I walked into the room where Connie was watching a TV program the other nite about paddling in school. Some CNN-designated "experts" were arguing over whether it should be universally outlawed or not. Because of my directly related experience, I think I know a thing or two about paddling in schools. But I didn't want to start an argument that I knew I could not win - I never win an argument with my wife - so I went back downstairs and began to write again about my school days in southern West Virginia. I bet some of you can relate to my experiences; some may be even know more about the subject of paddling than I. Read and enjoy, STAN School Days Students in my day were expected to be polite and abide by the rules. We were taught to raise our hands for permission to speak or to leave the room for any reason. Whispering while classes were in session was a definite no-no. The simple use of a byword, not necessarily a curse word, was grounds for punishment. I believe more whippings were because of boys slipping around and smoking than any other reason. Girls were not immune, however. One girl in my class "got a whippin" when she threw a rock across the road in front of a passing car. If a student misbehaved, he or she could expect to get a whipping. If a parent learned of the whipping the recalcitrant youngster often got another whipping at home. Jamie Brooks was our principal’s son. He, Denice Stewart and Earl Stewart were in the sixth grade and were always in trouble. There was an ample supply of willow switches on the riverbank behind our school and Mr. Brooks was not one to spare the rod. Jamie and Earl seemed to get a whipping almost every day. (Earl Stewart lied about his age, enlisted in the army and was killed in the invasion of Europe on D-day.) My teacher, Mr. Stewart preferred to paddle. He was not overly enthusiastic about it, but he did paddle hard enough that after a spanking kids tended to behave instead of having to return for an encore. I was not a regular visitor to the front of the room _ Lord knows I should have been _ only partially because I feared the pain; the humiliation would have been worse. A paddling was sure to be a major topic of discussion during the next recess. We wanted to know all the details because we might be next. We needed to know what to expect. “How many licks did he get?” “Did he cry?” “Did it hurt?” “Did her dress fly up?” Nobody wanted to admit that it hurt even though they may have had trouble holding back the tears during the whole ordeal. Only the regulars, like Jamie, Denice and Earl, were not embarrassed. They even wore an extra suit of underwear in anticipation of the event. Students who were in junior-high and attending school at Oceana brought back stories that had us first graders wondering if we would ever be able to make it through to high school. We were warned that “the teachers at Oceana use paddles with holes in them in order to inflict more pain and principal uses an electric paddle.” Talk about cruel and unusual. No matter how you feel about corporal punishment in schools, it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t effective--------- except for Jamie and Earl.