I was raised in a small town in Texas where corporal punishment (paddling) in the public schools was a fact of life, and a significant part of one's educational experience. Most of my personal experiences with the paddle occurred at school, even though my father also used to spank or strap me at home when I was growing up. But most of my most severe whippings occurred at school, from about grade 7 in junior high right on up through 12th grade in high school. A few times, even as a senior, I had my bottom tanned but good.
From junior high on most of my teachers had paddles right in the classroom and kept them in a desk drawer or storage cabinet. During the average week, hardly a class period went by without at least once a young boy somewhere in the building would be taken out into the hallway and be asked to bend over and grab his knees to receive licks.
Depending on the severity of the punishment, licks were meted out in multiples of three: 3, 6, 9, 12. In most cases the favored instrument used to punish student's young bottoms was a wooden paddle approximately 2 feet long by 3 inches wide and a quarter inch thick, usually made out of pine or oak. In most cases the paddle was wrapped with either black electrical tape or white adhesive tape. The purpose of the tape was to help keep the wood from splintering or cracking, plus the overlaps of the tape wrappings gave a rougher, unsmooth surface to the paddle which enabled it to sting fire into our naughty little bottoms all the more.
The MOST licks that I ever received AT ONE TIME at school was in the 8th grade. A friend of mine and I were walking down the hallway of our school. Large clocks hung from the ceiling of this hallway at regular intervals. He and I were jumping up to touch these as we made our way down the hall. Well, at one point he jumped up to touch a clock and he hit it a little too hard. It came loose from the mounting and fell in pieces to the floor with a loud crash!
Unfortuneately, the principal had seen the whole escapade from the far end of the hall. I remember how he was so incredibly pissed over the whole deal. He snapped, "You boys come with me! To the Office! NOW!" I knew we were in trouble at that point. Anytime a boy was invited to the office for a "visit" he could usually count on having a fiery hot bottom when he came out.
After we got there the principal spent a few moments alone talking the matter over with the vice-principal. We just waited outside in the outer office, and by now were feeling a little sick to our stomachs and nervous. I had an uncomfortable tingling in my bottom and I hadn't even been whacked yet! When they came out of the office the vice-principal was carrying "the board" , as most guys called the paddle. He glared at us both and roared, "Who's first?" Tom and I just looked at each other. Finally, I said, "I'll go first, sir."
The vice-principal motioned me into his office. I walked in before him followed by the principal (the witness) and he closed the door behind him. He then asked me if I had underwear on beneath my Levis. I told him yes. He said I could either take twelve licks over jeans and shorts or nine licks over jeans alone. Man, what a choice! I chose the nine over jeans alone because I knew his paddlings to be real stingers.
He said, "OK then. Take off your pants, remove your underwear, put your Levis back on and let's get on with it." I turned around with my back to the men, pulled off my boots, took off my Levis and briefs, then put my jeans back on. The principal told me to take these like a man or else there would be "Hell to pay." He then pulled a straight-backed chair out from the wall and into the middle of the office.
The typical procedure when getting "busted" in the office was to bend over the back of a chair or sometimes across the desk and grab the other side to get your licks. This time, the vice-principal asked me to "Bend over son, and grab the seat" of the chair. I was to get two extra swats for each time my hands left the seat of that chair. He then stepped back and before I could even catch my breath some he delivered nine of the hardest, most painful stinging licks by bottom had EVER received!
They came FAST and HARD, one right after the other. It stung like wildfire and hurt so bad I couldn't even breathe. My butt felt like it was sitting on a beehive and getting kicked by a mule at the same time! I think six of them landed in exactly the same spot on my butt and man did I ever want to squirm! What I wanted to do was to jump up and rub, but I remembered the "two extra" rule and was able to stay down. The entire licking probably only took no more than 30 to 45 seconds , but I was so shaken up by the experience that I can still even now remember the pain as though it just now happened. My bottom was now red hot and had welts and bruises on it that took a full week to fade away.
After that ninth and final lick, the principal pulled me up by my shoulder to an upright position and said, "Good man!" He handed me my underwear, which I painfully replaced over my tortured butt underneath my Levis. I replaced my boots and he open the door to let me out. My butt hurt even to have my clothes touch it. As I painfully sort of limped out of the office with my Levis rubbing against my sore butt, my friend Tom looked as white as a sheet. It was plain now he was really scared and hadn't expected the spankings to be so hard. Tom walked shakily into the office and the door closed. It was he, after all, who had actually broken the _d_a_m_n_ed clock. I was hoping he would get his ass steamed good.
Tom must not have taken his shorts off because I heard him take twelve. He was crying and shuffling his feet by number six and boo-hooing like a baby by the time the twelfth one had landed. I had several paddlings in school after that, but this one is the most memorable.