I went to Catholic school for elementary in the '70s. The stereotype of nuns hitting students with rulers was based on fact.
I have no children, but if I had, I would take then out of any school that used corporal punishment.

Catholic school. I got the strap (across the palm of my hand) from one of the Christian Brothers more than once. My mum reckoned one of them hit me once and I hit him back, though I have no recollection of the incident.

Later, at boarding school, we had the slipper. Tamer than some of the alternatives, but still painful if your assailant put some effort into it. I only got it once (talking after lights out) and it wasn't too bad, but some got it regularly. Allegedly there was a teacher who left not long before I arrived who'd find any excuse to give one of the boys a slippering. Rumour was that he got a sexual thrill from it.

The headmaster was an ex forces bully. He preferred psychological warfare over physical punishment, but the latter was always an option. His favourite threat was to make us kneel, with a small pebble placed beneath each knee. I don't think he ever carried out this torture (and I'm sure it would have qualified as such) but he threatened it from time to time.

I'm divided on corporal punishment, to be honest. I think some children's transgressions are perhaps severe enough to warrant it, particularly if they've put themselves or others in danger or if other attempts at discipline have been ignored. If your child associates running out into the road with a sharp slap across the back of the legs, then perhaps they'll think twice before doing it again. And that could save their life.

Where it becomes problematic is when it's used routinely, and particularly where parents with anger issues beat their kids for minor transgressions as an outlet for their own aggression.

I had 6 of the best , 3 on each hand administered by Mr Cross , deputy head. I was in his office for the cane on many occasion..........for smoking usually. Regardless of my view on the cane , I believe he was sadistic and hurt my hands very much. I often experience numbness of my fingers I think is attributed from being caned . Its the same sensation , and I am nearly 50 now ! May have left me with nerve damage ? What do you think ?

6 years in private catholic school, ...and yet I never saw it as "abuse". 2 principals during those six years... one nicknamed mussolini and the other cassius clay. sister lucina, tall and skinny could pick up a little boy by his legs put him upside down and shake him violently as a rag doll. Greatest slap I ever seen in my life was by cassius clay on a long haired 4th grader, beginning of the beatles craze and he was failing grades and took too long to walk to the front to receive his failing card... her slap came from across the room making contact with his hair and pushing him into the blackboard were he banged his head against, the hand brought him back to the original location of his body without a stop of movement. I still remember tears coming down his eyes. You see it but you don't believe it. And it wasn't abuse to us... it was discipline. I knew I needed to get out of there so... I became a "fighter". I didn't picked up fights or bully anyone I simply did not avoided them. Until they denied me admission to 7th grade.

I did. Went to Catholic school and you know the rumors about nuns and rulers? They're true. I also got paddled for talking to another student when I was in 9th grade, and THAT was humiliating. I'm glad schools can't do that without parental permission any more.

Oh ya. Back in the cold war days. Lining up your desk, and crawling under them. It was also common for some of the teachers to have these gruesome paddles hanging on the wall. It was not used often, but served as a deterrent.

Oh hell yeah, it was the norm in Oz in the 60 and early 70s.

Yup 3 swats from "The Board of Wisdom" I lived thru it ! Move on.

I went to schools where it was permitted, but never experienced it myself.
I find it 100% unacceptable.

Corral punishment was still in place here in NC up until I was in 2nd grade (‘87&rsquo

I got paddled in kindergarten for talking during
“A B C time” after my time-out (which was basically the “waiting corner” for being paddled.) I still don’t know which was worse the 3 licks or the anticipation of knowing it was coming.
Then the embarressment of walking back in the class crying. I’m NOT for it at all!!’

Nope.

Yes, I was raised in the South. Corporal punishment was standard at the Middle School I attended. Near the end of the year in 7th grade, I remember bragging in Science class because I had gotten no "licks" all year. The teacher caught me talking and guess what! I got 3 licks.

Everyone received them in gym. As I recall I ended up with 8 in gym 'cause I was a "good" kid that was a relatively low number.

This all was 1970 in South Carolina.

I went to Catholic school for 11 1/2 years. From 1st to 8th grade we had to endure weekly sermons by the elderly monsignor while we stood in the hot sun on the parade ground for a hour. Some kids would literally faint from the heat. In 6th grade a kid was made to sit in the corner with tape over his mouth for talking in class. In high school a nun threw an eraser at one kid and hit him in the head. Another nun judo-flipped a boy onto his back. Not exactly the "corporeal punishment" you are referring to, but totally inappropriate non-the-less.

I did, until I responded in kind. They stayed away after that. I had an art teacher in 7th grade that yanked me out of my chair by my hair. I had long hair in junior high. I was at a school assembly when I refused to stand during the pledge. After she lifted me out of my seat, I turned around and hit her shoulders with the palms of my hands hard enough to fling her back onto the brick wall. Ms. Pickup didn’t bother me again, but my mother had a rather long word with her.

Many times - it is amazing that this abusive, demoralizing act is still practiced today as a 'disciplinary measure' - I would hospitalize or kill ANYONE that hit my kid, regardless of their reasons. But I have no kids so those bastards are safe for now. I hated my Dad and Grandfather for hitting me, often under mistaken circumstances or to satisfy their own faults..

I was at school in the UK during the 70's and being a mischievous youth regularly got canned. (Hit on the behind with a stick) and hit with a slipper.
I'm glad they don't do it to kids now but I don't recall being particularly traumatized by it. It was just what happened if you got caught and amongst us 'naughty' kids almost a badge of honour.

No, by the time I got to school that had made that illegal in the school system. Though my Mother and uncles would always talk about how they got canned.
My highschool maths and homeroom teacher was so old he also taught my mother and one of my uncles, they said they got the cane from him a lot. I was scared of the old man and therefore never went to maths class.opps.
Though I got the wooden spoon at home

All my primary education was full of that as a way of life.

The nuns used to beat my sister and my biological father was a teacher who had a paddle hanging in his classroom. It used to be normal. Today I only hear about it when a teacher snaps and hits a kid. My doctor told me as a new mom if one of my kids did something that would hurt themselves or others to inflict pain and that if they did something anti-social to take away the society. It worked for me and my kids are all doing well. Opinions change on this with every generation. Remember Dr Spock who said you should never say no to a kid? His son committed suicide. Kids are whole humans and each one VERY different. I raised my kids differently than my parents. So far so good... I do think that I would have had a HUGE COW if one of the teachers had laid a hand on one of my kids...