I started school in a two-room building: grades 1 to 4 in
one room; grades 5 to 8 in the other. One teacher in each room taught all four
grades. I don’t remember first grade very well – the teacher left at the end of
the year. I am pretty sure it was not my fault.
Now keep in mind that reading the Bible every morning was
the standard for all grades at that time. But my teacher in grades two to four
went a little above and beyond the normal practice. As a member of a “plain”
sect, she considered it her duty to lead the little heathens to Christianity.
She offered a free Bible to all students who managed to memorize 20 verses. I
memorized my verses – “Jesus saves” was my favorite because it was the shortest
– and got my Bible with my twenty underlined in red. That would be illegal
today (not the underlining), and rightly so. Teachers may not teach religion,
although contrary to what many folks seem to think, students may bring their
Bibles to school, read them, and pray their little hearts out.
Across the front of each schoolroom was a platform about six
inches high. Grilling on a particular lesson was done as the students in each
class stood on the platform, at which time the teacher asked questions, offered
explanations of difficult material, etc.
But the platform also served another purpose: PUNISHMENT.
Those who committed flagrant misdeeds were required to kneel on the edge of the platform. Toes were
not allowed to droop to the point where they touched the floor. Fifteen minutes
of kneeling without support for the toes made
the knees painful enough to “reeducate” the most hardened transgressor (or so I
was told). By today’s standards teachers who instituted punishment such as this
would, at the very least, be drummed out of the profession as child abusers.
In seventh grade I transferred to the Junior High School in
Manheim, and corporal punishment was even more straightforward. Looking back, I
would say it was sometimes instituted not only to straighten out the sinner,
but also to make an example of any students who might harbor thoughts of some
heinous activity, e.g. fighting, swearing, etc. It consisted of spanking with a
substantial wooden paddle, not one of those flimsy things that is used to stir
paint. It was administered in such a fashion that the entire student body could
hear the howls of the punishee. Since I was fortunate enough never to have been
caught in any such transgression, I can’t say whether those howls were from
pain or embarrassment, but they served the purpose of keeping peace in the
school, at least for several weeks.
Also, Junior High School ushered in gym class, and here
punishment was administered by a paddle-swat on the wet butt of any students
who lingered too long in the shower. In this case I can say from personal
experience that after only one occasion of such dawdling, one tried diligently
to be one of the first ones out.
But it was the practice of my sophomore biology teacher
that, if tried today, would get the perpetrator possible jail time, or at
least heavy fine, plus the necessity of looking
for a different of line of work. During the year we dissected preserved frogs
and such, but the pièce de résistance
was a demonstration of the dissection of a living organism.
On the scheduled day of the big event a couple of boys were
asked to bring in a cat. No questions were asked, nor instructions given as to
where or how to acquire this lucky(?) animal, but the word “stray” was implied.
At the beginning of the class the cat was subjected to a generous dose of ether,
and the demonstration began. As you can imagine, by the time the various organs
were highlighted and discussed, quite a bit of time had passed.
The last organ to be exposed was the beating heart. Everyone
in the class had to touch it to feel the life force. Once that was done, the
operation was concluded by a quick thrust of the scalpel. The boys now had to
dispose of the remains, and the words “town dump” come to mind. Aside from a
few kids getting sick to the stomach, the lesson was successfully concluded.
And that night someone was probably wandering around town
trying to find out why Tabby didn’t come home.
******
My
books, “There Are Only Seven
Jokes” and “The Spirit Runs Through It” are available in paperback or Kindle
at Amazon.
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