by Jacqueline Scott
The well-dressed lady, a little pink in the cheeks, came through the front door of St Angela's School for Girls, paused to look around and then went up to the Reception Desk.
"I have an appointment with Miss Montague."
The secretary looked at the diary in front of her. "Mrs Bartholomew is it? If you just follow me I'll take you along." She came out of the little office, smiled at the lady brightly and walked along a corridor a little way before stopping at a door. Holding it open for the visitor she smiled again. "If you would like to wait in here Mrs Bartholomew I will let Miss Montague know you have arrived."
Carol Bartholomew went in and took a seat in a comfortable waiting room. She was a strange mixture of extreme nervousness and tense fury. The fury was directed at her 18 year-old daughter, Elizabeth, a pupil at the school. The nervousness was about what was about to happen. Neither of these emotions eased in any way as she waited for what seemed a long time. Then when the door opened, it was only the secretary again, shepherding another visitor into the room. That was the last thing she wanted. The newcomer looked at her and smiled a little. Carol didn't recognise her and she looked on the young side to be a parent so she assumed her to be there on different business entirely.
Beyond exchanging thin smiles neither woman spoke, and Carol continued to seethe quietly to herself. It was the damn government's fault she thought. They were a bunch of lily livered politicians. If it hadn't been for them that letter would never have been written. Although it was almost six months since it had arrived she had read it so many times now she could almost recite it.
"
Dear Colonel and Mrs. Bartholomew"
I am writing to all parents to inform them of the implications of the recent Act of Parliament abolishing corporal punishment in schools and to present to you a proposal from the Board of Governors relating to these implications for St Angela's.
As I am sure you will be aware from press coverage of the matter, corporal punishment in educational establishments in this country must cease by the end of the current academic year. St Angela's has, with enormous support from parents, always prided itself on the traditional approach to discipline but will have no choice but to comply reluctantly with this legislation. Not to do so would risk closure by the authorities.
The Governors have spent a great deal of time considering the implications for the school of the new legislation. Clearly we are greatly concerned about the potential for discipline at the school to become unacceptably lax once the remedy of corporal punishment has been removed. The Governors feel certain that all parents will share these concerns. A possible solution to the problem has been formulated but as it is a radical measure it has been thought wise to present it to parents and discover if it would have their support.
The proposal is as follows:
- The existing discipline regime will continue as at present with one exception.
- As it will not be possible to use corporal punishment on any of the pupils it is proposed that a proxy individual should be punished instead.
- The proxy will be nominated by the parents and it is anticipated that it would normally be the mother of the pupil.
- While there is no reason why the proxy should not be the father, members of staff at St Angela's are particularly reluctant to be faced with punishing a male, especially as it is an all-female establishment.
- It will be open to the parents to nominate an alternative proxy should there be any reason why the mother cannot accept that role. Such an individual would, however, require to be at least 21 years old.
- It is accepted that a drawback to this system might be that punishments would require to wait for the proxy to come to the school but as we are a small establishment with a relatively close knit catchment, that is not seen to be a significant problem.
- As the Act only apples to educational establishments the Governors have no role to play should parents wish to make their own arrangements about discipline in the home.
- It is hoped that this measure may, in addition to maintaining standards of discipline at school, actually improve such standards as pupils will be aware that others will be punished for their own shortcomings.
The Governors appreciate that this is potentially a controversial measure and have arranged for a meeting of parents to be held in two weeks time at 7.30 in the evening.
Yours sincerely
Edward Atherton,
Secretary to the Board.
At first Carol and her husband had thought the letter to be a spoof. It soon became clear, however, that it was not and in due course she attended the meeting. Her husband was unable to do so being away with the Army at that time.
It was a lively and interesting meeting with many views aired, some quite trenchantly. However, at the end of the evening a vote showed that an overwhelming majority of those present agreed that the scheme should be tried as an experiment for one year.
Both Carol and John, her husband, had made it clear to Elizabeth that the consequences of this new regime would be that, should her mother have the humiliation of being disciplined on her behalf, Elizabeth would suffer the same punishment at home only worse. Carol had thought that Elizabeth had understood this clearly enough and yet here she was, scarcely a month into the new term, being summoned to see the Head. It was too bad. It really was.
At that a door opened, different from the one she had used to enter the room originally, and a tall elegant lady came in.
"Mrs Bartholomew? I'm Mrs Montague. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long, will you come through?"
