KATIE'S CRUEL AND HUMILIATING PUNISHMENT

A tale of schooldays long ago.

All the characters in this story are adults over 18.

The Katie in this story is not the same Katie as in my other stories here. They are different characters.


Katie liked almost everything about school. At her young age of eighteen, she looked forward more often than she looked back and she lived for the present as it was. So she rarely paused to evaluate things, but if she had, Katie would have probably concluded that these really were the happiest of days.

She was a top performer. A place awaited her to read law at Cambridge, providing she obtained the necessary grades at "A" level next term. Katie had passed her "mock" examinations with excellent marks already, just a few weeks before. She was taking English, Latin and Greek and an additional "A" level in Religious Studies, which she worked for in her own time, with the support of a couple of staff. The headmistress, Miss Maine, was herself a classicist and took particular pride in nurturing Katie's ability. Miss Maine had arranged for a lecturer to visit the school weekly to give Katie additional tuition reading Greek poems and plays.

Katie liked almost everything about school, but she did not like games. She had intelligence and good memory, but when it came to physical ability and coordination then her brain just did not seem to provide her with the same advantages. She was lost on the hockey field. Hands, legs, stick and ball rarely worked in unison and games lessons for her could not end soon enough. So it was excellent news for Katie that her Greek literature tutor called at the school on a Wednesday afternoon when his university also offered sports activities instead of lectures. So for most of the two years of her sixth form, Katie had avoided games classes altogether. She also had responsibilities as a "befriender" to younger pupils in need of support and she was a member of the school council. It did not pass unnoticed that Katie was an expert in contriving to place these activities in her diary at the same time as her weekly PE lesson in the gym! She had barely entered the gym during the first two terms of this, her final year. No more than three times,
certainly. And now it was nearly Easter! Most of the next term would be study leave! Maybe she would never have to complete another PE lesson at all!

Miss Maine put a damper on these happy thoughts.

"Now Katie!" Miss Maine stopped her as they passed each other in the corridor. "I've noticed that you've been missing a lot of PE this term! I know that you do many other things, which we all appreciate, but PE is important for us all as well!" She spoke firmly but not unkindly. "As you get older Katie, you will learn that the management of time is one of the most important things! Sometimes you can't just do the most crucial task every day and always ignore something else. The something else, which you have avoided, then grows in importance too and must be dealt with! So, Katie, you must attend your PE class this week! Miss Griffiths has to complete an assessment of all the sixteen to eighteen-year-olds! All the schools in the authority have to do this, to measure how fit and healthy we all are!"

"Yes, Miss Maine," Katie replied obediently.

Try as she might, it seemed to her that she was not going to manage to wriggle out of PE this time!

It was not that Katie had any obvious physical reason to dislike games. She was of average height and weight and she was not particularly unfit. She enjoyed walking, spending hours sometimes exploring a historic town while lines of translation progressed through her head. English into Latin, Greek into English. She wondered whether it would ever be possible for her to translate Latin into Greek without first thinking of the words in English.

PE was the last period on Thursday afternoon and so Katie then trooped into the changing room with a couple of dozen other girls from the senior school; fifth as well as sixth formers. She changed into her pristine white polo shirt, red gym knickers and a knee-length red games skirt. Her kit felt so fresh and new, it had hardly been used! Next to her, the other girls' outfits looked worn and slightly faded.

Miss Griffiths appeared ticking off names from a sheet. She frowned, "Katie!" she exclaimed, "I haven't seen you for weeks I haven't seen you for games, or for PE! Where on earth have you been?"

Katie reminded Miss Griffiths of her Wednesday afternoon tuition and explained that she had always provided a note from Miss Maine, to cover her absences from PE.

"Well, thank you for gracing us with your presence today!" Miss Griffiths acknowledged gruffly. "Let's see how you get on with this particular assessment!"

The girls were divided into six groups of four. Miss Griffiths told them that she had to time and measure their various activities so that an aggregate score for the whole school would be produced, in order to measure the effectiveness of their physical education. This was a project being trialled by their particular education authority.

Katie was in a group with three other fifth form leavers. They had little more enthusiasm than did Katie, although they welcomed the PE class in preference to their academic work. A series of mats were arranged over the gym floor. The groups set about their tasks, working in rotation from one end of the hall to the other. They had to demonstrate flexibility, touching their toes, completing sit-ups, press-ups and squats. They had to catch a heavy medicine ball, run with it and throw it through a hoop. They had to sprint six consecutive ten-meter lengths of the gym, while Miss Griffiths recorded their times.

