by James Simpson
Mary and John Stockbridge were the newest parent governors of Midchester Grammar, having been elected after the previous incumbents, also a husband and wife, had moved away for a promotion. They had been extremely surprised that they had both been successful, but had later realised that they were the pragmatic choice of the silent majority as all the other candidates had very strong opinions that would have been very divisive.
They were immediately involved in a controversial decision as the school had to make a decision on corporal punishment policy and present it to the County Education Department for approval. The Headmaster, Mr. Paul Hirst, had been holding a series of meetings to try to reach a consensus, but unfortunately it had proved impossible; most of the governors held very strong opinions and would not budge. After their election, he and his wife, Claire, had invited Mary and John to an informal dinner party, partly to get to know them better, but mainly to gauge their opinions, and to find out the probable decision of the governors.
The school governors who included appointees from the local 'supposedly great and good', along with teacher and parent representatives, had to decide whether to retain corporal punishment or whether to suspend its use. The vote would be very tight, and they were amongst the few to have no very strong feelings. Paul Hirst didn't want to have to use his casting vote unless it was absolutely unavoidable.
He had discussed the matter with his friend and senior colleague at The Education Department of County Headquarters, and although they both favoured the CP option they knew it wasn't only his school that was having problems. They both considered that abolition of CP would be a short cut to anarchy in the classroom, but knew that opinion in the mid-seventies was inexorably moving against it and that parliamentary abolition was only a matter of time. They concluded that if the governors' vote tied, using his casting vote in favour would cause a great deal of trouble amongst the very vociferous minority of pro-abolition parents and teachers, despite unofficial soundings indicating that a considerable but less vocal majority of parents and teachers favoured retaining corporal punishment.
Mary and John had been both flattered and delighted by the invitation to dinner, and accepted with pleasure. Mary's parents had jumped at the chance to spoil their beloved grandchildren for a long weekend, and as a result they didn't have to worry about their children. Claire and Mary had never met socially before, but John knew Paul from the golf club and had played against him a few times and enjoyed a drink afterwards. At the dinner party, after an inhibition loosening glass of Moet champagne, they chatted away about family and other interests and realised they got on very well indeed.
After the main course was finished, Paul introduced the serious business of the corporal punishment vote. Up till then they had discussed the roles and responsibilities of parent governors and other issues in some detail, but Paul had skilfully avoided 'the elephant in the governors' room' until then. After a short introduction, Mary and John realised that theirs might well be the deciding votes as most of the other governors had intractable positions.
To their surprise, Paul wasn't particularly concerned which way the vote went as in both cases he would have irate teachers and parents furious about the decision to placate. He had told them his personal preference was to keep the cane as the ultimate deterrent, and to use the strap or gym-shoe for lesser punishments. He considered detentions, except the very serious Saturday morning ones which in any case included corporal punishment, to be a complete waste of everybody's time. They also weren't particularly fair as many pupils coming some distance on a train or bus couldn't be delayed in the evening and had to be given corporal punishment or Saturday detention. Almost all of these pupils accepted a beating rather than a Saturday morning detention.
He would much rather give boys the gym-shoe on their bottoms, and offer girls the option of the strap on their hands or the gym-shoe on their bottoms from the gym mistress. For lesser offences, he considered extra homework in the form of a demanding and educational essay a far better and more constructive option. He reserved the cane (on the bottom only for both boys and girls) for serious offences such as vandalism, bullying, fighting and stealing. Again, he or his male deputy would cane the boys, and his female deputy would usually send the girls to the gym mistress, but she had full authority to beat offenders herself if appropriate. He also allowed the senior teachers the option of using the plimsoll on offenders of the same sex or referring them to an appropriate senior teacher of the same sex for corporal punishment. This arrangement had the agreement of a considerable majority of teachers, but those against were very strongly in favour of abolition.
His wife, Claire, although she didn't have a vote, was a strong supporter of corporal punishment and the cane in particular, and made her opinions known during the conversation. She had stated that she had been strapped several times at school in Scotland, both on her hands and bottom, and had always thoroughly deserved it. However, she thought it should have always been on the bottom, or she should have been given the choice, rather than on the hand.
Paul had asked John his opinion first, and was somewhat surprised when John said he had mixed feelings. He supported CP in principle; at school he had been on the receiving end of a couple of well-deserved but extremely painful canings. However, he had also received several slipperings from prefects, a couple of which he had considered unfair and tantamount to bullying. He said that he could support caning by the headmaster and the plimsoll from heads of department, though, but added that although he trusted Paul he thought that there was always the possibility of abuse and also that the cane should definitely be reserved for serious punishments. Also, you couldn't 'uncane' if a mistake had been made, so one had to be absolutely sure it was fully justified. He was, however, wholeheartedly in favour when it was used to punish bullying and offences involving violent or abusive conduct or wilful vandalism.
