My favorite news story ever:
One of the questions that will never be resolved about spanking of adult men is how widespread it actually is as a real disciplinary event, simply because people don't talk about it. This little excerpt from the February 12, 1989 Chicago Tribune illustrates the problem:
I need hardly tell you the great interest this story aroused in me (and I'm sure thousands of others) when it appeared in newspapers across the country. I love the humorous tone, the detail...
But I want to question a few things: "the school paddle"? They only have one paddle?
"The Principal"? Other stories (this was very widely reported at the time) say it was an Assistant Principal, which is more likely in my opinion--principals are usually in the office doing administrative bullshit while a high school of any size usually has 3-4 Ass. Principals patrolling the building(s).
And most of all, I question "probably became the first police officer ever to be spanked in the line of duty." These kind of operations have gone on for decades. Paddling high schools were hosting undercover policeman at least as early as the early 1970s, and while corporal punishment has declined steadily, it continues in many places unquestioned. At this school, spanking was lighthearted enough that the paddles had knicknames!
(btw, this kind of paddling, of older boys choosing a couple of swats over detention, has I suspect, declined the least, simply because it is the least likely to result in a legal complaint, or any complaint at all. Compared to paddling girls, younger students, and those given no choice in the matter; or compared to severe paddling that could leave bruises. At this Georgia High School http://www.corpun.com/yancey.htm "Any male 17 or older referred to the attendance or discipline office for a minor infraction is given the option of corporal punishment. If a male is under 17, parental permission must be gained.")
Anyway, is it really possible that none of these cops have ever gotten even one lick? In this case, the only reason we got this information is because
I will be the first to admit that my feelings about 25 year old men (especially policemen!) being spanked may color my judgment, but still, an occasional date with the paddle must, even nowadays, be an occupational hazard for cops assigned to certain schools.
This reticence must also apply to young men (college students, for example) who are spanked domestically or elsewhere as adults--they're not going to go around talking about it. In a world where there is increasingly no privacy and no secrets, this is one thing likely to remain invisible. Or maybe it doesn't exist--we'll never know.
One of the questions that will never be resolved about spanking of adult men is how widespread it actually is as a real disciplinary event, simply because people don't talk about it. This little excerpt from the February 12, 1989 Chicago Tribune illustrates the problem:
DALLAS — The life of an undercover narcotics cop posing as a high school student is always fraught with hazards, but a new peril emerged one morning last fall at W.T. White High School.
That is when ``David Williams`` and some of his friends were caught lingering in the halls after the bell rang. The tardy students were herded into the gym, where the principal outlined their options-45 minutes in detention hall after school or two whacks from the school paddle, a 30-inch pine model dubbed ``Swift Justice.``
``Williams,`` who was actually a 25-year-old Dallas patrolman named David Bessels, chose the paddling.
``I`d lined up a drug deal after school,`` he said later, ``and I wasn`t about to be sitting in school for another 45 minutes.``
In the process, Bessels-whose undercover operation netted 28 arrests, including six W.T. White students-probably became the first police officer ever to be spanked in the line of duty.
The case of the paddled policeman prompted chuckles in squad rooms across the country...
I need hardly tell you the great interest this story aroused in me (and I'm sure thousands of others) when it appeared in newspapers across the country. I love the humorous tone, the detail...
But I want to question a few things: "the school paddle"? They only have one paddle?
"The Principal"? Other stories (this was very widely reported at the time) say it was an Assistant Principal, which is more likely in my opinion--principals are usually in the office doing administrative bullshit while a high school of any size usually has 3-4 Ass. Principals patrolling the building(s).
And most of all, I question "probably became the first police officer ever to be spanked in the line of duty." These kind of operations have gone on for decades. Paddling high schools were hosting undercover policeman at least as early as the early 1970s, and while corporal punishment has declined steadily, it continues in many places unquestioned. At this school, spanking was lighthearted enough that the paddles had knicknames!
(btw, this kind of paddling, of older boys choosing a couple of swats over detention, has I suspect, declined the least, simply because it is the least likely to result in a legal complaint, or any complaint at all. Compared to paddling girls, younger students, and those given no choice in the matter; or compared to severe paddling that could leave bruises. At this Georgia High School http://www.corpun.com/yancey.htm "Any male 17 or older referred to the attendance or discipline office for a minor infraction is given the option of corporal punishment. If a male is under 17, parental permission must be gained.")
Anyway, is it really possible that none of these cops have ever gotten even one lick? In this case, the only reason we got this information is because
- the cop himself told his superiors about it
- the officer who gave the press conference announcing the arrests at the end of the operation told the reporters
- at least one reporter found cop spanking a funny story
- someone enjoyed the story enough to put it out on the AP line
- innumerable editorial boards were sufficiently amused at the undercover cop's expense to report his paddling to the general public. (And not embarrassed by the story--most liberal papers didn't run it--conservative papers are notorious in the news world for missing the racy implications. This story ran on the front page of the Tampa Tribune.)
I will be the first to admit that my feelings about 25 year old men (especially policemen!) being spanked may color my judgment, but still, an occasional date with the paddle must, even nowadays, be an occupational hazard for cops assigned to certain schools.
This reticence must also apply to young men (college students, for example) who are spanked domestically or elsewhere as adults--they're not going to go around talking about it. In a world where there is increasingly no privacy and no secrets, this is one thing likely to remain invisible. Or maybe it doesn't exist--we'll never know.
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