One night I was speeding and got stopped by an uniformed officer(can the use of “an” possibly be right here). He approached and asked for my license which I gave to him while his face remained concealed behind the light of his flashlight. After I
handed him my license and he looked at it he asked if I remembered him? Eyes still dazzled by the light I looked at him and said, ” no, I don’t believe so.” To which he said perhaps he should bend over and grab his ankles because I might recognize him better in that position. Of course Mr. Oak who hung on the wall next to the door of my classroom might recognize him as he had closer contact than I ever did and I realized with some concern that Mr. Oak and I had apparently worked together at least once to make an impression on this officer’s nether regions in school.
I was thinking that this was not going to end well when he re-introduced himself and stated that “he had deserved it,” gave me a warning ticket and walked gingerly back to his car rubbing his butt. Fond memories I assume or perhaps just sitting in his car too long.
Before you judge me too harshly for my methods(which were carefully, controlled, witnessed, and explained to the student and well within the limits of society then) please remember it was a different world 40 years ago and discipline methods were often harsh, physical,confining and memorable instead of weak, wordy, ethereal and forgettable as they are now. And although by modern standards I am sure I might be branded a child abuser and I fully understand that this is no longer acceptable or correct behavior for a teacher. I also know that I used to solve problem behaviors in 5 minutes that classroom teachers today may now work on for a full year and then hand it off to the next year’s teacher, still unsolved, to the detriment of the individual student and the class around them.
