| Subject: The Paddling of Alisa |
Author:
JD Winchester
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Date Posted: 12:39:34 11/07/24 Thu
I grew up in a time in the South where school paddlings were the norm, not the exception. And even today, 19 - mostly Southern states - still permit corporal punishment in school. When I was a student there was no parental permission required, also no notification to the parents if a child was paddled. In that sense, it was an added "incentive" to choose the paddling over out-of-school suspension, so you wouldn't also be in trouble at home…nor would your grades suffer as a result of being out of school. Today most Texas schools employ an "opt-in" policy, meaning the default position is that your child is automatically subject to being paddled, unless and until the parent proactively submits a form prohibiting their child from being subject to it.
Suffice it to say in my 12 years of school, I witnessed a lot of paddlings, more heard than actually seen, but it was just a normal part of our lives; no one thought much of it, it's just "the way it was." I'd say the "80/20" rule probably applied, in that probably 80% of those paddled were boys, 20% were girls. I believe it was just a reflection of the behaviors; girls tended to act as though they had good sense a lot better than most boys did.
Of all the paddlings I saw or heard, the most memorable to me was of a girl named Alisa, in my First Period 10th Grade English class. It was most memorable because Alisa was adorable…strawberry blonde hair, blue-green eyes, loved to wear a lot of Indian (Native American) turquoise jewelry – necklaces, bracelets, hair barrettes. She sat directly in front of me in that class and I had a HUGE crush on her...as I'm sure a LOT of guys did. Also, because she was such a GOOD girl, never in any kind of trouble, an excellent student...and just very sweet. Suffice it to say it was a VERY strange, one-off situation that landed her in trouble.
Being this was a 1st Period class and also a Monday morning, I guess many of us were full of talk about our weekend adventures. The teacher was a young, "wiry" woman named Mrs. Knight. She was having difficulty getting us to settle down, to sit quietly in our desks and pay attention to the English lecture. Finally in frustration she issued the warning that the next one who spoke out of turn would accompany her out into the hallway for a paddling. Immediately a hush fell over the classroom, you could have heard a pin drop.
THEN, absolutely inexplicably, Alisa turned to the girl directly to her left and asked, not even in a whisper, "So what did you do this weekend?" NO idea how that happened; it was almost as if Alisa had mentally checked out of her body at the time Mrs. Knight had issued the warning and was just now returning. Mrs. Knight shot a stare at Alisa, incredulous that she had so brazenly spoken JUST after the warning. She asked her, "Miss XXXXX, did you NOT just hear me?" Alisa said nothing, as though she was in a state of shock herself. For a brief moment they just stared at one another, obviously both shocked at the situation. There was not a doubt in my mind that Mrs. Knight did NOT want to paddle Alisa, but Alisa had pretty much painted her into a corner, left her no choice if her word was going to mean anything.
Mrs. Knight then pulled out a desk drawer and retrieved her wooden paddle, instructed Alisa to come take it and go wait for her out in the hallway. Alisa was very hesitant to comply, but slowly she did as she was told, made her way out the door and into the hall. I can imagine it was a very surreal moment for her, and also perhaps the worst part, out there "on display." When you see a student standing out in the hallway holding a paddle, you don’t exactly have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what is going on. I should add however, this was the first and only time I had ever witnessed this particular course of action, to have the “condemned” student stand out in the hallway holding a paddle, awaiting the teacher to join him or her…this was uncharted waters.
Mrs. Knight resumed the lecture on the chalkboard, left Alisa standing out in the hallway holding her paddle for several minutes. We heard a few boy students pass by, making teasing comments to her. We heard no reply from Alisa. Finally, Mrs. Knight reached a natural breaking point in the lecture, excused herself and went out into the hallway herself. She went across the hall to get Mr. Barfoot, a timid little man most of us also had for History, to act as witness.
Through the open doorway we couldn't see Alisa or Mrs. Knight, but we could see Mr. Barfoot; he looked as though he wanted to be anywhere else but there. It was the standard protocol at this school, that paddlings were administered with the student bending over and grabbing his or her knees, feet shoulder width apart, head up, eyes forward which tended to cause your back to dip slightly and push your buttocks out. On this particular fateful day, Alisa was wearing a very short, cotton dress…white with large different colored striped running perpendicular. It was essentially a "shift dress" that I remember fit very loosely around her small waist but snugly over her full, well-rounded girly bottom. I can well imagine that when she bent over in the required paddling position, the lower part of her underpants were likely exposed to the paddle.
She got 3 hard swats that sounded like rifle shots echoing in the hallway. The first one was a hard lick…but the second one was a CRISP SMACK that sounded like someone slapping a waterbed mattress without a sheet covering – for those of you old enough to know what a waterbed is. Upon hearing that second lick, I believe most of the class made a collective gasp, mostly the girls! The third and final lick was much like the first one…plenty hard and loud, but not as dramatic sounding as Swat No. 2. I could clearly see Mr. Barfoot visibly wince with each lick of Mrs. Knight paddle! The MOMENT it was over, he retreated to his own classroom, quickly closing the door behind him.
Alisa came back into the classroom, her face red, her eyes full of tears; she hesitated right in the doorway, closed her red eyes for a moment and tears could be seen running down her cheeks. Mrs. Knight followed close behind carrying the paddle. Alisa then returned to her seat directly in front of me, Mrs. Knight returned the paddle to her desk drawer, picked up the chalk and resumed the English lesson where she left off, as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.
PERHAPS it was just my overactive, adolescent schoolboy imagination, but with Alisa sitting directly in front of me, I could have SWORN I could feel heat radiating off her freshly spanked fanny!
To reiterate, as much as this whole event made an indelible impression on me (obviously), it was a shame that Alisa had to be paddled. She was a really good girl, an excellent student. That said, unfortunately she left Mrs. Knight with no choice but to follow through on her promise. This was not the only time I have seen a situation where a parent has threatened a child with spanking and then later when the situation changes, the attitudes changed and they had rather forego the spanking, they knew if they didn’t follow through, their word would become meaningless.
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