Angela Jones B.A. Dip. Ed. looked over her steel rimmed spectacles at her classroom full of pupils and saw that once again Henry Baker was trying to distract one of the girls from her lessons by pulling silly faces. Henry, stay behind after class, I want to have a little chat with you, Miss Jones said in a loud enough voice to stop any more nonsense for the rest of that lesson.
She had been concerned about young Henry for some time; he had, in the past been a helpful and pleasant young man who was generally popular with both the pupils and the rest of the staff †but for the last few months he had been showing signs of going off the rails; late for lessons, staring out of the windows, †and even answering back to teachers on occasion. †Miss Jones had spoken to him, tried reasoning, explained that in the long term he might get into more trouble than he expected and, if this behaviour continued, or even became worse, the school would have to seriously consider having him removed. His parents, who were respectable, upstanding people, would be devastated. While Henry was being told this he appeared contrite and apologetic but a day or two later it would start all over again. She was fond of the boy and did not want to see him getting any deeper into trouble than he already was. What was she to do for the best.„
Miss Jones made some enquiries among other members of the staff and ascertained that his behaviour was the same in the other classes as well. One of the teachers also said that she had seen Henry hanging around the streets with some older boys who were known to be ëbad sortsí and often egged on the younger boys to do bad deeds such as petty shoplifting and damaging plants in the park, activities which could draw the attention of the police and even the juvenile courts. Miss Jones decided that something needed to be done.
Sometimes, to her amusement, some of the pupils asked Miss Jones to tell them about the olden daysí, meaning her time at school when she was a child, which she was happy to do. This set her thinking, what would they have done about young Henry in the olden days?
She knew that one can get almost anything one wants these days on the internet so she started looking for that something in particular which she thought would help. She typed in her requirements and watched as the many website suggestions came onto her screen. Most of them were quite unsuitable, (did people really get up to that sort of thing) and some were quite shocking. Thigh high leather boots! Exposed nipples! Goodness me, no! But she persevered and eventually (after having had a whole new world opened up to her) she came across one she thought might be suitable. That same evening she sent an email to Miss Elsa Svenson explaining the situation and asking if, perhaps, she, Miss Svenson, might be able to help. Miss Jones went to bed that night hoping that the lady would answer positively.
The very next morning there was an answer to her email saying that Miss Svenson would be happy to see the young man and that she should send him along with a note explaining in more detail what, exactly, the problems were which needed to be addressed.
Three days later, on a bright Spring afternoon Henry found himself approaching a building which looked as though it had once been a school. He was clutching a letter from Miss Jones to be delivered personally to Miss Svenson, And donít you dare be late,î were the last words he heard as he was leaving school on a welcome break from his usual Thursday afternoon lessons, this little adventure was much better than double maths. He rang the entryphone buzzer and a pleasant female voice asked what he wanted. He explained that he was here to deliver a letter and he was told to come in and given directions to the correct door. He found it easily enough and rang the bell.
A nice looking lady, smartly dressed and with blonde hair opened the door and told him to come in and to take off his shoes and jacket, as he was doing this she was locking the door and putting the key in the pocket of her skirt. He thought this was odd but there is no accounting for grown-ups. She ushered him into a room off the hallway and said, You have something for me?î Her voice was warm and friendly. He handed her the envelope and was told to wait as she went into another room. As she was out he glanced around the room and saw that there was a plain chair in the middle of the room and a sofa and an old armchair at the side; on the sofa were some implements he wasnít familiar with, he wasnít sure what they were, there were some yellow sticks and some things that looked like little oars or paddles and a slipper. For reasons he couldnít explain he started to get an uneasy feeling. He felt a little faint so he sat down on the nearest chair. The lady came back into the room and said, in a voice which was much sharper than previously, Have you been invited to sit down?î He was confused by this so he stood up. ìI think that you and I have some serious talking to do. She sat on the plain chair and beckoned for him to come and stand beside her, which he did. She reached out to his waistband and within seconds had his belt undone and his trousers half way down his legs, she pulled on his arm and he stumbled and fell across her lap. She put one hand on the back of his head and held it there. Henry struggled and kicked and wriggled but he was held down. She let him struggle for a little while and when he started to slow down she gave him three very sharp smacks on his bare bottom. They stung and he started to struggle again but it was in vain, he started to hear her voice coming to him from a great distance and his heart felt like it was pumping out of his chest.
…you will be still and you will listen to what I have to say. If you calm down and take what is coming to you this will all be over a lot more quickly. If you make a silly fuss the same things will happen but it will take longer and be more severe. Is that understood?î He didnít know what to say so he thought it safer to say nothing.
