News > ‘Obnoxious teacher’ hit SLO student with horsewhip in 1870s. What happened next?

‘Obnoxious teacher’ hit SLO student with horsewhip in 1870s. What happened next?

Hopefully, we can all agree hitting kids with a horsewhip is bad. That didn’t keep a 19th-century writer, Oscar Thorton, from considering it as a form of discipline for unruly students. The educator’s actions likely would result in jail time today. Thornton’s story careens from a fact-based news article to an opinion-based editorial, with the author blaming the school board, teacher, students and parents for forcing the teacher to resign.