IN a little town in the late 50.s ,into the early sixties, i went to a school in a little eastern town called Lawn it suited it,s name as in summer all you could see for miles was green lawns , green seas. it was in the middle of winter however this, story takes place. .it was a cert cold frosty morning as we trughed up the lane to a big old schoolhouse , it looked like a prison other than a school, some of the kids called it so . our classroom was very big and airy and cold as the teacher attempted to light the big old potbellied stove that stood in the middle of the room ,. we kept our coats and mittens on for one hour everytime we went there as it took long to heat up the classroom,. our old rickity desks were just as cold as the outside that morning..i looked out the window and saw my friend kate run up the lane , as she ws late i observed our teacher take out the strap back in those days you got punished with a strapping on the hands how many depended how late you were or how tardy your uniform was etc ,. our teacher ,it seemed to me to enjoy her putting out the punishment , kate came to the door , knocked . the teacher opened the door and let her inside ,. kate looked very afraid as she knew she was going to get punished again this was twice this week she missed school or was late .miss h, asked her why and she replied that her mom was sick and she had to get her siblings off to school also.. , i knew kate was fibbing as we had a pyjama party the night before all of us girls had been there , daphne burst out no mamaam, she said she is lying she then proceeded to tell all. poor kate stood there as the teacher procedded to get the strap she hit kate,s hands about five times , i looked at kate and knew she had, had enough with her hands being so cold she couldnt take it anymore , she lashed out at this teacher , hitting her so hard that the teacher fell to the cement floor ., blood was coming out of her mouth and kate continued to hit her i grabbed kates arms to try to get her to stop , this was not the friend i knew all my life this day this was a very unhappy lost angry young woman to whom had ,had enough of being abused by family and peers ,. she finally left the classroom i heard later that kate had been locked into an isalyumn for many months i tried to contact her but no luck as she was not the kate we all knew and loved the teacher was still teaching us and she is now more careful and respectful of her students ,, so something good came of these events .. back in those days it was accepted that teachers and people in power in the school systems were always right and nobody made any response to any alligations of any kind ,. at least where i came from ..in closing i ll say that it has taught me to stand taller and take nothing of any abuse from anyone to this day i live my life my way…