Red Bottom Club

One year on holiday, my sister and I got up very early one morning and ran off to the beach, where we dug a hole about a foot deep and … Read more

We weren’t babysat very often. We had a stay at home mum and a dad who was on the road a lot. But soon after we moved to Scotland with … Read more

When I was a child growing up in the Adirondacks, I went after school to Mrs Redmond’s house. She had a daughter, Loretta, who was three and a half years … Read more

This happened in the early 1970s when I was nine years old, and the public spanking of children was no big deal. I had gone to spend a couple of … Read more

When I was in the fifth grade, I joined a church youth group for kids in third through fifth grade. On the last meeting of the year, we went to … Read more

When I was in my teens, I was forced to stay with my Aunt Audrey every summer because I couldn’t keep myself out of trouble. My mom knew that my … Read more

Tanisha is an African-American mother-of-two living in the US state of Georgia. At the time of this interview, her sons were aged 11 and nine respectively. What do you give … Read more

Mothers Talking is a previously unpublished series of interviews conducted mostly online (occasionally by telephone or in person) with mothers who were, at the time, using corporal punishment on their … Read more

Some time in the late 1970s, I was round at my friend Ian’s house. We had both recently celebrated our 10th birthdays – Ian’s was just four days after mine … Read more

When I was about 10 or 11 years old, my best friend was Eddie Miller. He was about the same age as me. We were always together. One summer, we … Read more

Corporal punishment has long been a way of life for African-American children. There’s no getting around it, our mothers are just as strict as can be. I’m not complaining – … Read more

This happened one afternoon when my son John was around six. It was getting towards teatime – my husband Dennis had just got home and was sitting reading the newspaper, … Read more

During the Cold War in the 1970s I was in the US Air Force, working as a mechanic, and served several tours of duty in West Berlin. During one of … Read more

As a boy growing up in the 1950s, I attended a small private school. One day, when I was 11, I got into serious trouble for disrupting class and I … Read more

I was at primary school (ages five to 11) in Surrey, England in the late 1960s when I got my first spanking from a teacher. I was about seven years … Read more

Corporal punishment was a pretty regular event in my family when I was a child. Spankings from my mother, which were usually done with a wooden spoon or hairbrush, were … Read more

It all started rather innocently during gym class. A friend and I were horsing around in the locker room when we were supposed to be on the playground exercising. When … Read more

In the third grade in private school, children could be physically disciplined, should the teacher feel it necessary. We did a lot of lining up to go places, and there … Read more

I am the youngest of three boys, all born within about a year of each other. Becky came along six years after me, an accident in mum and dad’s sex … Read more

I was 12 years old and it was approaching ‘Cracker Night’ in Australia that everyone had bonfires and let off fireworks like rockets and bungers (which we called crackers, hence … Read more

Some years ago now, contributor Tyler submitted this dialogue from a conversation he had had with Kim, a mother of two young girls in South Korea, about parenting attitudes and … Read more

Years ago, more than I would like to remember, I was soundly spanked by a neighbour. Her name was Jan and I remember the spanking as if it happened yesterday. … Read more

During one summer vacation, I went to stay with my friend Roger at his house. We decided to camp out in his back yard – that way, we could sneak … Read more

I was nine at the time when I was babysat by a family friend. Sue was in her 50s and had always been a real nice lady, although many times … Read more

When I was young, my friends and I would occasionally get into trouble, but most of the time we were good boys. However, the ritual of receiving an occasional spanking … Read more

Mealtimes were the cause for most of the friction between my mother and I as a boy. I was a fussy eater, you see, and whined incessantly about being forced … Read more

I am reminded of an incident that took place when I was 13 years old and in the seventh grade. The biggest movie craze at the time was that of … Read more

A the time of writing, I’m 42 years old. I have two grown-up daughters (20 and 22) and two grown-up stepdaughters (19 and 21). The last one of my girls … Read more

I’m not sure how old I was when the following took place – I’d guess eight, give or take a year. Mom was baking for some kind of bake sale … Read more

I was just an eight-year-old little girl at the time when my mother and father took and evening out and I was to be babysat by my Grandmother Philips. As … Read more

During my childhood I were three babysitters, all very different from each other, who spanked me – two of them especially often. There are lots of experiences I remember but … Read more

When I was 10 (in the early 1970s), my best friend Craig and I got up to all sorts of adventures in the countryside surrounding our village. However, one day … Read more

I’m a mother of two boys, both now adults, and both regularly felt the back of my hand growing up. However, what I want to tell you about here is … Read more

I guess I was a fairly typical six-year-old – full of energy and trouble. My mother often left me in the care of a neighbour, Mrs Carter, who had a … Read more

I have already related how my sister Tina smacked my bottom for rummaging through her underwear drawer. Now, I would like to tell you about how she came to be … Read more

When I was four years old, we lived in a quiet suburb outside of Chicago called Oak Lawn. My best friend Tommy lived across the street from me and I … Read more