None of this was too arduous and Katie was relieved that her PE lesson was passing by. Then the gym was cleared and all the groups assembled together.

"Now the vaulting horse!" Miss Griffiths called.

The vaulting horse. Katie was terrified of the vaulting horse. She was utterly terrified. This fear went back to five years before. That was when Miss Griffiths had used the gym lesson to teach the class how to use the vaulting horse. She had her pupils run-up to it one by one and try to propel themselves clean over and onto the landing mats beyond. Many of the girls had struggled with this while Miss Griffiths shouted encouragement and cajoled the less able.
Two girls were placed at either side of the horse, in case anyone slipped or fell from the padded top. These two girls were told to catch anyone who did, although Miss Griffiths gave them no precise instruction and no opportunity to demonstrate that they knew what they had to do.

Katie had shuffled to the back of the queue, but halfway towards her turn one of her classmates made a game effort to push herself right over the horse. When she was at maximum height her foot caught the edge of the padding, she lost her balance and fell face downwards over the side. The "catcher" beside her seemed to freeze and failed to stop this poor girl from her fall. Katie remembered the sickening crack as she hit the wooden boards, away from the landing mats. Katie remembered the awful sight of her, unconscious for a few moments, her arm hanging loosely from a fractured shoulder. Everyone was ushered out of the gym while Miss Griffiths sent someone to rush for first aid. The ambulance arrived about ten minutes later.

Katie never saw this classmate again. After a short hospital stay and recovery, the girl started school again at another establishment closer to her home. But the fact that, for young Katie, she had just seemed to then disappear added to the terror that this incident left in her mind. The vaulting horse! Katie was petrified.

Four girls carried the vaulting horse out into the middle of the gym, while mats were laid down. Katie noticed that now the mats were placed generously all around. The assessment began, group by group. Many girls were still unable to vault properly, and several got over by sitting on the top and simply sliding off. Miss Griffiths grimaced and ticked her sheet. Katie ran up to her and stopped. She slapped her hands onto the top of the apparatus. It seemed to be so high, even higher now that she was standing next to it.

"Come on!" Miss Griffiths shouted! "Have a try! Go back and try again!"

Katie's heart was pounding. Here she was, face to face with her fear. Everyone was watching and Miss Griffiths did not seem at all pleased. She walked back to the starting point and ran forward again. Then Katie stopped. Her hands rested on the padding in front of her.

"I said try!" Miss Griffiths shouted. "You are not trying! You can at least jump up and sit on it! You have one last chance! Now make an effort!"

Katie felt herself starting to panic. Why this, what had she done to deserve this? She walked back and ran up again, more slowly this time. Then, again, she stopped.

"I can't, Miss Griffiths, I can't," Katie said quietly. "I'm terrified of it!"
Miss Griffiths scowled at her. "You haven't even tried, not once. I gave you three chances and you refused to obey me! You are not above this class, young lady! You shall be punished for wilful disobedience!"

Katie felt devastated. This felt so unreasonable to her. Here she was, compelled to attend this stupid class, and now she was to be punished, simply because she was afraid. It was so unfair. Katie knew that her punishment would follow quickly. For wilful disobedience, she could be slippered. She had never been given the slipper before. She had never been given a recorded punishment of any kind before. The worst that had ever happened to her was a telling off for chatting in class, a few times admittedly, and that had been years ago. Miss Griffiths was empowered to give her up to four strokes on the behind with a plimsoll. Any amount of physical punishment beyond this level lay in the hands of Miss Maine only. Or she could be given a detention. By the look on Miss Griffiths' face, she could expect the worst.

Katie was hardly aware of what was happening as she helped to tidy up the mats. She thought about just walking away and going to see the nurse. Surely the nurse would understand that she was genuinely afraid. But everyone was watching her and the fifth form leavers seemed to think that her predicament was hilarious. If she walked away now, it might make things worse and the story would be all over the school. The older pupils looked away from her and shuffled off to change.

The fifth formers could hardly disguise their interest when Miss Griffiths confronted Katie in the changing room.

"You deserve detention, Katie!" Miss Griffiths began. "That would make up for just one or two of the gym classes you have missed! I have a good mind to give you a detention now, running around the grounds!"

Katie felt a little relief. Maybe it was not to be the slipper. Miss Griffiths looked up through the skylight. That day had been one of sudden heavy showers and some of the earlier rain had been torrential.

"I would give you that detention now if it was still blowing a gale and raining! A good run for half an hour in the pouring rain would teach not to miss games too!" It was clear that Miss Griffiths intended that Katie's detention should be a cold, wet and uncomfortable experience for her.

