"Corporal punishment had just been banned but some habits die hard." My schooldays were just at the end of the corporal punishment era - not that most of the teachers would have cared either way, they were definitely of the flog 'em mindset. We had a PE teacher (who also doubled as maths and geography stand-in for some reason) who liked to set the boys off on endless circuits of the gym, complete with obstacles, on the way. If you stumbled or fell over he would pull you up by the ear or nipple. We got our own back by picking up his car ( a mini) and putting it inside the fives court on our last day.