Growing up in Mexico during the 1980s, the most common discipline tool amongst mothers was undoubtedly la chancla – a flip-flop or light sandal. In Latin America, la chancla has almost legendary status as a means of corporal punishment.
Nevertheless, there appears to be a lot of misinformation about it going around the internet, at least as far as my own experience is concerned. There are lots of jokey articles about Latino moms taking the chancla off their foot and throwing it with military precision at the offending child’s head. I have to say, I rarely saw this happen myself.