"But it is fine and dry outside, so a run now will not be punishment enough for you, young lady!"

There was a short silence.

"The showers are really cold, miss!" A younger voice piped up.

Miss Griffiths looked suddenly interested.

"The showers are really cold!" she repeated, "What a good idea!" Katie looked extremely miserable.

"I'll take the slipper, Miss Griffiths!" she suggested meekly.

"Oh yes, you will, young lady!" Miss Griffiths assured her, "But first of all you can enjoy a cold shower, which will clear your mind for you to think properly in the future about obedience!"

Miss Griffiths marched over to the shower area and with a theatrical sweep of her arm juggled the shower control to the "on" position. There was a juddering and banging in the ancient pipework as water gurgled and churned. Miss Griffiths plunged another lever downwards to its fullest depth, to where once the faded label on the tiles had read "cold." One by one four showerheads in a line spluttered into life, as first intermittent and then steady streams of water gushed out and splattered onto the concrete floor.

The older girls were all listening, sitting quietly, looking at their feet and trying to get dressed as quickly as they could. A group of younger ones gathered behind Miss Griffiths, peering around her so they could see what was about to happen. Was Miss Griffiths really going to make Katie get under the showers? No-one had ever heard of such a thing! And it was Katie or all people! The very last girl anyone expected to see in trouble. This was something not to be missed!

"Take off your plimsolls!" Miss Griffiths ordered. Katie's spirits sank further as she removed her footwear. The dreadful thought pounded into her that she might next be told to undress. The thought jumped into her head that she must refuse to remove her underwear! There had to be a limit to her humiliation!

"In you go, young lady!" Miss Griffiths smirked. More incredulous onlookers silently crowded into the entrance area leading to the showers. Miss Griffiths sensed the fascination that she had aroused and she was not going to let her audience down.

Katie gave a fleeting silent prayer of thanks that at it seemed at least she was to retain some dignity and remain clothed. She glanced down at her bright clean kit and ran her fingers inside her waistline, adjusting her skirt and tucking in her top where it was loose. She made one final plea, taking a chance that Miss Griffiths would not change her mind about her staying dressed.

"What about my things Miss Griffiths?" she mumbled, picking at the side of her skirt. "I don't want my gym clothes to get wet, Miss Griffiths!"

There were several gasps and whispered comments, "In her gym clothes, She's going to get wet, What a shame!" followed by stifled giggles. Any sympathy felt for Katie, and most of the younger girls did have at least some sympathy, was overwhelmed by their desire to watch this entertainment!

Miss Griffiths seemed to be enjoying herself too. She looked carefully up and down at Katie, as if in serious thought about what had been just said. She would let Katie wait in anticipation for a few moments longer. After all, with the loud noise of running water and a cold draught drifting passed them from the showers, the more time Katie had to think about her punishment, the worse it might be for her. So she would question young Katie a bit more. To leave her with the faint hope of a reprieve, until this would be finally extinguished. Miss Griffiths was toying with her prey as a cat plays with a mouse.

"Did you see that rain this morning, young lady?" she asked pleasantly, "Between about eleven and twelve?"

"Yes, Miss Griffiths."

"It was really heavy rain!"

"Yes, Miss Griffiths."

"Do you know, young lady, what my hockey class were doing then?"

Katie paused for a moment, "They were in the gym, Miss Griffiths, because of the rain?" she suggested helpfully.

Miss Griffiths could not have looked more shocked if someone had just fired a shot.

"No, young lady!" she exclaimed urgently. "It is never to wet for hockey! The game lasted for the full period, in the mud and in the puddles! Now, young lady, what do you think happened to everyone's gym clothes then?"

Katie sensed the trap which had been led into. "They must have been soaked, Miss Griffiths," she admitted.

"Yes, and covered in mud too, from head to foot! Now, young lady, what would you have told your hockey captain then? "I don't want to get my gym clothes wet?" Your gym clothes are far too smart, young lady! They look like you've never used them! You don't know what's good for you! Now in you go!"

The onlookers took in every word with an attention which was rarely evident in class, and a crowd of eyes followed every move. Yes, Miss Griffiths was going to make her get in!

