I went to a military school 35 years ago. I must say, I was punished physically on a semi-regular basis and it doesn’t really bother me, now. I’m not talking rulers on the hand or the butt, either: on one occasion, a drill instructor knocked me sprawling with an open hand to the side of my head (I hadn’t polished my shoes properly). Funny thing is, the individual who did that doesn’t generate that much animosity with me. On the other hand, there’s the English teacher who favored one of the class bullies as much as possible. The English teacher involved is one of my least favorite memories from all of school, and frankly at this point I probably wouldn’t cross the street to spit in his face if he was on fire. I later heard that there were suspicions among the other teachers that something improper was going on between him and the bully student, but I have no idea if it was true. Regardless, I can speak from personal experience: being ostracized in school by your schoolmates is one thing. Being singled out by a teach who *encourages* everyone else to ostracize you is something entirely different, a whole other level. If I were involved, the teachers would not only be fired, they’d be ostracized themselves.