Carol rose and followed the Head, taking great care not to catch the eye of the other lady sitting in the waiting room. She was shown to an upright, but comfortably padded seat in front of a large desk behind which the Head took her own seat. Mrs Montague would be in her late 50s, slim with steely grey hair. She was beautifully dressed in a yellow blouse which looked as if it was silk and a dark blue flared skirt.
"I must really apologise again Mrs. Bartholomew for keeping you so long. Something very urgent came up that I simply had to attend to first. I did not wish you to think you were being rushed at all once we had started and it seemed easier to start a little late."
Carol nodded and smiled a little uncertainly. Then she continued to listen to the Head.
"I am very grateful for you agreeing to come so quickly. This is an unfortunate business, I'm afraid and I really had hoped that our new discipline scheme would get off to a better start. Some girls just can't keep out of trouble I regret to say although I must emphasise that Elizabeth does not usually come into that category. Let me explain to you what has happened. Elizabeth and another girl were discovered fighting in the quadrangle. They were separated before they had a chance to do each other any proper damage I'm relieved to say but of course we cannot allow such behaviour to go unpunished. And of course as they were both sixth formers and should certainly know better the matter must be taken even more seriously."
Fighting! Carol was aghast! What on earth was Elizabeth thinking of. Then she realised the Head was continuing.
"What made matters worse, I'm afraid, was that even after they had been separated Elizabeth continued to struggle and shout at the other girl and I regret to say, used some very unladylike language. Miss Thomson, who intervened, was quite concerned that Elizabeth might break free and try to start everything again. So I'm sure you will agree Mrs Bartholomew that it is a serious situation that we find ourselves in."
At last Carol found her voice. "Um, yes, I do, Miss Montague. I can't think what got into her but I will find out when she gets home tonight I can assure you."
The Head smiled and nodded. "I'm sure you will Mrs. Bartholomew. And of course our new regime means..." At this she paused and spread her arms.
"That I have to suffer the consequences of my daughter's stupidity!" Carol's voice made it very clear what her opinion on that was!
"I'm afraid so. The fighting would normally be punished by anything between four and eight swats with a slipper over the skirt or knickers, depending on the ages of the girls and any relevant circumstances. Last year I would have given six over knickers as Elizabeth should really have known better at her age. The other matters, however make everything more serious. I am sorry to say Mrs Bartholomew that I cannot see anything less than six on the bare bottom …" She paused and coughed slightly before adding, "with the tawse."
Carol gasped, went bright crimson and then paled almost immediately. She found it hard to get her head round what she had just heard and her mouth worked without any words coming out. At last she said, "You are telling me that you are going to give me six of the belt on my bare bottom?"
Miss Montague looked at her straight in the eye and nodded. "That's exactly what I am saying."
There was a long pause while Carol tried to think of all sorts of arguments she might put forward but she failed to come up with any beyond the obvious which was why should a woman in her mid 40s be humiliated in such a way for something she had not done. She knew, however, that battle had been lost at the parents meeting. Eventually she spoke. "I have no alternative I suppose. What about the other girl?"
"Her parents have been informed and something similar will happen there."
"What do I do then? I mean ... I mean what do you want me to do?"
Miss Montague smiled as if relieved that she had not faced greater objections. "As the idea is that you receive exactly the same treatment as your daughter would have last year, please now remove all your clothing from the waist down. I'm afraid I cannot allow you privacy to do that although if you need to use the toilet there is one off this room. I will write up the punishment record while you prepare yourself."
Carol stood up, slipped off her shoes and unzipped her skirt. Then she suddenly realised that in her effort to look her best for the visit she had put on her panty girdle that morning. She was several pounds overweight, she knew, and the girdle made her figure look flatter at the tummy. The problem was it was a struggle to put it on or take it off. It had never occurred to her that she might require to be bare. Red faced, she informed the Head of her apparel and asked if she might be allowed to retain it.
"Oh Mrs Bartholomew, of course not! The girls would never be allowed an excuse to retain any clothing if the punishment was to be on the bare. I'm a little surprised you even thought to ask."
Feeling like a naughty schoolgirl now, Carol silently removed her skirt, unclipped her stockings and rolled them down and off her feet. Then with a great struggle she wriggled out of the damned girdle. All the while she was conscious of Miss Montague watching her which embarrassed her even more, especially as the little rolls of flesh at her midriff appeared.
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