On 17/05/2021 17:18, andyW wrote:
On 17/05/2021 15:37, Steve Walker wrote:
In Juniors, we had 100 homework questions every week, as part of
preparation for the 11-plus. If you scored less than the previous
week, you were whacked that many times, on the backside, with a
table-tennis bat (girls got a ruler to the hand).

I also got the ruler on the hand. I am a left-hander and my teacher used
to say "there is no such thing as a left handed child, only an awkward
child"
I got the flat of the ruler off my knuckles for using my left hand and
then, for repeat offended I got the edge. If my hand writing was bad I
got a punishment.

I use my right hand and get punished and use my left hand and also get
punished. I hated school.

My father got that, with the result that he became truly ambidextrous -
able to function easily in a world designed around right-handed people
(indeed you would think that he was naturally right-handed), but also
very handy when doing DIY and I needed someone to work in an awkward
position that was only really accessible by a left-hander.

My middle son is left-handed and although there was none of the forcing
him to use his right hand, he did keep getting told off and marked down
for untidy writing and not cutting things out well - and at every
parents' evening, we had to point out that it was awkward for him
writing left-handed, when they were teaching pen positions and movements
for right-handers and that right-handed scissors made it difficult for
him to cut accurately.