by James Simpson
Liz was perplexed; she had just met Mr Dobson while walking her dog, and instead of his usual friendly greeting and short chat he had just nodded and barely acknowledged her. Perhaps he was upset by something. I'll ask him tomorrow, she thought.
The rest of the day passed as normal and next morning she again met Mr Dobson and made sure he couldn't avoid her. She greeted him cheerily and was once again barely acknowledged. This time she stood in front of him and asked him if he was alright, why was he so grumpy, and could she help him with anything.
He looked at her and said, "Well Liz, I'm sorry, it's not your fault but I'm furious with your daughter Katie and her friend."
"Why, what on earth have they done?"
"The other day on the bus home from town after school your daughter and her friend were talking and giggling very loudly while they sat just behind Mrs Jones. Being a very respectable and rather prudish lady, she was appalled at what she was overhearing and the rather crude language they were using. She turned and told them to go and sit somewhere else and moderate their language. They ignored her very reasonable request and told her very rudely that she was a nosey old bag who shouldn't listen to other peoples' private conversations and if anyone was going to sit somewhere else it should be her and that she could sod off if she didn't like it.
"Fortunately the conductor saw what was going on, read them the riot act and sent them upstairs.
"When we reached our stop, Katie and her friend Jackie got off the bus with me and I told them exactly what I thought of their behaviour and that when I was at school we would have been caned for even talking too loudly on the bus home. Furthermore, if any of the boys I used to teach had behaved like they had they would either have been very severely thrashed or possibly even expelled. I added that it was a pity that their school no longer used the cane as they both deserved a good thrashing."
Liz interjected. "Frank, I agree that my daughter's behaviour was disgraceful but nevertheless I'm pleased that corporal punishment at her school has been discontinued."
"With respect, Elizabeth, the bad behaviour of your daughter and her friend Jackie Sinclair certainly wasn't trivial, they upset Mrs Jones, and when I spoke to them Jackie calmly turned to me and said, 'I m sure you'd love to spank my bum, you're just a dirty old perve', and calmly gave me the finger and walked off. Katie was just as bad and said under her breath, 'In your dreams, dirty old man', before running home."
"Oh goodness me! I am ashamed and appalled at her behaviour and will certainly speak to her tonight and if she admits it then I shall ground her for a couple of weeks which means she will miss a couple of do's she has been looking forward to. I'm so sorry, Frank. I shall also make her apologise personally to you and Mrs Jones. I'll phone my friend, Annie Sinclair, as well and make sure she knows what Jackie said too."
"Well Elizabeth, I'm so pleased that you'll take some action, but I still think a sore backside would be the best answer. I personally consider the ending of corporal punishment in some supposedly progressive schools to be an enormous error which will lead to a rapid decline in standards."
"That may well be, Frank, but time has moved on since you were a housemaster and as you well know caning in girls' state schools has all but finished, for better or worse. I even think she might even prefer a sore bum for a few days, which would mean she got it over and done with, rather than missing a dance and a party and having me on top of her every night making her do homework and reading instead of going out. I'm certainly going to punish her severely for this disgraceful behaviour."
Frank now relaxed and became less formal and uptight, and using her preferred name said, "Well I hope you're right, Liz, but I don't know how you'll make her stay in on her own, particularly now you're on your own after David's tragic accident."
"That certainly doesn't help, but she will soon find out there's no money, laundry or cooking done for her if she misbehaves."
"I'm so pleased that you will discipline her, Liz. I was beginning to think that the parents were as bad as the kids these days. Can I offer you a cup of tea?"
Liz gladly accepted, and they chatted about their schooldays. Liz said that corporal punishment had pretty much ceased in girls' schools even in her schooldays except for very serious offences, although her gym mistress still seemed to be overly fond of using the plimsoll, which Liz had felt once for skiving a cross-country run. However, it was still used frequently for boys and her late husband had recounted his tales of school discipline to her.
Frank laughed and said it certainly wasn't so in his time. Prefects could use the gym shoe at will and did so for all the minor offences, which could even include not wearing your school cap or just making too much noise while messing around. Junior masters could use the gym shoe and senior masters the cane in class, and the Head and Deputy both caned for serious offences.
