10 famous punishments every Nigerian faced during high school days

Everyone has a story or more about their high school days, from long, boring lectures to intimate friendships and teenage romance.

If you attended a boarding school like I did, you’d even have stories of sneaking out on weekends to participate in parties with your girls.

All these bring nostalgia, well, except for the unforgettable punishments we all experienced in high school.

Today’s article focuses on bringing back memories of all the popular punishments we experienced in secondary school.

I’m sure you’ll have a story about each of the punishments I’ll list, so I’d wait to hear your story in the comment section. Let’s go!

1. Caning

Does this remind you of any teacher? We all had that one teacher who had some magic with the cane. Some teachers used their canes so well that others sent offending students to them.

2. Standing on one foot

Here’s another pretty popular one. As its name signifies, it involves standing on one foot under strict supervision for an extended time. Depending on how unlucky you were, some teachers would even top it by asking you to do it on a desk.

3. Continuous writing

This one seems easy on paper, but it’s not. Imagine having to fill up a 60-leaf book with sentences like, “I will not disturb my class again.” Exhausting right?

4. Kneeling and facing the wall

This one was tailor-made for teachers that barely flogged. If you were a troublemaker in school, you’d definitely be used to this one. I remember dozing off once during this punishment. The ridicule from my classmates when I fell made me resolve never to make noise in class again.

5. Picking a pin

I’m hearing this one has been banned in many schools. Students these days won’t know how it feels to be awkward when picking something for long minutes.

6. Carrying a stone

Here’s one for the very stubborn students who were already used to being flogged. A teacher can ask you to kneel and carry a stone or desk, depending on what’s readily available.

7. Frog jump

Imagine moving around like a frog – jumping from a squatted position to and fro a particular distance with your fingers clutching your ears. Definitely not a palatable one, especially as you’ll wake up the next day with sore muscles.

8. Picking of dirt

This one was a popular group punishment. Latecomers and noisemakers were often forced to pick dirt around the school premises.

9. Grass clearance

The boys know this. If you attended a school with big playing fields, best believe the teachers have found an easy punishment for the stubborn ones. When we brought cutlasses and brooms as part of our continuous assessments, we knew we’d still be the ones using them.

10. Bail

Corruption doesn’t end with greedy politicians. I remember some teachers forcing us to pay specific amounts of money or buy them lunch as a punishment for minor and major offences.

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