Mary had been researching the subject and said that she had concluded that corporal punishment was a useful and necessary final option, and would definitely be voting for it.
Paul said that would probably leave John with the deciding vote, and if John voted against he'd probably have to use his casting vote, which would be rather unsatisfactory. John then agreed that he would vote in favour.
The serious business concluded, they continued to enjoy the excellent meal and each other's company. Fortunately, the children were taken care of for the night and they could get home late. They had coffee in the sitting room, and enjoyed a very generous brandy. John and Mary realised that they had drunk too much to drive; they would have to take a taxi home and collect the car in the morning. Paul promptly refilled their glasses and the talk became very relaxed.
The conversation strayed back to discipline, and John said that he thought Mary was somewhat hypocritical to be so in favour of corporal punishment when she hadn't experienced it herself.
She replied that John was in favour of capital punishment which she abhorred, but giggling loudly said he hadn't experienced that himself.
Claire burst out laughing and said, "Touché," and added with an evil grin that unlike John, Mary could try it out before voting for it.
Mary was taken aback, and asked Claire if she had ever been caned. Claire replied that she had been strapped but never caned, and then to everybody's astonishment added that she was prepared to experience it if Mary was.
Paul said that it wouldn't be necessary, but a slightly tiddly Claire said it certainly was, adding that Paul had a cane in his study and they should do it now.
Mary was shocked, and hoped that Claire was teasing or bluffing and would chicken out, but fuelled by curiosity and 'Dutch courage' and not wishing to lose face, called Claire's bluff and agreed.
John was astonished but didn't say anything because he was secretly delighted at the prospect of watching Mary and Claire, who both had very shapely bottoms tightly encased in smart figure hugging dresses, bending over for the cane. Even in his wildest fantasies he'd never even thought he'd see his wife receive a proper caning, let alone see her and another beautiful woman caned at the same time.
Paul couldn't believe his luck, but realising the opportunity to cane both Claire and Mary couldn't be missed, stood up and said, "My study now then, girls," before they had time to change their minds. To his and John's amazement, they both stood up and meekly followed him in.
He cleared his already tidy desk, and extracted a whippy school cane from the cupboard. He swished it a couple of times and handed it to the women who examined it with awe.
"If you really want to go ahead, who's going first?"
Claire stepped forward to Mary's disbelief, as she had been sure it was all a joke. She realised to her horror that in a few minutes she was going to have to bend over and get thrashed by a very nasty looking cane, or lose too much face.
"Right, my girl," he said with mock sternness. "Bend over my desk, feet apart, and grasp the edge of the desk firmly. Make sure you stay bent over or you'll get extra strokes. Six, I think."
Claire turned and looked pointedly at Mary and said, "Don't you dare chicken out, Mary. I'm relying on you John to make certain your wife keeps her side of the bargain."
John nodded in agreement, and then Claire placed herself in position. Paul adjusted her so her bottom was sticking right out and caressed it and smacked it lightly. He raised the cane and swished it down; it hit her bottom with a loud thwack and sunk in, causing a slight wobble.
"Fuck, that hurt," shouted Claire.
"That's an extra stroke for swearing," said Paul, whacking the second in even harder. She wriggled and yelped. He waited about fifteen seconds until she had settled, and whacked the third in. Claire just grunted loudly and wriggled again.
John stood in awe, watching Claire's gorgeous bottom, tightly sheathed in her very sexy dress, sticking out and wobbling when the cane landed. He realised he had a large erection and tried to discreetly disguise it. Mary noticed and grinned and nudged him. She was utterly fascinated by the spectacle, also finding it rather stimulating, but nervously wondering how she would cope when it came to her turn.
Just then Paul handed the cane to John and said, "You give her the middle two."
John gladly accepted and whacked two vigorous cane strokes in quick succession, both landing on the same spot. Claire screamed, and John smiled inwardly.
While John was caning Claire, Paul had taken a thicker cane out and proceeded to give Claire a really hard stroke with it. She jumped up with an agonised shriek and kneaded her bum.
"Get back down in position immediately!"
"That's six," Claire pleaded.
"You've got another for jumping up, now get back down."
Claire painfully bent back over the desk, murmuring, "Bastard," under her breath.
"I heard that, girl! You've just earned yourself another extra."
He then whacked the first in, leaving a crease in the dress right at the join of legs and thighs, and quickly followed up with a nasty diagonal. Claire subsided over the desk, sobbing quietly.
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