Wrong!
Smack! Smack! Is that understood?
Yes Miss.
Good. Stand up.
He stood up, and waited.
Now, I have here a letter from your teacher telling me all about what you have been up to and I am not going to allow it to continue. Is that understood?
He knew better this time. Yes Miss.
Go and stand in that corner while I get things arranged.
Oh God! What was she going to do now? Perhaps he could make a run for it but he had seen her lock the door and the key was in her skirt pocket.
He turned briefly to see what she was doing. Did I say you could turn around? Come here. Bend over.î She pushed on the back of his neck and he went forward, his trousers were still half way down his legs, she reached out sideways and got hold of that oar shaped thing and hit him quickly, six times on his bottom. He yelped.
Now, go and do as I say. Nothing more and nothing lessî.
He was back in that corner in no time.
What happened after that is all a bit of a blur in his mind but she read something from the list that was in the note she held in her hand.
Miss Jones says that you have been late for lessons three times in the last fortnight, for that I am going to give you eight strokes of the paddle. Oh, so the oar shaped thing had a name, thought Henry. Bend over and grip your anklesî. The first stroke shocked him with its sting and he almost jumped up but managed to stop himself, he had found out what happens when you donít do what Miss Svenson tells you to do. With each stroke Miss Svenson told him that being late for lessons was a very bad idea and it would do him no good in the future if he was to fall behind in his lessons. Each stroke stung more than the previous one and he wasnít sure that he could stay down but stay down he must and stay down he did. After the eighth stroke she stopped. Henry straightened up and started to rub his poor, painful bottom.
I donít remember telling you to stand up, nor do I remember telling you that you could rub your bottom. Four more strokes for disobedience. Bend over again.
Oh no! It was so unfair. Smack. Smack and two more smacks. His knees were weak he was going to stumble and fall then he heard her voice saying in more gentle tones, Alright, you may stand up now.
Gingerly, Henry straightened up remembering that she had not given him permission to do anything else.
Go back to the corner and think about what your actions have made it necessary for me to do. Put your hands on your head and keep them there until I say otherwiseî.
Henry concentrated on keeping still and gradually felt the pain start to recede slightly as the minutes ticked by. He could hear Miss Svenson moving around the room behind him but he did not dare to turn round.
At last she said, ìCome here. Her voice was softer, more gentle and Henry realised that there were warm salt tears on his cheeks. He turned round and saw Miss Svenson though tear filled eyes, she was standing by the old armchair near the window. As he approached she said , ìIt gives me no pleasure to have to do this but many people are concerned about you and do not want to see you led astray by older, more uncouth boys. We have only your best interests at heart and will do whatever is necessary to get you back on the straight and narrow. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind in the longer termî.
Henry found that the tears in his eyes could no longer be held back and the salty metallic taste in his mouth became stronger as he sobbed.
ìI am going to finish off with six strokes of the cane and then I will try to comfort you and explain why you must change your ways before it is too late.
ìBend over the back of the chair and do not move excessively or I will repeat the previous stroke, I can, and will, continue to do this until you get it right.
Henry miserably did as he was told and thought it odd that it was the words of concern and kindness rather than the harsh words of admonishment which caused the floodgates to open and caused him to cry uncontrollably.
He felt four light taps and realised with some horror that she was gauging her distance. The first stroke made him gasp and he couldn’t believe the pain. He held on to the edge of the chair with white knuckles and gritted his teeth. The pain didn’t actually get any worse with the next five strokes but it lasted longer. Miss Svenson wasnít speaking, she was concentrating on what she had to do. Then it stopped. He stayed in position for some time† until he heard her say, Now, stand upî, and she came to him and held him gently, all the time telling him that everything was going to be alright just as long as he went back to how things used to be. Henry’s sobs were making his body shake and shudder and he hoped his tears were not staining Miss Svensonís clothing. As his sobbing subsided he realised that he didnít really enjoy all that hanging about with those rougher boys and that what he really wanted was the approval of Miss Jones and, even more surprisingly, he found that he also wanted the approval of Miss Svenson. He wanted her to like him.
Miss Svenson held the note between her finger and thumb and deliberately dropped it. Henry watched as it fluttered down like an Autumn leaf and landed on the floor as though it were the symbol of something that was over and done with.
A few days later Miss Svenson received an email which said, ìThank you for seeing Henry the other day, I donít know what went on between you two but he has been uncharacteristically quiet for the last few days, as though he is mulling something over. I will monitor his behaviour over the next two or three weeks to see if he needs a return visit.
I hope you are enjoying this beautiful Spring weather.
With warm regards,
Angela Jones (Miss)