Something different. Apologies if this is not to your tastes.
England, early 21st century.
Following a number of well-publicised abductions and deaths among young children, parents in England became understandably reluctant to allow their offspring to roam freely. Many parents forbade their children to go out alone, and whilst walking with the family, junior was expected to hold onto mother's hand. Parents of younger children continued to use a harness and reins to restrain their toddlers, and kept using them until the child was attending school. The harness consisted of a chest-plate, with straps that passed around the child's body and fastened at the rear. There was also two shoulder straps, and several D rings which could be clipped onto high-chair or walking rein (a loop of webbing). So it became common, in fact normal, for boys and girls up to seven to be attired in a harness, with the rein firmly held in their mother's hand. These children would be released from their harness upon arrival at school, and clipped in again for the journey home. A simple but clever clip was invented, which only an adult could release, as a large thumb was required.
Clothing manufacturers, never slow to spot a fashion trend, had introduced a series of outer garments which could be worn with the reins that so many under-eights now possessed. Coats had a slot under each arm, so that the D ring of the harness could protrude. Parents could now leave their child's harness on all day, clipping the reins on or off as required. Gradually children would wear their harness at school, as well as at home. Eventually all schools insisted that all children wore their harness in class, and many sold them in school colours with the school emblem proudly emblazoned onto the chest-plate.
English education has been organised into infant schools for 4 to 7 year olds, and junior school for 7 to 11's, for as long as anybody can remember. Compulsory school uniforms had been introduced into the infant sector in an effort to stem the growing behaviour problems, mainly tantrums, bullying, and insolence. Girls were required to wear very short pleated skirts, boys had neat shorts with very short legs. Otherwise all children wore the same shirt, pullover, and long socks. This ensured that all children had a smart appearance and ample exposed thighs. Although the uniforms had halted the increase, there was no reduction in the number of unacceptable incidents generated by these little brats. Finally the government had been forced, reluctantly, to permit spankings to be administered by schools, as the only effective means of controlling the children. In order to satisfy concerns about _s_e_x_ual abuse, the children were not spanked by people, but by a machine. Also, all punishment was to be administered onto the thighs, except in exceptional circumstances.
Schools also found a simple solution to the wandering infant. Each chair in the school was equipped with an eye-ring and hook on a strap. The pupils were clipped into their seats, and the straps secured by a powerful electromagnet. The pupil could not reach to fiddle with it, so was restrained, but otherwise was able to read, crayon, cut up bits of paper and glue things just like before. The teacher could release one child at a time, or the whole class in an emergency, from a console at the front desk. Although it was not necessary to have the children clipped in all day, there were set times when the class was expected to be restrained. These were registration, maths work, individual reading, story-time, and for dismissal.
For playtime (recess) the class were released one at a time, and clipped onto a 'walker'. This was a series of wooden poles about four feet long, and the idea was that each child could not touch the one next to it, but they could march in single file through the corridors and use the stairs. Once in the playground, trusted children were set loose, but naughty ones could be attached to an 'exerciser' – a sort of treadmill, which ensured the infant had a long run and was quite breathless by the end of playtime. The exercisers were naturally computerised, and retained a record of the abilities of each child, as well as monitoring heart-rate, breathing, and temperature. To ensure maximum effort at all times, the exerciser had a pair of 'wheels', one mounted on each side of the treadmill. Each disc had a series of leather strips. If the pupil stopped running, the wheels would spin and the leather strips would whip their legs, rather like a french martinet. This stung terribly, but did not cause any lasting marks. It did make sure that the naughty child kept running, though, because the only way to stop the whipping was to run fast. Very few kids would get their legs smacked, however, as the standard required could be maintained for the ten to fifteen minutes of playtime. Most children thought it amusing to have a go on the exerciser at first, but after several days they wished they could be set loose. Playground monitors could sentence a naughty child to a few days on the exerciser, or the teacher would inflict it onto any child who seemed to be restless in class.
It was possible for a teacher to put a pupil onto the exerciser for the duration of a lesson, if it was felt necessary. This was the standard response to pupils who constantly ran around the classroom, cheeked the teacher, or just seemed full of energy. Lively, insolent brats would be escorted out to the machine full of bravado; but they would return utterly exhausted, legs covered in masses of red lines, bright red faces covered in sweat, snot, tears, and apologies. Very few pupils ever needed a second trip.
