by M a 11 h e w J . W e s t r i c k

I SCI F> l_ I l%l E
*^hJ O
F" LJfvI I S HM! EMT
by
M a 11 h e w J . W e s t r i c k
January 8, 1990
•for
Mrs, T i t h o f
Engli sh II Honors
D I SC I F»l_ I ME <^r-JD
F>UMISHMEMT
D i s c i p l i n e was not taken 1 i g h t 1 y by c h i l d r e n of my
gr an dpar e n t s gen e ra t i on bee au se t h e i r par e nt s were not
afraid to p u n i s h t h e i r c h i l d r e n .
Hemker went to Z e i g l e r School
My grand-father, Elmer
i n Albee Township, and he was
also i n the same grade as my neighbor- Otto M e i e r .
Along
w i t h my grandmother Marcel la Hemker, who went to school
in
M a p l e Grove, they were the three p e o p l e whom I i n t e r v i e w e d
on the subj ec ts of d i sc i p1 i n e and pun i shment.
Teachers were also very s t r i c t because
they were
encouraged to keep the c h i l d r e n i n 1 i n e by the parents of
the c h i l d r e n .
The c h i l d r e n were kept i n t h e i r p l a c e , and
they began to learn not to do the t h i n g s t h e i r parents d i d
not want them to do.
Because
the c h i l d r e n learned to stay
i n t h e i r p l a c e , they d i d not q u e s t i on wh at t h e i r parents
told them to do; they just d i d what they were told to do.
The c h i l d r e n d i d what they were t o l d , but when they d i d
not do t h e i r work w e l l or just d i d not do i t , the k i d s would
have to do t h e i r work over.
In a d d i t i o n to h a v i n g to do the
work over, the c h i l d r e n would not get to eat t h e i r supper.
A way^ i n w h i c h my grandmother was p u n i s h e d , was to make her
s i t on the r o c k i n g c h a i r w i t h no arms instead of s i t t i n g on
the more comfortable c h a i r w i t h arms.
One way the c h i l d r e n
would be p u n i s h e d is to get a l i c k ire".
The threat of t h i s
was a1ways p resent because of the s t i c k t h a t was a 1 w ays
si 11 i ng around.
When Marcel la Hemker, my grandmother, had to go to
school and d i d not want to, her father came out w i t h a
s t i c k , and the threat of b e i n g h i t w i t h the s t i c k got her to
go to school.
The school was one and a half m i l e s from
home, but she never fussed about g o i n g to school again.
When coming home from school, Otto had to hurry home.
One t i m e when he was coming home from school
to do h i s
chores, he got a l i c k i n g for not g e t t i n g home fast enough.
He ran most of the way, but i t was not fast enough.
One t i m e when my grandfather was b e i n g p u n i s h e d by his
mother, she went to spank h i m , and he put his hand back.
She h i t h i m on the w r i s t , and he c r i e d so that she d i d not
h i t h i m again but i t r e a l l y d i d n o t h u r t . H e b l u f f e d h i s w a y
ou t of g e t t i n g mare p u n i shme n t.
Another time^ i n w h i c h my grandpa b l u f f e d his way out
of p u n i s h m e n t , was when he was taken by h i s teacher i n t o the
backroom
of the one room school.
on the rear for the second
was b a l l irr'.
When the teacher h i t h i m
t i m e , my grandpa made b e l i e v e he
The teacher l e t h i m go back to class, and my
grandpa went back
i n t o the m a i n room of the school l a u g h i n g
because he got out more p u n i s h m e n t .
Otto, my n e i g h b o r , was p u n i s h e d at school before the
f i r s t day of h i s e i g h t h grade school year.
game c a l l e d Crack i n - " the W h i p .
The game
He was p l a y i n g a
is played w i t h
e i g h t t o ten p e op 1e h o l d i n g on t o o then p e op 1e's h an ds.
The
•first would run and turn sharply, and sometimes the end
person would f a l l down.
The teacher came out and said that
they could not c rac k the w h i p .
Otto r e p l i e d , "We'11 crack
i t i f we want to," and so the teacher took h i m and gave h i m
a 1 i ck i n ' .
One way that the teacher would use to keep the students
from g e t t i n g too bad for the teacher to handle was to have a
truant officer who would come to the class.
officer was f r om Sag i n aw.
The truant
If an yon e was e x t r erne 1y bad, the
truant officer wouId also l i c k the students.
He wouId check
to see if anyone was absent from school a lot.
The teacher had to make the students study because
often the c h i l d r e n d i d not care how w e l l they d i d on t^re^
wor k .
Wh en the c 1 ass f a i l e d the se',' e n t h gr ade e q u i u a l e n c y
t e s t , w h i c h was taken close to the end of the school
year,the
teacher made the class had study i t better so that when they
took
i t over they would be able to do better on the test.
They also had to stay after school
and study for the test as
a pun i shmen t.
There were many types of punishments that were used i n
schools.
The most used form of p u n i s h m e n t was to l i c k the
students w i t h a s t i c k .
Of t e n wh en c h i l d r e n we re m i sbe hav i n g
or w h i s p e r i n g , the teacher would sneak up b e h i n d them w i t h a
f l a t r u l e r , an d the teacher wouId t on k the student s on t h e
head w i t h the ruler.
Another form of p u n i s h m e n t that was
used in school was to catch the students on the top of the
head w i t h the f l a t of his hand.
