The Pump

I do not think that corporal punishment is the ultimate answer to bad behaviour in school today. Times have changed and so have schools. When I was at school, the use of corporal punishment was widespread and common. It worked because it was accepted and in most cases deemed to be a fair and reasonable chastisement to those pupils who disobeyed the rules or misbehaved.

I first experienced corporal punishment at my junior school when I was 10 years old. For the first time in my school career I had a man, Mr Wright, as my class teacher. I had heard that he used a large plimsol, known as 'The Pump', to punish wrongdoers but I had never seen this in operation nor imagined that one day it might be used on me. I was usually very well-behaved, although I did have a tendency to talk and giggle at inappropriate times.

Three days into the new term I was summoned to the front of the class after being upbraded for whispering to my neighbour. Mr Wright produced a huge plimsoll - the dreaded Pump - and ordered me to bend over and touch my toes. "I said touch your toes, Sandford!" I bent down even tighter, so that I was able to touch the toecaps of my black leather shoes with my fingertips.

There was a few seconds pause, then WHACK! The Pump slammed down hard across my backside. I felt as though I had sat down on a hot stove and involuntarily jerked upwards. "Get down again,Sandford! At once!" I reached towards my shoes. WHACK! The Pump slammed down a second time, and the burning pain intensified. However, this time I stayed down.

'Get up, Sandford!' Mr Wright barked. Feeling thoroughly dejected I stood up. 'Go and stand in the corner with your hands on your head.' I remained in that position until breaktime, noting with interest that the pain in my buttocks had turned to a not unpleasant warm glow. Later on my classmates wanted to know if the slipper had hurt very much. I pretended that it was of no consequence and that the Pump did not frighten me.

I was the first of many boys in that class to bend over for a dose of the Pump. It became the recognised and accepted form of punishment for offences, both serious and trivial, and was always applied with vigour by Mr Wright. I do not know if he secretly enjoyed whacking boys but on most occasions it had to be admitted that he was very fair.

The more sensitive boys boys shivered and shook as they prepared to be whacked. I think that was the worst element of the punishment - the initial moments bent over in front of the class awaiting the first whack. Of course there was also a vicarious pleasure to be had from watching a boy suffering the indignities of the Pump.

I pleased to say that I was not subjected to corporal punishment again in Mr Wright's class. I kept my nose clean and eventually came top of the class, which was great! Looking back I generally enjoyed being in Mr Wright's class. He was a very good teacher, although perhaps a little too strict at times. On the other hand the fact that boys were aware that the Pump was available to deal with miscreants enabled Mr Wright to keep good order with little effort and to get on with the job of teaching us the three Rs.