Katie knew that any further objection from her was going to be pointless. The thought of getting wet did not in itself trouble her. In different circumstances, this idea would have been quite amusing, and Katie would likely have willingly done this for herself, if, for example, the older girls had dared her to. What was hurtful was that now this was being done to her, out with any of her own control, and clearly, it was being done solely to humiliate her. And it seemed completely wrong to Katie that Miss Griffiths was letting all these fifth formers watch her embarrassment and discomfort. In recent years any slipperings always took place outside the classroom, out of the sight of spectators. Katie had heard many stories of past times when pupils had been slippered and caned in front of the whole class. Often the victim could not hold back their tears and sometimes they moved away to avoid the strokes, only to be dragged back and sometimes even held down by a second teacher. Adding up to total humiliation. But today, in these slightly more enlightened times, Miss Griffiths choose to turn Katie's ordeal into a public performance.

She stepped cautiously passed her teacher and down into the trough into which the showers ran. Miss Griffiths followed her and stood at the edge, symbolically blocking off any retreat. The
fifth formers crept up as close as they dared, but only the few nearest could still see Katie. Water was gathering on the sunken floor and immediately soaked into her socks. It felt really cold! Katie wondered if Miss Griffiths would make her stay for long in here. She paused while splashes of water poured against her legs and splattered the front of her skirt. "Go on, in you go!" Miss Griffiths' tone of voice gave away no intention of clemency.

Katie hunched forward away from the downward streams and closed her arms around her chest. There was a loud pattering sound as the first shower sent waves of splashes bouncing off the back of her cotton top. "She's getting under! That's her blouse splashing!" someone gave a rapid commentary. There were little squeals from behind. The back of Katie's hair quickly flattened and plastered itself to her neck. The onlookers could barely believe what they saw happening.

She hurried beyond the first shower but straightway felt the jets of water from the second on her lower legs and a myriad more splashes speckled the front of her already damp skirt. Perhaps this was enough? She turned around towards Miss Griffiths with a helpless pleading expression.

"Go on, right under, right under!" Miss Griffiths commanded.

Poor Katie knew now that she had to get very wet indeed and there was no further point in trying to avoid the water. She shuffled a foot further on and felt a sudden coldness down her back as her polo shirt soaked right through. The chilling feeling spread around her as she let the water flow over her shoulders and down her front. She might as well get this over! Streams of water ran down her skirt. The red material turned a darker shade as it became saturated, hanging against Katie's thighs. She felt her shirt clinging to her, the outline of her white bra was vaguely visible as the water compromised her modesty and showed up the curves of her fine young figure. Water surged over her feet as it gathered beneath her more quickly than it drained away.

"She's right under now, she's really wet now!" the commentary continued. Then a barely audible whisper said, "Her tops going see through!" Then the mood of the watchers suddenly changed. Now that Katie's compulsory soaking had actually happened, she seemed to become the subject more of pity than amusement. "That's not fair," someone added sadly, "It's mean, really mean, Katie shouldn't have to do that!" It was as if some of the fifth formers felt guilty now for willing Katie to be made to get wet.

Miss Griffiths turned around angrily to the excited group.

"Now get changed quietly!" she shouted, "Or you will be joining this young lady very quickly indeed!" The fifth formers scurried back to their benches. Miss Griffiths went out to the corridor, perhaps to check that there was no-one else around. She returned and closed the double entrance doors behind her. Katie stayed exactly where she was. The shower seemed to be getting colder and colder. Several minutes passed. Miss Griffiths looked into the shower area every few seconds.

Katie dare not move aside, but she was feeling really cold. She turned slowly around, alternating the sprays between her back and her front. Her fingers were turning red and she felt prickly sensations on her scalp and around her neck. The water ran over her head and through her hair, whichever way she faced. She continually wiped it away from her eyes. She tried to use her hands to deflect the power of the shower from above her, but then her fingers got too cold. She tried to distract herself by remembering the new words of Greek she had read yesterday, but she found now that she could not keep them all in her head. She gave an involuntary shudder.

Miss Griffiths looked in at her again; now she had a plimsoll in her hand. "Is that nice?" she asked.

"Y Y Yes, Miss Griffiths!" Katie was trying to keep herself dignified and as composed as she could.

"Come here!" Miss Griffiths said sharply.

Katie was relieved to step out of the jets of water, but Miss Griffiths made her stop almost immediately, under the first shower.

"Turn around, away from me!" Miss Griffiths ordered, "And bend over to touch your toes!"

Katie did as she was asked. Miss Griffiths reached forward and quickly, before her arm got splashed, flicked up the back of Katie's gym skirt, exposing the red gym knickers which Katie had on over her own underwear. Miss Griffiths swung her arm back, but as she did so a wave of water ran from Katie's back, washing her gym skirt down into place. Splat! The plimsoll struck the sodden material, but Katie did not feel a thing. There was little room for Miss Griffiths to swing her arm, and the thick skirt, thick gym knickers and ordinary knickers too gave Katie good protection. Miss Griffiths swung again in frustration as a spray of tiny droplets responded to her from Katie's skirt.