My grandma t h i n k s that i t
is one of the reasons whx roy grandfather- does not have much
h a i r l e f t on h i s head now.
One other wax that students were
p u n i s h e d was to make them w r i t e sentences one thousand
times, so the students would w r i t e w i t h two or three p e n c i l s
at a t i m e so that they could w r i t e more at a t i m e .
It d i d
not look good, but i t got the job done much more q u i c k l y
grandma said.
One other form of p u n i s h m e n t was to make the
students stand i n front of the room facing the blackboard.
D i s c i p l i n e was an important part of every aspect of
life.
The army was d e f i n i t e l y no e x c e p t i o n .
W h i l e my
grandfather was i n the army, the f i r s t t i m e that my
grandfather was p u n i s h e d was when he came home on a three
day pass., and he d i d not make back to the base on t i m e .
His
punishment was that for every Sunday for- the rest of h i s
p e r i o d in basic t r a i n i n g he had to work
i n the k i t c h e n .
If
a soldier were twenty-four hours l a t e , he would r e c e i v e no
punishment but i t went h i s record as b e i n g absent w i t h o u t
leave.
If i t happened again, the punishment would be the
same or a s o l d i e r would be assigned extra guard duty.
D i sc i p 1 i ne and pun i shmen ts are an
i mpor tan t par t of
many aspects of 1 i f e . When my grandparents were c h i l d r e n ,
t h e i r p ar e n t s we re q u i t e s t r i c t .
Teachers we re a 1 so v e r y
s t r i c t wh en the y we r e d e a l i n g w i t h t h e i r students.
The
c h i l d r e n were kept in 1 i n e ^ and started to b e g i n to learn
not to do the t h i n g s that t h e i r parents d i d not want them to
do.
D i sc i p 1 i n e an d p u n i shme n t s we r e an
the of the army.
i mp or t an t p ar t of
Learning to be d i s c i p 1 i n e d , h e l p e d my
, .-'" v
\)t-
grandparents i n later parts of t h e i r l i v e s such as at work
or w h i 1 e t e a c h i n g t h e i r c h i 1dren to be d i s c i p l i n e d .
L31BL1 UGRAPHY
Canter, Lee and C a n t e r , M a r t e n s , ftsse r t i u g' Di g:c Jj? _l_Ln_e [ior..
Parer. t s, New York, Harper & Row, 1S!CO.
Canter, Lee and C a n t e r , M a r I e n e 5 As.sejitjJig D i s c i p ! I n g ; _A
"i ake Charge Approach For Today's Educator , San t a
M o n i c a , C a l i f o r n i a , Canter and Assoc i ates, 19B7,
Ch i ] dcra-f t ;_ The How and Why Library , Ch i c ago , 1 1 M n i os ,
F i e l d E n t e r p r i s e s £du c a t i o na I Corp o r a t i o n , 1974.
C o f f e e , A r t n u r 0 . , Our Yes t e- r d a y s , rent o n , M i c h i g a n ,
I n d e p e n d e n t Pr i n t i n g Comp an y , i 973 .
Dobson , James , Dr . , Dare to D i sc i p 'i i ne , Wheat on , 1 1 1 i n i os ,
F x n d a I e H o u s e i -' u b I i s hers, 1 9 8 6 Hemker 5 Elmer and Marcel la. Chesa n i n e s Honors L'nglish Class,
Ch e san i n g , M i c h i gan, In te r y i ew, De c, 2 ?, i939,
Katz, P h y l i i s B. , The Chi 1d Care G u i d e , New York, The
Pare n t s' In st i t u t e , i 96&.
Mawhinney, v!. Thomas and Peterson, Cor'I ice- ,j , , Ch i i d
Deue 1 opmen t ; Parent_j_n_g J£_|>ach i nq , C i n c i n n a t i ,
0 h i o , S o u t h • - W estern !r' u b 'i i s h i n g , 1 9 9 8 .
M e y e r , 011 o . C h e s a n i n g M o n o r •=• E n Q I i •=• h C I a s s , C h e s a n i n g ,
M i c h i g a n , I n t e r v i e w , Dec, 31, 1909.
3m a r t , Mo M i e and Smart, Russet i i 5 Ch U..dre_n...; ,. ., De!j_e logmen t
a n d R e 'I. a t i. o n s h i p. s , New York, The Ma cm i Man
Company, 1972.
Spock, Benjamin, M . D „ , Dr•_. Bpock •" =• Baby and
Y o r k , E . I • , D u 11 o n , 1 9 '•'< 5 .
Ch i 1 d Care,
' i' a p e s -f r om B i c e n t e n n i a 1 i:' r o g r am , M a y , i 9 7 6 ,
New
CHESANING HIGH SCHOOL
850 N. FOURTH
CHESANING, MICHIGAN 48616
Phone: 517-845-2040
Asst. Principal Thomas M. Schlachter
Asst. Principal Jeffrey A. Murdoch
Principal Cheryl A. Hahnenberg
I have been asked to p a r t i c i p a t e in.the Chesaning Sophomore
English Oral History Project.
I have agreed to a tape recording
between a high school student and myself.
I take this o p p o r t u n i t y
to assure you that these r e c o r d i n g s are the property of the
school and its historical collection, for use as the school sees
f i t , and I agree t h a t no monetary c o n s i d e r a t i o n need be paid me.
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