"Joe! How many times have you been warned about your behaviour recently?"
"Twice, Dad."
"Really . . . twice? Try four times, boy.
"Four?"
"Yes, four! First, you were late home the other afternoon. Second, you were disobedient when your mother told you to clean your room. Third, you left your room when you were told to stay there and fourth, you were just plain lazy when you were told to clean up the yard on Saturday. Right, boy?"
"Oh, yes. I'd forgotten about some of them."
"And now you're watching television when you are supposed to be studying. This is the fifth example of unsatisfactory conduct in less than a week and I've had enough more than enough. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir."
"So I think it's high time you had a good dose of punishment to straighten you out. Fair enough?"
There was a stony silence as the sixteen year old lad faced his father.
"Well?"
"Well, what Sir?"
"Do you understand that it is time for a good dose of punishment or is it usual for continual disobedience to go unpunished in this household?"
"No, Sir."
"No? You don't think you're due for punishment?"
"No, Sir. I meant it's not usual for disobedience to go unpunished. I know I've done the wrong thing again and I suppose it's fair enough that I do get punished this time. You've given me enough warnings recently."
"So, what do you think is a fair punishment, boy?"
"To be grounded for a week, Sir?"
"You've got to be joking, haven't you? Grounded for a week when you've already had four warnings? Try again, young man?"
"Not a whipping, Sir?" the boy asked, hoping against hope that this would not be the punishment.
"Yes, Joe. A whipping. Fifteen strokes. Maybe that'll teach you to keep out of mischief and to do as you're told. What do you reckon?"
The boy was already in tears. He absolutely dreaded the mere thought of a whipping and . . . fifteen strokes.
"Does that mean I get the cane as well?" he asked.
"What's the standard rule, boy? It's never changed, so you should know it."
"If I get more than ten strokes of the whip, I get six cuts of the cane as well to warm me up?"
"That's right!"
"But, please, Dad. I'm sorry. I won't be disobedient again. I promise."
"That's what you said each time I gave you a warning and each time you've broken your promise, haven't you?"
"Yes . . . but . . ."
"Yes, but nothing! I'm sick of warning you and you both know from past experience that you always learn better after a good flogging, don't you?"
"Yes, Sir," replied Joe, already crying solidly as he anticipated the approaching punishment.
"Get the cane and the whip out of the hall cupboard and then get yourself up to the study and prepare for punishment. I shall be there shortly. Now, move!"
"Yes, Sir."
Joe dreaded the thought of the punishment that was about to be administered. As instructed, he collected both the whip and the cane from the hall cupboard and headed for the study. The cane was a metre length strip of relatively thick but flexible bamboo and the leather whip, whilst slightly shorter, was split into seven supple thongs at the receiving end.
Although only three rooms away, the walk upstairs to the study felt so far away.
Already he was strongly regretting his disobedience and realised the time had now come to be fully accountable. Whilst dreading the coming punishment, he not only knew in his heart that he deserved every bit of it but he also knew that it would probably do him the world of good. Not that this was much consolation at the moment.
He slowly opened the door, entered the study, closed the door behind him and proceeded to clear his father's desk. He then placed both the cane and the whip on the desk.
Joe stripped to his briefs, removing his shoes, shirt and shorts in preparation for his punishment and then awaited his father's arrival. When instructed, he would remove his briefs so that his buttocks would be bare and he would then assume the appropriate punishment position.
For his caning he would bend over and touch his toes but when his whipping was due he would approach the desk and spread his feet wide so that his buttocks were fully exposed to take the full force of the punishment. He would then spreadeagle himself over the desk for the flogging as the whip lashed his naked buttocks.
For what seemed like an indefinite length of time, he stood there contemplating his father's arrival.
It was not a rare event by any means for Joe or his brothers to receive a good flogging. He and his brothers were quite used to it.
From an early age they had all experienced a very strict upbringing and many times the three of them had experienced the whip or the cane, or both, being flayed across their buttocks. No punishment was ever lightly given. To do so, their father had told them, risked that the punishment would not serve as an effective deterrent.
However, when it was given severely and in sufficient quantity, as was always the case, the results would generally be most effective in teaching him the importance of both discipline and obedience.
Still, he thought, it could be worse. Had the "sentence" been twenty strokes, he would have had to take twelve cuts of the cane six to commence the punishment and another six at the completion of the whipping.
Eventually, the door opened and in came Joe's father. He was not pleased, to say the least, that the time had again come to discipline his son.
Although on this occasion, Joe was to receive only fifteen strokes of the whip and six cuts of the cane, his father was determined to lay them on as hard as he possibly could do in order to teach the boy a good lesson.
He reached for the cane and motioned to Joe to bend over and take up the punishment position.
