachers
We had two at Perth High who were eventually dismissed for physical
abuse. One used to hit boys about the head with bits of 2X1 the other
used to belt as a form of punctuation. The two remaining should have
been sacked as well.
Since my own wife is a physics teacher, and one who is pioneering CASE
and has just got some marvellous results in it, I am by no means
against teachers per se.
However, if one considers the old adage ('s OK She's gone to bed)
"Those who can't, teach, and those who can't teach, teach the
teachers"
You wonder at the mentality of those who can't do woodwork. and my
god, what must the tech teachers at teacher college have been like?
chic
chic
Chic McGregor / //
ch...@schiehallion.com ////
"We have catcht Scotland, and will hold her ///
fast." Speaker of the House 1707 ///
Sean
Alberta, CANADA.
He seemed to get a charge out of threatening to paddle us if
we misbehaved (such as drinking from a water fountain).
It really felt like a sexual thing in that school, and with other
teachers as well, the idea of making a student bend over and paddling
his/her bottom. There were two teachers (one of them was the
vice-principal) who would fondle our necks (it felt creepy).
One of them would flirt and joke with teenage schoolgirls
about taking them down to the office and giving them
the strap "where it would do the most good."
The girls would titter and shriek at this kind of talk, and
the whole atmosphere felt very sexual.
Adam Whyte-Settlar
> It was about 5 mins
> before classes started and he belted me twice on red raw, frozen hands. I
You Jock pansies don't know you were born.
A strap!
Pathetic.
The *nglish are (were) beaten with a 5 foot cane.
I was also beaten with a 3 foot ruler - a 5-ply school-issue tennis racket
and also repeatedly beaten about the back of the head with the knuckles of a
clenched fist. ( I was 9 at the time).
One of our more enthusiastic PE teachers used to attack us with the two inch
thick climbing ropes. The worst thing about that was he was a little Taffy
bastard.
The perpetrator of some of the above offences was eventually sacked when he
went too far a broke a little girls arm.
Sadly it was several years after I had left that school before that
happened.
His name was Mr Moggeridge of Denmead Primary School, Denmead, Portsmouth,
Hampshire, *ngland. He ruined childrens lives there from about 1965 to 1980.
I hope he burns in hell, the bastard.
Ah - those were the best days of our lives eh?
--
The adorable Adam Whyte-Settlar
- destined to be forever in the minority
Kevin McMurtrie
"Adam Whyte-Settlar" <grawi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:%bVga.9781$8b.12...@news02.tsnz.net...
>
> "Kevin McMurtrie" <$@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> news:b5unne$hl8$1...@sparta.btinternet.com...
> .
> > It was about 5 mins
> > before classes started and he belted me twice on red raw, frozen hands.
I
> > thought my fingers were going to snap off. It was bloody sore. .
>
> You Jock pansies don't know you were born.
> A strap!
> Pathetic.
> The *nglish are (were) beaten with a 5 foot cane.
> I was also beaten with a 3 foot ruler - a 5-ply school-issue tennis racket
> and also repeatedly beaten about the back of the head with the knuckles of
a
> clenched fist. ( I was 9 at the time).
This is a borstal you are talking about ?
> One of our more enthusiastic PE teachers used to attack us with the two
inch
> thick climbing ropes. The worst thing about that was he was a little Taffy
> bastard.
> The perpetrator of some of the above offences was eventually sacked when
he
> went too far a broke a little girls arm.
> Sadly it was several years after I had left that school before that
> happened.
> His name was Mr Moggeridge of Denmead Primary School, Denmead, Portsmouth,
> Hampshire, *ngland. He ruined childrens lives there from about 1965 to
1980.
> I hope he burns in hell, the bastard.
> Ah - those were the best days of our lives eh?
Apart from a very few gits who masqueraded as teachers they were great days.
Kevin.
Murchadh
<grawi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>You Jock pansies don't know you were born.
>A strap!
>Pathetic.
>The *nglish are (were) beaten with a 5 foot cane.
The old-style ways worked much better - we used to hit the *nglish
with 3 foot broadswords and they were never naughty again.
Murchadh
MacRobert
So why don't you post a *real* picture of yourself, since you are not
older than 46?
Stephen
The Devil's Advocaat
news:%bVga.9781$8b.12...@news02.tsnz.net...
>
hands weren't.
Adam Whyte-Settlar
>
> "Adam Whyte-Settlar" <grawi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:%bVga.9781$8b.12...@news02.tsnz.net...
> >
> > "Kevin McMurtrie" <$@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> > news:b5unne$hl8$1...@sparta.btinternet.com...
> > .
> > > It was about 5 mins
> > > before classes started and he belted me twice on red raw, frozen
hands.
> I
> > > thought my fingers were going to snap off. It was bloody sore. .
> >
> > You Jock pansies don't know you were born.
> > A strap!
> > Pathetic.
> > The *nglish are (were) beaten with a 5 foot cane.
> > I was also beaten with a 3 foot ruler - a 5-ply school-issue tennis
racket
> > and also repeatedly beaten about the back of the head with the knuckles
of
> a
> > clenched fist. ( I was 9 at the time).
>
> This is a borstal you are talking about ?
You would think so wouldn't you?
No - the kids at this fairly ordinary rural primary school were aged from 7
to 11.