He recollected that he'd been whacked many times by prefects but fortunately only caned once by the headmaster for getting drunk in the local pub at seventeen. He thought that was a bit much as he could have been killed in the War at that age, but it was that or expulsion and no university. He had once been whacked by a prefect, six strokes of the plimsoll at a run-up, just for being too noisy on the bus home. He also recalled that a friend had been reported by a prefect for not giving up his seat to a lady. He'd got caned by the Deputy Head, and it had been reported in morning assembly. His friend's parents had been informed and back home he'd also got a strapping and was sent to apologise to the lady concerned.
He continued, saying that where he had taught at a private boarding school until taking early retirement due to his late wife's illness, corporal punishment had been used routinely and as he was a housemaster he had frequently had to cane foolish boys. Being a boarding school the offences were usually related to silliness, and he only gave a fairly moderate stinger of a caning for these, but occasionally serious offences like cheating or bullying required a very severe caning. He would certainly have given a boy who had been wilfully rude to a member of the public a very severe thrashing.
Liz exclaimed that she was glad she was younger than Frank because she would have probably had a very sore bottom a lot of the time as she had been no angel at school. Fortunately for her, the headmistress had been a liberal and didn't believe in caning girls. Frank laughed and said that she'd have been whacked a few times but probably just have made more effort not to have got caught. As she left he watched as her beautiful bottom walked away, tightly encased in jeans. The thought that it was really the mum he'd like to whack rather than her teenage daughter entered his head. He thought what a very beautiful woman she was and how he wished he was about fifteen years or so younger.
Having departed friends again, Liz angrily confronted her daughter on her arrival home. She asked what on earth two sixth-formers, who were old enough to know better, thought they were doing. Katie confessed but said that she and Jackie hadn't really meant to be rude to Mrs Jones but they thought she was being unreasonable in treating them like young schoolchildren and telling them to be quiet and stop talking so loudly. Telling her to, 'sod off you nosey old bag', had just slipped out, and she and Jackie had thought Mr Dobson was out of order in suggesting they deserved a good caning. She now regretted her behaviour and would see Mrs Jones and Mr Dobson and apologise to them.
Liz asked her if she had really used the word 'sod', and her daughter blushed and stammered, saying, "Perhaps not, the F word may have slipped out." Katie then confessed that they had popped into the local coffee bar on the way home and one of the local boys had been bragging about some new cannabis he had grown. He'd been trying to get off with Jackie for a long time so he made a large spliff, which had been passed around four of them and they had tried a few puffs. She hadn't liked it much but it had made her feel funny and had probably lowered their inhibitions, which was the reason why they had behaved so badly.
Liz was quite angry, but pleased she hadn't lied and had confirmed what Mr Dobson had said. She told her in no uncertain manner that she should know better at her age and that she had acted like a silly girl. At nearly eighteen she should know better, although she realised that at her age she would probably have thought the same, but in her day she would never have dared swear to an adult. Katie would go to both their houses and apologise personally, and also she would be missing the youth club dance on Saturday and couldn't go to any other parties, dances or the cinema at the weekend for the rest of the month as well. If Mrs Jones or Mr Dobson wanted, then she would also have to run some errands or help with the housework or gardening. She added that if she ever found any drugs in the house then she would consider going to the police.
Jackie promised that she wouldn't try drugs ever again; she hadn't liked the feeling very much anyway. Liz also told her daughter that even though Mrs Jones was a rather nosey and gossipy widow she certainly shouldn't have been spoken to her like that, and she was furious that they had been rude to Frank Dobson, as she liked him and usually enjoyed a pleasant chat with him when she walked the dog.
Finally, Liz said that she would be speaking to Mrs Sinclair about Jackie's behaviour as well. Katie begged her not to as Jackie would probably get the strap as her Mum and Dad were somewhat old-fashioned and very strict. Liz then said that perhaps she should ask Annie to strap her as well. Katie rushed off to her bedroom in tears, and Liz phoned her friend Annie Sinclair and they agreed to meet for a coffee during their lunch breaks next day.
That night in bed, Liz couldn't stop thinking about what Frank had said, and had been surprised in her telephone call to be told that Annie and Douglas still used the strap, and that Jackie would certainly be feeling it for her disgraceful rudeness. She had told her that they'd both attended very strict Presbyterian Scottish schools and they'd both been brought up with the motto 'Spare the strap, spoil the child' both at school and at home and that it hadn't done them any harm. In fact it had made them work hard, get to University and have good jobs, much to the extreme pride of their working-class parents. Some of Annie's rather cryptic comments began to make sense and rather suggested that she and Douglas may even use it on each other.
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