This the second part of a true story of incidents that happen to me at a junior school. The first half of the story describes how boys were punished for minor offences, this part describes how serious offences were dealt with.
On day I was caught breaking one of the cardinal rules, swearing and sent to the Head, he told me to wait outside his study on the ground floor. When he arrived I was ushered in, the door was closed and locked with his usual We dont want to be interrupted, do we?
He sat down on an upright chair and called me over to stand in front of him. He lectured me on what I had done wrong and got me to agree that I deserved to be punished. Whilst he was doing this he was cupping my buttocks and gently squeezing them. The lecture over he told me to go into the center of the room and stand with my hands on my head, from a long drawer in the bookcase he selected a cane and swished it through the air. The Head then instructed me to bend over and touch my toes. He made sure my legs were apart and straight, he pulled my shirt and vest from the waist band of my trousers, tugged up my trousers and then told me that I was going to get 12 strokes of the cane in two sets of 6. He tapped the cane on my backside several times and each time I expected the first stroke and then THWACKK the first stroke and before I had time to react the second stroke landed THWACKK. The pain was unbelievable, ten times worse that I had expected. He waited for some time before applying the third stroke THWACKK. My backside was throbbing with the pain and tears were already running down my cheeks. Half way through the first half of your punishment. THWACKK the fourth stroke landed and I jumped up clutching my cheeks dancing about sobbing. Get back into position the Head told me, and no sooner had I got into position that THWACKK the fifth stroke blazed into my bum. I didnt think I could take any more but THWACKK the sixth stroke landed and again I jumped up clutching my bum crying and rubbing my cheeks, pleading with the Head not to punish me any more and that I would never swear again.
He told me that the first half of my punishment was over. He sat down on a chair called me over. His hands went round to my bum he was stroking my cheeks telling me that I still had six strokes to come. He then dropped the bombshell The last six are going to be on your bare bottom, I was horrified and pleaded with him not to cane me bare, but he took no notice and undid my trousers and pushed them down to my ankles and told me to step out of them. He then told me to take them a put them tidily on the corner of his desk and then to come back and stand in front of him again. Underpants were next to be lowered by the Head and again they had to be put on the armchair and then back to stand in front of him again. With his hands now feeling my bare bottom he gave me a short lecture then instructed me to stand in the corner.
He called me out of the corner and told me to bend over and touch my toes, He came over swishing the cane and tapped my right leg to make me move it so my legs were further apart and then he folded my shirt and vest under each other and I was left bare from waist to sock tops. The head now felt my bare cheeks and reminded me that I was now going to receive the last 6 strokes of my punishment and that he was very disappointed with my behaviour.
He moved away and rested the cane on my bum, then slowly moved it across my cheeks in a sawing motion, then he tapped the cane, tap tap tap tap tap tap, THWACKK, I jumped up clutching my cheeks. The seventh stroke had caught me totally by surprise. ' Get back into position or you will receive extra strokes'
' I am sorry Sir, but it hurts' I cried
' Good thats what it is meant to do, then perhaps you will be better behaved.' The Head replied. I bent back down and again the cane tapped the inside of my right thigh until he was satisfied they were far enough apart. ' I will give you up to the count of six after each stroke to get back in position. If you are not back in position, the last stroke will not count and will be repeated. Once back in position, if you try to avoid a stroke, then that stroke will not count and will be repeated and in addition you will receive an extra stroke. Do you understand'
' Yes, Sir' I replied miserably.
Tap tap tap tap tap THWACKK. Again I jumped up, caught by surprise again, I had expected a six tap before the eighth stroke. I was jumping around and crying as I heard him say
' Six, Well you really are a very disobedient boy, the last stroke does not count and will be repeated, now bend over and stay there.'
I stood there tears streaming down my face, nose running, hands clutching my bum. ' Please Sir I am sorry, please don't give an extra stroke.'
' I told you to bend over and you have not moved so that is two extra strokes. Do you want to try for three ?' I very quickly bent over with my legs as far apart as I could. ' Thats better, it is surprising what the promise of extra strokes can do, isn't it ?'
' Please Sir, I am very sorry please don't give me any extra strokes, I didn't mean to disobey you.'
' But you did and you will get the extras. Now keep still and remember what I have told you.' I braced myself. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap I relaxed. THWACKK the ninth stroke seared into my backside and before I had time to come to terms with it THWACKK the tenth stroke landed. The eleventh and twelfth strokes followed fairly quickly, and then the Head told me to stand up and to put my hands on my head. He stood in front of me ' You have been punished for your disgusting behaviour and I hope that it will teach you not to swear in the future.'
' Yes Sir it will, I will not swear in the future.' He moved around and stood behind me and felt my bottom and I thought he had forgotten about the two extra strokes. But those thoughts were soon dashed.
' Now we have two extra strokes for disobeying my instructions whilst I was punishing you. Bend over.' I thought about pleading for no more but remembered his treat of three extras and decided that two was better than three especially as my arse was literally on fire.
I bent over legs well apart and the cane was sawed and tapped on my cheeks building up to the thirteenth stroke. THWACKKK right in the centre of my bum. The pain seemed to shoot right through and down my legs. How I kept still I do not know and then it was tap tap tap tap, eight times he tapped before he applied the fourteenth and final stroke THWACKK this last stroke landed in that tenderest spot between bum and thighs.
I was almost screaming with pain. ' Stand up.' I stood up and with hands clamped to my cheeks jumped from foot to foot as if the floor was red-hot. The Head went and sat down at his desk to fill in the punishment book and called me over to initial the line and then I felt his hand stroking my cheeks. ' Swearing is not permitted in this school, and if you are caught swearing again I will punish you even harder, do you understand.'
' Oh Yes Sir, ' I cried ' I won't swear anymore , I promise.' I was then dismissed and told to get dressed and return to my class. I had to explain to the teacher what had happened and she took pity on me and let me stand until the end, which fortunately was not very long.
After school I looked at my bum with the aid of two mirrors, my backside was a mass of red-blue lines that seemed to have a pale white sheen to them and so sore.
Now, many years later I still very very seldom swear in front of anyone.