The guy was a sadist masquerading as a teacher but he was also headmaster
and therefore the lesser mortals couldn't do anything about it - or didn't
care.
A W-S
Adam Whyte-Settlar
"MacRobert" <MacR...@gain.org> wrote in message
news:i7v88vk72tgh0ufar...@4ax.com...
I don't know how you managed to reach that conclusion - did you used to
scive off maths to go to pro-war rallies?
I said *he* was there from 65 - 80 - didn't say *I* was.
A W-S
>
> Stephen
>
Adam Whyte-Settlar
"The Devil's Advocaat" <thedevil...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:b62ckh$l5l$1...@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk...
The 3 foot ruler was used to hit us just behind the knees - we were forced
to stand on a chair so he could get better aim.
That wasn't Mogeridge though - that was another bastard that used to do
that.
A W-S
Adam Whyte-Settlar
There were a few bright spots - like in secondary school the deputy head
finally picked on the wrong kid to try to sexually abuse and got a right
good kicking - and everyone heard it. Great!
The saddest thing about all the abuse and beatings that went on is that back
in those days no-one believed us when we tried to get help. Even our
parents. Their attitude was "well you must have done something wrong".
To be fair I don't think anyone realised just how serious it was. We kids
just thought it must be part of normal life.
A W-S
The Devil's Advocaat
Whyte-Settler. Are you sure you're not Maria Kennett or Lisa Stiles?
Adam Whyte-Settlar
Er... No - I'm not. - Er... sure that is.
But on freinds reunited there is (or was) a post from me naming Mogeridge
and outlining some of his excesses. Mine isn't the only one. Several others
had their childhoods blighted by him in similar fashion.
A W-S
MacRobert
You should be feeling better...
tom
Adam Whyte-Settlar wrote:
Luxury! We would o been glad o' getting beaten by a three foot ruler.
When we got home our mums and dads would cut us in half wi' a bread knife
and dance up and down on our graves singing 'allelujah'! And you tell that
to kids nowadays and they won't believe you!
Tom
Iain
"Adam Whyte-Settlar" wrote:
>
> "MacRobert" wrote:
> > "Adam Whyte-Settlar" paused to reflect but wrote anyway:
a bit much... Not that there havenea been some who coulda used the extra
time mind you.
Iain...
ejaycee
"Elaine Goldberg" <ElaineF...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:5487-3E82F88D->
> My 'memorable' and only incident occurred during a sewing class
when I
> was in 9th grade.
<snip>
I can just imagine the look on your face as you hit with the
pin -
did you ever test for "St. Trinian's' ?
I used to get the strap regularly or the taws as I think we
called it.
It was not just a plain strap but cut into strips at one end.
It was used for not learning your spelling, for being late, for
looking in the wrong direction, talking in class or just at
the whim of the teacher - there was no leniency for girls,
whereas the schools down south did not having caning for girls.
If a girl was called up for the strap all the boys would watch to
see if they could catch just one tear showing and then they were
merciless in the playground.
Ejaycee
Murchadh
wrote:
Wow, did you ever get off easy!
Then the Centurion tank was invented at our school so the bad boys
could be ground to death under the tracks. And that was only for the
ones *suspected* of doing something wrong.
Murchadh
Jim Stewart
I went to high school in the 1950s where most of the students had been
expelled
from the local Catholic school cause after 9 years of whooping by nuns
and priests,
they still were tough. We put em into line, though.
Used to have an old French teacher for home room. She was still afraid
of the bosh.
Some ne would yell the bosh are coming and we would stomp in
unison...quietly, getting louder.
Poor old lady would hide under the desk and cry convulsively. I often
regret that. Kids are
cruel....
We had another teacher (brother of the principle) who was shell-shocked.
We read the NY times
during his class. He had a Mad Magazine in his grand roll book. He would
read and his tongue
would slide out and he would drool. Nobody went NEAR him....
Well, we all had some catching up when we went to collage, but most of
us made it. For a
class of 100, we had our share of Doctors, Teachers, etc. and a few
contractors who got
rich.
If you have ever seen the Sopranos, you have seen my neighborhood.
Several of our local
families were successful in that buisness..Bonanno, Cambesi, etc....
However, when I recently went to a class reunion, I was expecting to be
the star...Tenured
faculty at a major university, world traveler, Doctorate, international
awards, etc. There
was, however, an undisputed star far outshining me. Bernie had become
Bernadette and took
most of the girls to the ladies room to prove it. (s)He was quite
willing to shoe the guys,
also, but I doubt any of us took him damn her up on it.
Jim Stewart
MacRobert
paused to reflect but wrote anyway:
>Murchadh wrote:
You had nine years of whoopie from nuns and still have the gall to
complain!
MacRobert
Allan Connochie
>
> "Kevin McMurtrie" <$@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> news:b5unne$hl8$1...@sparta.btinternet.com...
> .
> > It was about 5 mins
> > before classes started and he belted me twice on red raw, frozen hands.
I
> > thought my fingers were going to snap off. It was bloody sore. .
>
> You Jock pansies don't know you were born.
> A strap!
> Pathetic.
> The *nglish are (were) beaten with a 5 foot cane.
Aye and didn't they enjoy it :-)
Allan