"Keep still, girl!" Miss Griffiths said crossly.

She lifted up Katie's hem again, but as Katie lowered her back further in response another wave of water returned the skirt to its rightful place. Splat! Slap! Katie was so numb with cold that she wasn't even sure at first whether she had received the punishment or not.

"Out here, young lady!" Miss Griffiths shouted, beckoning Katie to leave the shower area and join her in the wider tiled entrance. Miss Griffiths switched off the showers while streams of water dribbled from Katie's clothes. Her face was very pale and she was shaking. "Now we will do this properly!" Miss Griffiths flexed the plimsoll menacingly. "There is not enough room for a proper spanking under the showers! I will do it here, where I always do!" Miss Griffiths had administered the slipper to girls here before, next to the shower area, out of sight of the changing room but well within the hearing of all the class.

Katie was suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of righteous indignation. She forgot that she was shuddering with cold; she forgot that she was wringing wet and she forgot the humiliation which had just been heaped upon her. Her eyes caught the teacher's stare and Katie glared at her with a spirit possessed by the anger of injustice.

"You will not," she replied in a voice of calm authority, which in years to come was to be listened to with respect in the courtrooms of England. "You have already administered the full punishment within your authority, Miss Griffiths! And furthermore, the cold shower you have forced me to take is not an official punishment in your authority at all."

There was dead silence beyond the partition in the charging room. No-one dared to move or lift even a sock.

"If you think I deserve further punishment, then that is at the discretion of Miss Maine only. Let us go now and speak to her. Let us go together." Katie's voice shook as she trembled, not with fear, but with cold. "Let us discuss with Miss Maine how you have treated me already, let her see for herself what you have just done to me, come, let us go together now! I will take any further punishment I deserve from Miss Maine!"

Miss Griffiths was speechless. Moments of silence passed. "Go and get changed!" she finally replied. "And leave here, go!"

Katie walked over to where her clothes were, a trail of water still dripping behind her. Miss Griffiths turned around and marched out. There were audible gasps. The older girls started murmuring, "Well said, Katie, Well done, Good for you, Katie!" Several squeezed her cold, numb hands as they got up to go.

Now it was the younger fifth formers who just stated at their shoes and changed quietly. Katie had a spare pair of pants at the bottom of her schoolbag. She wrung out her bra and went home without wearing it. It was nearly an hour before she felt warm again; her toes and fingers ached as they came back to normal.

Lurid stories spread around the whole school from the next day onwards. In these exaggerated tales, Katie was said to have almost drowned in the shower trough, she was said to have passed out, younger children heard that Miss Griffiths had resuscitated her and even massaged her heart. Katie was said to have turned completely blue, or sometimes it was red or even completely white as if she was dead.

The stories reached the ears of staff. Miss Maine spoke to Katie the following week.

"Is there anything you need to speak to me about, Katie?" she asked.

"No Miss Maine, not really," Katie replied.

"About last Thursday?" Miss Maine prompted. "What happened last Thursday?"

"Oh, nothing really," Katie smiled. "Nothing that I couldn't cope with!"

Miss Maine straightened herself. "You should have come up to see me then," she whispered. "I will not, under any circumstances, have any pupil of this school be ill-treated. Not by anyone."

Katie wondered what she should say.

"It was the vaulting horse, Miss Maine. I'm really terrified of it. I saw that young girl seriously injured five years ago, and I still hear, in my head, the crack when her head hit the floor. I still have nightmares about it. Miss Griffiths would not understand that I was really frightened. She said that I was being wilfully disobedient."

Miss Maine grimaced. "Miss Griffiths believes it right that she knocks that fear out of you, Katie. But I do understand what you have said. Miss Griffiths will not be with us next term. And I have things for you to do this Thursday and Thursday next week. You will be excused from gym lessons for the rest of this term."

"Thank you, Miss Maine," Katie replied.

The school dispensed with the post of gym teacher that Easter. A new position of sports coach was advertised and filled by the start of the summer. Gym lessons continued, but from then onwards they were conducted with proper regard for safety. Katie never saw Miss Griffiths again. From time to time over the years that followed she remembered that afternoon. Her career in law flourished; she became well known for her advocacy in human rights cases and Katie drew inspiration from that great sense of injustice that she had felt. In court, she spoke up with that same clear voice on behalf of those who have no voice, in the way that she had found her voice that afternoon when she spoke up for herself.