Joe then removed his underpants, went to the centre of the room where he bent over to touch his toes. His father positioned the cane and after two or three light movements on the lad's bare buttocks, the thrashing was begun with the most possible severity.
The lad was frozen in fear as he first heard the swish of the cane as it flew through the air and then felt the crack as it landed across his buttocks.
He jumped! His father was furious. Joe's father was a strict disciplinarian and, as the boy well knew that at all times he and his brothers were supposed to remain completely still during punishment.
"How dare you move during punishment young man," he exploded. "You've been told before to remain perfectly still. You move again and I'll start the six cuts from the beginning. Do you understand, boy?"
"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry, Sir. I'll try not to move again."
"You'd better and you'd better try hard because I've warned you of the consequences if you move again and I won't repeat the warning. O. K.?"
"Yes, Sir."
Joe resumed his positioned and the caning continued. Despite the fact that the sixteen-year-old lad was a strapping young man with a strong and well developed physique, unfortunately he only lasted another three strokes before he lost his footing with the force of the caning and went sprawling forwards.
"Get up!" commanded his father. "What did I tell you?"
The boy couldn't even bring himself to answer his father as he was crying uncontrollably.
"I'll ask again. What did I tell you would happen if you moved again?" his father snapped.
"That you'd start again from the beginning," Joe eventually replied between his tears.
"Aren't you a really fine example of manhood, young man? Only yesterday, both of your brothers were thrashed and neither of them moved an inch, either during their caning or during their whipping. And both of them are younger than you are. Now, for goodness sake, act your age."
"Yes, Sir. I'll try. But you're really laying it on hard and it hurts so much. It's very difficult to remain still."
"Well, perhaps I should get them in here now so they can see just how badly you stand up to punishment?"
"Please, no, Dad. I don't want you to do that. Can I have another try, first?"
"All right, we'll try just once more. But this time don't even think of moving! Now, bend over."
He immediately did as instructed and the punishment was recommenced. This time he did not move a muscle as the cane cut across his buttocks. The boy's backside was now raw and covered with ten thick red welts. Joe knew, however, that this was only the beginning. He still had fifteen strokes of the whip to take.
Despite his philosophy that only a strong beating would be an effective form of discipline for his three sons, he was not without compassion. He could see that Joe was extremely distressed, to say the least, and when the boy pleaded for a short break in the punishment, he readily agreed.
"All right. Slip your shorts back on and I'll give you a ten minute break. O. K., Son?"
"Thank you, Sir," the boy acknowledged.
"And whilst you're waiting, you can prime the ends of the whip please, Joe. And do it properly or there'll be even more punishment when I get back."
His father left the room, closed the door behind him and left Joe to prepare both himself and the whip for the remainder of his punishment.
The boy jumped several times and rubbed his backside in an attempt to relieve the pain but it seemed to be of little benefit. Still crying, he commenced preparing the whip for punishment. The preparation of the whip for punishment involved lubricating the seven end thongs with vaseline to keep them flexible and in peak condition. If his father wasn't happy with the flexibility of the whip, Joe ran the risk that he would be in for additional punishment.
The possibility of this he certainly wasn't prepared to even contemplate, so the boy ensured the job was done thoroughly and that the strands were very flexible.
Joe and his brothers knew that a well moistened whip was a great deal more painful when it was inflicted, and as such their father assured them that it would provide them with a much stronger lesson when lashed across their bare bottoms.
It was some time before his father returned and Joe was becoming quite anxious. When he did, Joe handed him the whip and then removed his shorts.
He thanked his father for the temporary delay in completing the punishment and approached the desk in the centre of the room. He spread his feet and buttocks ready for the full force of the fifteen lashes to come and grabbed the other side of the desk firmly in order to steady himself.
Joe waited for what seemed line an eternity whilst his father first inspected the whip to ascertain that it was indeed properly prepared as he had instructed. He then heard his father repeatedly flex the whip before he positioned the seven end strands across his son's bottom, ready to take aim and to commence the beating.
Joe's father drew the whip back high over his shoulders in readiness for the first stroke. It flew through the air culminating in a loud thwack.
Seven freshly moistened and supple thongs of leather were laid heavily across his son's naked bottom. The boy knew instantly he was in for a solid flogging.
It was indeed a hard whipping, even more so as his buttocks were so tender from the ten cuts of the cane he had just received. His father was determined that the boy was going to learn a good and lasting lesson in obedience.
The boy was successful in holding himself steady this time, despite the severity of the whip lashing his bare bottom. After the fifteenth stroke, he remained in the punishment positioned until his father gave him the instruction to stand.
When told to do so and not before, Joe slowly rose to an erect position, his buttocks visibly raw in various shades of red, blue and black as a result of his punishment.
"Thank you, Dad, for correcting me," he said. I thoroughly deserved all of the punishment. I am sure it will help settle me down and I'll be more obedient."