For naughty children, the most worrying part of the school day, though, was the punishment parade. About a half-hour before school ended, the naughty ones were lined up and 'walked' to their doom on the 'spanker'. This was an automated spanking machine, designed to remove any physical involvement of adults and thus prevent any accusations of child abuse. Children who were nominated by a teacher, or whose school-work was not satisfactory, joined the daily queue for a turn. Parents could also nominate their child for a 'turn', and many did. Children who were unfortunate enough to get two nominations in one day would be first in the queue, and then immediately put to the back of the line after their first turn. The machine made no allowances for the poor soul who came up for a repeat dose, those children who came round again received another stinging spanking. In the unlikely event of a pupil receiving three or more nominations, the machine would administer the first two onto the thighs, and then request permission to apply a final dose to the naked posterior. This had to be approved by the parent. So occasionally an errant pupil would be clipped to a waiting point at the door of headteacher's office, who would ask his mum to come inside. When agreed, the child would be taken back to the spanker, and once more mounted onto the machine. There was a pause button, which once pressed would delay the spanking whilst clothing was removed. After the child had been tensioned, a buzzer would sound, and the parent would step forward to lower the boys shorts and underpants. Girls had some buttons sewn onto the back of their dress, and button holes in the hem of their skirt. This enabled them to be folded up and buttoned out of the way, then knickers would come down.
The teacher would read out the names of those who were going, and then get them ready in class. The children would have been clipped into their chairs before the list was read out, then the teacher would go round the room preparing each nominated child. First, the naughty one had to hold out their hands. A bracelet was buckled onto each wrist, and then clipped onto the D ring under opposing armpits. This gave the impression of a child folding it's arms. Some regular offenders would wear their bracelets all day, to save time and as a constant reminder what was to come. These pupils could be clipped up during story-time, or whenever it was felt necessary to prevent them from fiddling. On a normal day, there might be two or three kids out of the 30 pupils who were due for a spanking. On exceptional days, 20 or more pupils might have to go.
Once the arms were restrained, the trussed infant could be released from the chair and escorted to the door, where a series of standing places awaited. The child was then clipped in, to wait for the 'train'. The headteacher, or his nominee, would start the 'train' by calling at the classroom furthest from the 'spanker', and collecting the waiting culprits. These were attached to a 'walker', and moved along to the next classroom. As the 'train' progressed, more and more little sinners would be added, until by the time it reached the 'spanker' there could be 30 or more crying bodies on board. The headteacher would attach pupils onto the back of the train, unless they were due for two doses, in which case they went onto the front.
Once they reached the spanker, the first pupil had to step onto the foot-plates. These were two metal squares on the floor, and once on them the machine would clamp the foot and ankle. There was no need to disconnect the child from the train. In front of the child two horizontal bars would appear, and these would be slotted under the child's arms. The bars would then rise until suitable tension was achieved. The child was thus restrained vertically, bare thighs presented for a sound smacking. The 'spanker' was equipped with eight wheels similar to the those on the exerciser, but with longer straps. The wheels, four on each side, were arranged on a vertical shaft, and so the leather strips would spin horizontally. The machine would adjust it's height so that the highest smack landed just below the hem of shorts (or skirt), a small sensor detecting the edge of the garment. The shaft would move towards the child then away, so that the ends of the strips would land first on the outer edge of the thigh, then across the back of the legs, and finally wrapping round to smack the inner thigh. The shaft would oscillate up and down, so that the successive strips would land next to the previous smack. It took just 3 seconds to get up to full speed, and 15 seconds to complete a cycle. Five-year-olds would get one cycle, six-year-olds got two, and the seven-year-olds got three cycles. That was forty-five seconds of excruciating smacking on the back of the legs, a treatment which made sure every pupil was howling.
Most schools had a dual spanker, so whilst one child was getting a dose the headteacher was releasing the previous victim or clamping in the next one. Very few children would arrive in a calm state, most would be weeping quietly, some begging for release, but the headteacher knew that any sympathy was wasted on these rascals. These were naughty children, sorry they may be, but the law required that they be punished. Besides, once he let one child off, how could he justify punishing the rest. If a child refused to mount the machine, sat down, or tried to pull away, the headteacher was authorised to use a hand-held martinet to smack the child's legs, or buttocks, until he complied. Any such refusal almost certainly earned the child a trip to the back of the queue as well.
