The cricket bat was sky-blue, by the way. I could recognize a cricket bat before I even learned about the sport. I have trouble watching a test without cringing. One year, the bat split down the middle and the news hit the school like wildfire. There was cheering and rejoicing. The bat (we called it The Board) was replaced with a thick, flat plastic strip with holes through it. I have no idea what the thing was.
Physical punishment is a ridiculous way to teach a person a lesson. If (and this is a very big IF) one chooses to use physical measures at all, they must be an end in and of themselves. Therefore, one is hitting to hit ONLY. That's probably why adults don't regularly whup each other. Another part of it is that there's a better chance of being hit by the other person and having it HURT. Parents usually stop whuppins when children "get too big for it". See? A smaller target is much more satisfactory, disturbingly enough.
-If you don't behave perfectly, whether or not you know the rules, you'll get into trouble.
-Kids are in charge of making sure their parents (and other adults, it seems) are content.
-Let the whuppin' happen. If you try to move out of the way or cover the body part Mom's trying to smack, you'll get hit harder and for longer.
-Try to relax into the whuppin'. It'll hurt less later.
Kids still get whupped. I don't know if it happens as often as it once did. I certainly don't see it often in shopping centers. People are afraid someone will call the police. I hope to hear that whuppins never happen at all someday.
Today, I declare the death of the whuppin'.