"Yes, well I'm still not quite sure," replied his father as he again reached for the cane. "I am going to give you a few more cuts, just to be certain, young man."
"Dad, I really believe that I've learnt my lesson," pleaded the boy. "I don't need any more please, Dad."
"I beg your pardon."
"Dad, I've learnt my lesson. It's settled me down, well. I don't think I'll be in any more trouble for a long time."
"Joe, when I want your advice, I'll ask for it. How dare you question my judgement. And just for speaking out of turn, you may hand me the whip again and spread yourself over the desk."
"Yes, Sir. I'm so sorry, Sir."
The boy again spreadeagled himself over the desk and held his breath as another three solid strokes of the whip lashed across his buttocks.
"Now, get up, Joe."
Joe rose.
"I thought you knew better than to question an instruction, boy! Now are we ready for the cane or is there anything else you wish to say?"
"No, Sir. I'm ready."
"Right. Then bend over."
This time he did as instructed without any protest, spread his feet apart and bent over as low as he could.
Another four mighty cuts of the cane were laid across his buttocks. In all, fourteen cuts of the cane and eighteen strokes of the whip across his bottom certainly seemed to have settled the boy down.
"You may get up now," the boy's father advised and Joe did as he was told.
"Don't you ever again question me like that when I tell you to accept punishment, do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry, Sir. It won't happen again."
"Well, do you think that will settle you down now and teach you obedience, young man?"
"Yes, Sir. No doubt at all."
"All right, then. You may put your shorts back on and take the whip and the cane back to the hall cupboard. You can then remain in your room for the rest of the morning while you write me an essay of approximately five hundred words on the need for discipline and obedience and the consequences of disobedience. That should help impress upon you the seriousness of the situation on you. When it's done, show it to me."
"Yes, Sir," agreed the boy.
The lad then returned to his room. Because of the pain of his buttocks he could not even sit at his desk whilst he wrote his punishment essay, but remained standing.
He wrote an outstanding piece of work in which he reflected upon his disobedience, the punishment he had received and the need for chastisement should he again err. Indeed, he knew that if his essay was not approved by his father, then a further whipping may well be administered and this he was not even prepared to contemplate.
After a couple of hours of careful thought he had completed the assigned essay and took it to his father, hoping for its approval.
"I'm sure we both hope that this is a really good piece of work, because if I don't feel you have learnt your lesson properly then I'm sure you will understand that there will be a further lot of punishment, Son."
"Yes, Sir," the boy replied as he anxiously stood and waited for the judgement.
His father carefully studied the boy's piece of work:
"Obedience is the ability and willingness to follow instructions and when directions are given these should be followed without question by all boys regardless of their age. It is an important part of the growing process for boys to learn respect and obedience to authority and is essential for later life.
"It is important that boys receive a strict upbringing and when disobedient it is essential to be reprimanded for this so that we learn in the future. For minor acts of disobedience, a 'grounding' or other minor punishment is often sufficient but if the disobedience is either major or is repeated on a number of occasions, it is important that we receive a major punishment to stress upon us the importance of being obedient and respectful.
"On the occasions when my brothers and I need to be punished, Dad only does it because he really cares for us and wants us to grow up to be fine young men.
"When a major punishment is needed to correct us, the most effective punishment for all three of us is a good taste of the whip or a solid caning across the bare backside and my brothers and I realise this. It is also very important that no punishment is ever lightly given. To do so risks that it might not be fully effective and that we might not learn from our mistakes. It is better for us to have the punishment increased.
"Although we dread having these punishment sessions because they are so painful, we all realise that a good whipping does us a lot of good and provides us with some very valuable lessons.
"It is important that we learn from our mistakes and all three of us need a really good thrashing from time to time.
"No boy is ever too old for a good belting and although it really hurts when you get the whip or the cane or even both across your bare backside, it's the best way of learning to be obedient and respectful because the message really gets through to you.
"A good flogging sets you straight when you've done the wrong thing and it can keep you out of trouble for a long time. It's not pleasant, but you do remember a good flogging longer than any other form of punishment. It certainly does you a great deal of good in the long run.
"Today, I have been given fourteen cuts of the cane and eighteen strokes of the whip and I can truthfully say that I fully deserved it and I hope I will learn to be more obedient as a result of this punishment. However, should I again be disobedient in the future, I know that Dad will again administer another strong dose of punishment to correct me.
I am sorry for my disobedience and I shall try my best to be better behaved in the future."
"Yes, young man," Joe's father commented. That is a satisfactory essay and I hope you mean what you say.
"I do, Sir."
"I hope so, because if you are disobedient again, then as you correctly say you will be given another strong dose of punishment."
And, regrettably, the three boys were . . . on numerous occasions!