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?

02/07/2023 10:41 AM | Click to read full article

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.

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