School Thoughts: Standard 2 (2nd Grade)

I have little to say about this year. My teacher was Miss Davies a petite redhaired Welsh woman with a terrible temper. At least I call it temper but it was truely violence. If we blotted our books or made mistakes, Miss Davies would slap the back of our heads so that our foreheads bounced against the desktops. I had bruises and lumps on my forehead the whole year. I developed a fear of Mathematics and cheated or claimed stomach sickness to work around learning my times tables. The walk to the infirmary, sitting in line, and drinking the tablespoon of medicine covered all of the allotted Math time for a day. My parents did nothing to stop the abuse; they weren't sure what to do. My parents went to India for a month and left us with another family who were shocked by the bruises, which were obviously happening at school. The other family asked if my parents knew and then decided to follow my parents' example.

I was very glad when that year ended.