When released from the spanker the children would dance and wriggle, loud sobs followed by cries, with copious tears. The vivid red patches on each thigh were clear evidence of the effectiveness of the machine, not that adult or child was in any doubt. When the whole train had been processed, and any child due for a second dose had reluctantly stepped up for a repeat performance, then the train would resume it's journey around the school. At each classroom the headteacher would be assisted by the class teacher to return the child to the waiting position at the door. Here the well-smacked youngster would stand with the rest of the class staring at their red legs and tear-streaked face. Most children would prefer to face the wall, thus displaying their punished thighs to the eager audience. The marks were superficial, and faded within an hour or so. Oh how those legs itched and tingled, but the chastised child was not able to rub them, or wipe his moist face, still having his hands clipped onto his harness. Eventually home-time would creep round, and release. The whole class would still be clipped into their chairs, and mothers were let in to collect their off-spring.
Whilst the spankings were being administered the teacher would have got all the other children into their coats, and attached the walking reins, so that the mothers could unclip them from the seat and take them home. This dressing act was usually done in silence, as the children were listening for the squeals of their class-mates. A Tannoy system would announce the name of each child who was about to get a dose, and their yelps were quite audible along the corridors. Far from offering sympathy, the rest of the class would be keen to see their colleague get a severe smacking. Rules are only worth keeping when others who break them get smacked. After all, we worked hard, didn't slack or play, and they did, so they deserve it.
The arrival of mother, however, did not mean safety for every child. Some mothers could ask for their child to have a go on the spanker immediately. This sometimes happened if the youngster pulled on the reins instead of walking calmly by mother's side; or if they had committed some sin which mother has only just found out about. For the child stood at the waiting point at the door, there was an extra danger. He did not have his coat on, and if mother did not know he was due for a dose, she was likely to be upset. And he still had his bracelets on, and hands clipped up under his armpits. It was all too easy for mum to take him back to the spanker, and push him on board. Quite a few mothers would do this, and quite a few would press the pause button! This meant that pants would be coming down, and the spanker would now work up the buttocks instead of down the thighs. A whipping on the bare bottom was just as painful as one on the sore legs, and the ration was just the same. The only hope was that mother arrived at the spanker after the other mothers, and changed her mind when she saw the length of the queue. This was not always a good move however, as the next day might see a mother's nomination for new dose.
The introduction of uniforms, harness & reins, and smacked legs for infants proved very successful. Within a few years there was a total transformation, children became polite, studious, and respectful. It was noticed, however, that they soon deteriorated after entering the junior sector. The 7 to 11 year olds had not been required to wear uniforms, although many did. Neither was spanking legalised for this age-group, as they were regarded as old enough to be reasoned with. Many parents had stopped using the harness when their child commenced junior school. After a series of tragic accidents in which children were run over, this all changed. Schools supplied harnesses in larger sizes, and parents gratfully bought them. Within a few weeks every pupil aged up to 11 was back into a harness, and mothers with several children would clip them together for the journey to school. Quite a few 10 year olds resented being harnessed again, and irate parents would drag their boys & girls down to the infant school for a long-overdue ride on the spanker.
The government quickly acted to permit junior schools to use punishment machines, and provided ample funds to acquire them. They also enabled libraries, sports halls, and shopping malls to install spankers, so that parents could have their children disciplined at their convenience. Children up to nine would get four cycles, and those 10 or 11 would get five. A minute of whipping onto bare thighs would extract all sorts of cries and apologies, and 75 seconds was enough to reduce every kid to a screaming wreck.
At school all boys had to wear shorts, and the girls were kept in pleated skirts. Out of school many children were required to keep their legs bare, and it was not unusual to see a harnessed youngster with red thighs trotting politely in front of a parent. When in public almost every child was clipped into his harness, and would sometimes have his bracelets clipped under his arms. The same routines, which had proved so successful in the infant sector, were introduced into the juniors. With regular exercise, strict rules, and smacked legs to enforce them, the standards of behaviour and performance made a dramatic improvement.
Sadly the secondary sector did not show a similar improvement, but children over 11 were considered too mature to smack.
Oh how those little children looked forward to the end of primary school, when they could hang up their harness forever, and would be free from short trousers, and could run around in secondary school with no fear of a stinging pair of sore legs.
For the moment.