Sis and I knew how to “play” our Mom. We would bug her and bombard her with stuff we either wanted to do or wanted to buy and she would avoid making decisions by saying these two phrases to our whining; “We’ll see” or “Maybe”. Those two phrases always guaranteed the same two results every time. “Maybe” meant we were going to get our way, cause Mom was calling the shots and she was the “softie” parent and would grant our requests. “We’ll see” meant that Daddy would be involved and have the final say and that usually meant that whatever Sis and I wanted, no matter what, the answer was an adamant “NO”. So, naturally, my Sis and I would work on Mom and knew we could get our way about things if we asked her first. If we ever got in trouble (which was pretty rare), she would say that she was going to “wait until Daddy got home” and then we would face our possible punishment. I remember sweating bullets when I would hear Daddy’s old Chevy coming up the gravel driveway, knowing that Mom would be presenting our wrong-doings to that short fuse of his. In reality, that rarely occurred because by the time he got home, Mom usually softened about whatever event had happened (or she forgot about it) and our evening went on as usual. Sometimes I was glad that Mom was always a bit forgetful and more times than not, very forgiving. The rural Arkansas school’s policy does caution administrations that the physical punishment should not be “excessive, or administered with malice” and should be administered in the presence of another school official or licensed staff member of the district. If I get another call from her, I'm going to come up there to your school and sit with you in class," Howard warned his son, Bradley. Brad Howard, 53, and his son, Bradly, 17.

In this collection of spanking stories grown women find themselves over the parental lap for a spanking once again: I felt compelled to write this blog which is about a very controversial subject, spanking children as a form of discipline. This accounting is to the best of my knowledge, the truth, as retold in parts to me by my older sister and my own childhood memories. I hope it does not portray my Daddy as a child abuser or a monster, he wasn’t and I don’t think of him that way. But the fact remains that at some deeper level, the spankings I endured have definitely impacted me in a negative way. I hope my sharing will convey to other parents to think about and consider the consequences of your actions in your own children’s lives if you should choose to physically or verbally harm them in any way. If I can convince any of you out there to stop spanking and/or verbally abusing your children because of some part of my story, then I will be content. Treat your children well, learn to face and clear your own issues and buried anger, without taking it out on your own kids. Do something healthy and positive, mentally and physically for yourself every day. This was not an easy blog for me to write and share. It took hours and days to make my decision to actually post it. Know that this process moves me further along in my own healing and I thank you for reading it with an open heart and mind.

This book contains the following fictional stories depicting the corporal punishment of schoolgirls: At college, they call Dorothy a ginger runt. Students giggle as they point at her old fashioned clothes. Thinking about my own sometimes rowdy, and sometimes tender, sex life, I had to smile at the irony of a spanking. We don't hit our kids, so there would be some serious explaining to do if my son ever walking in on Rex disciplining me across his knees. And, at 6'1, I would feel kind of stupid. "Oh, Rex, slap my butt. But first, can you be a doll and get me a pillow for my legs? They're dragging on the hard wood." (Not * Whether I personally lean toward a good spanking or not you'll never know. * However, despite my commitment, I spanked my children on occasion, when they were younger. I defaulted to an automatic response. Anger, my anger took over. I reacted in a physical way. Then I broke the cycle. I saw the truth and my eyes were opened. My second son was six at the time, and he impulsively, instinctively went to retrieve a ball that rolled into an area that was off limits. Yes, he did something wrong. But it scares me that my reaction in that moment, I became my dad. I was my dad. I hauled my son off and screamed my guts out, but when in a split second I captured the fear in his eyes of what I was about to do I suddenly realized I was my dad. The bad side. The out of control raging maniac venting anger.

I am very glad your newspaper has brought into the realm of discussion the above subject. I am headmistress of a school, in which there are 175 girls from 8 to 19 years, and I find it necessary to spank on the bare seat for disobedience. Last term I caned a girl of 19 years for giving trouble, and I must say it did her good. How is it brutal to punish in that way? If I hit the girls on the head, or continually nagged at them, I should be the victim of criticism. Your correspondent, "Parent," is very reasonable in her remarks. No amount of criticism will restrain me from inflicting capital [sic] punishment in the way I have done. I detest using the lash, but I have no other alternative. No-nonsense South Jersey municipal judges administered law as they saw fit during the 1950s and '60s.

After the 17 minutes had passed, we re-entered the building and went to our classes. Over the next two hours, all three of us were called individually to talk with the dean-of-students. He offered us two choices of punishment, both of which had to be approved by our parents. We would either suffer two ‘swats’ from a paddle or two days of in-school suspension. All three of us chose the paddling, with the support of our parents. About 40 minutes into the class, Howard snapped a picture to send to his wife, proving he followed through on his promise. She then forwarded the photo in a family group text to show their other children the consequences of bad behavior in school. Greenbrier Public School, which is located in a town of roughly 5,000 people, only first adopted the seemingly outdated disciplinary policy in 2005 and last updated it in 2012.