I also remember something that you don't see today in schools that should be there. Every classroom in my Jr high had a nail on the wall with a paddle hanging from it. I'm not talking anything small either, these things were built for speed and (dis)comfort. All were made from 2x6s with the handles cut out, rounded and smoothed and three rows of half inch holes drilled down the length and sanded out to prevent wind resistance. The softball coach hand one with a longer handle to swing like a bat, the rest of the women used to just get the man teaching the class next door. I know the specs because everyone in school had to take at least one semester of wood shop and churning them out was one of the projects. I can speak from experience, kids were a lot less mouthy back then than they are today. And I also discovered the meaning of one my father's statements...Be good or be good at it. I learned to be good at a all of things to avoid those chunks of wood, and if I couldn't get away with it, I didn't do it.