Changes at 14

Where I write about the past…

It’s the first time ever I wrote about this, even when I had an account at a site that was devoted at least originally to the writing and sharing of experiences, I never wrote about this experience.
Around the time I was beginning to turn 14, I’d been in my boarding school for a while having settled down fairly well to its inevitable routines and rules and indeed in hindsight I did start to show an appreciation of the structured environment and even of the odd spanking I got.
Lots of things happen around that age, for one thing your hormones change meaning you and even in more limited way I developed to and one side of this I started to feel I could challenge directly anything or anybody I took a dislike to and this involved my science teacher who it has to be said did have what today you might regard as overly harsh attitudes.
I tended to clash with him more and more over things like how he treated those he thought were ‘immature’ or ‘pansies’ and his gruff ‘hard as nails’ Northern English manner. His attitudes it would not pass a modern diversities test shall we say.
Anyway to cut a long story short after objecting in class to his teaching, he wrote some work out on the chalkboard saying we were to getting on with it and then walked over to me, grabbed my hand and took me to the stockroom.
The stockroom was about  a quarter full with old Bunsen burners, bits of electric stuff and that all marked up with Dynotape labels with a stool toward the back and and wicker waste bin which after shut the door I realized contained various implements I hadn’t seen at this school before.
He pulled me over it, partially disrobed me from the waist down and while holding with one hand over my back, took out this cane, flexing it and passing it over my bottom before saying I’d disrespected him in front of the class and I was to get six strokes of it.
He then proceeded to start the caning within seconds I could feel this swishing sound in the air before it landed right on my bottom causing me to squeal and he kept that up until the sixth by which I was crying as it stung like hell.
I then had to apologize to him, he asked if there was something else I should do so I said “Thank you, Sir” and he replied by saying And what are you thanking me for”? “I replied “For caning my bottom, Sir” “You were very naughty earlier on in my class and naughty children deserve it don’t they? He went to say. “Yes Sir” I replied figuring disagreeing wasn’t going to make this any better. “Right” he said “from now on if you are naughty in my class that’s what you’re getting. You may be getting older but you’re not in charge. As far as I’m concerned what you did earlier on is over with, just learn from it, ‘kay?”
“Yes Sir, Thank you sir” I replied as he lead me back to my seat to rejoin the class who were aware of what was going on.
For the next 18 months he stayed at school that’s how things stayed with him being the one teacher that did cane me.
Looking at this from a 21st century take, his attitudes such as  casual homophobia, accusing some boys of effeminacy were wrong, probably caused harm and I would not defend them (although it was common place back then) but in dealing strongly with how (rather than if) I tried to challenge him in the classroom about his teaching, he was quite right because he was that -a teacher - and his role is to teach the class effectively and that can’t be done if your authority as such is being challenged.
Originally posted December 4th 2015