What's the worst punishment you received as a kid?

Probably being thrown to the ground and kicked and punched like I was being jumped lol.

Worst one was psychological, tied my arm to a 2×4 and got me to evacuate my bowels as my arm was pushed closer and closer to the saw blade only to be pulled away at the last moment and then repeat.

For me, most of the “punishment” was merely a discouraging look of disappointment. I was never grounded or hit – and do not recall even being yelled at.

The only time my mother really put her foot down and forbid me from participating in something fun was immediately following an event where I was drunk (I was 14).

Being hit across the face.

@King_Pariah Oh my G-d!

The belt when I was being bad and Ivory Soap when I spoke my mind in 4 letter words.

There were some whoopings to be sure but the worst punishment was the horrid feeling of being on the “outs” with my parent(s). That insecure feeling of wishing I could be anyone else in the whole world at that moment, even the dog or cat who was there placidly soaking up the ordinariness of their day while I was being singled out as “bad” and “shame” on me for doing whatever it was that my offence was.

Grounded, No pocket money, oh no that’s what my wife does now…. pretty much the same thoughout my life really…

Being hit with a belt and backhanded across the face.

All it taught me was to fear my father. Also, not to respect him.

They burnt my hands with melted candle, and beat my legs with traditional wooden dust-cleaner (another worst but popular traditional way to punish children at that time). The other worst ones would be when they locked me in the dark basement for a night. Fortunately, it didn’t contribute to claustrophobia.

I don’t know if I should blame them but they said that it’s the way they have been taught by their parents. I should have known that my compassionate, funny-looking late-grandparents were actually some kind of cold-blooded abuser!

Just a spanking. I didn’t do much that required punishment after I was 4 or 5. Until I was grown, and I had to punish myself with feelings of great regret.

Being sent to bed without dinner and geting my teeth brushed with soap. Not fun. Did I learn? No I didn’t. :/

Spanking

I am horrified at the answers here. All I can remember is having my banged up 1946 Dodge taken away for a week. I cannot even remember what I had done.

We were a family where no one was every hit or screamed at. There were lectures, nagging and the unspoken expectation that my sibs and I would behave. We did.

One etched into my memory is when my mother marched me into school, strode into cookery class & placed that days ingredients on the table, declaring, “he’d forget his head if it wasn’t screwed on!” I was 14yrs old for fucks sake!!!! Needless to say, my mince & dumplings turned out disastrously, what with all the piss taking & everyfum. I can’t even recall what i’d done to deserve such a fate. Gawd bless ya mum :¬/

I’m also horrified with the answers given here. It’s clear that many flutherites have been through some tough times.
I do remember being slapped with the wooden spoon and a belt many times – my memory jogged by the similar answers here. That was fairly common and didn’t do my any harm in the long run, but I would never do that to a child myself.

For me it was a good talking to.

Yes, I remember having to explain myself and listen to my parents tell me why they were disappointed in my actions while thinking “can’t you just beat me instead and get this over with…”.

(That is not to say that my folks would shy away from judicious use of the belt when richly deserved.)

@pezz

“pretty much the same thoughout my life really…”

I’m totally with you there. When I was very young I would be given a “time out” and made to sit in the corner. Ironically, for the vast majority of my adult working life I have been assigned to a cubicle with my workstation located such that I am forced to spend the bulk of my day sitting in the corner. I have repeatedly asked myself over the last 20+ years exactly what I have done to deserve such extended punishment.

The harshest physically was being spanked with a belt.

The worst though to me was when my parents didn’t believe me when I told them I hadn’t been among schoolmates who broke into and vandalized a neighbor’s house. I was made to go to the owners of the house and admit I had taken part even though I hadn’t and offer to work on cleaning up the destruction. It was humiliating and for a long time I hated my parents for assuming I would do such a thing to people I liked.

A lot were bad since my parents did not have enough time to explain why it was bad and why we were not suppose to do some things. When I look back I understand now but back then eveyr one of the was bad since we never got an explanation for it.

My mom had anger issues and they were the worst when I was a toddler. I regularly got the crap beat out of me because I failed to potty train at the expected rate.

Nothing compares to terrifying wait for your mother to find the stick that she wants to whack away at you with.

Some of the most relieving words she’d utter were, “Wait until your father comes home!”

We got the point where we gathered up all the punishments sticks and threw them into the ravine and played dumb.

I know that nobody is looking for pity, and I can tell that many people have survived childhood and become amazing, strong adults. However, I really do feel nauseous thinking about the abuse some of you went through.

I was slapped, spanked, whipped with a belt, burned, and forced to do chores, but the worst one was watching my mother cry, because she had to accept I wasn’t as good a child as she hoped.
My Mom was a master of applying guilt.

The worst physical punishment was spanking and that was very infrequent and not very harsh.Sometimes Mom would get mad that we were talking at night, or reading instead of sleeping. Then she would say “Don’t make me send your father in there!” My father was a meek soul who clearly did not want to be called on in this capacity. If she made him come in to correct us he’d make a little half hearted swat at our behinds to calm us down if that. Consequently we were not very afraid of him.

Another disciplinary step was taking away your allowance, but that piddly little amount wasn’t anything to cry over, lol. And yes, I was grounded once or twice.

I always remember my dignity being offended when my mother would yell at me and correct me. I found it very demeaning. She didn’t name call or put me down either, just get angry and that was enough to make me feel not bad, but angry. I felt like, “Who the hell does she think I am? to talk to me like that!?” Because I was a really good kid who didn’t create problems but she saw me as being disrespectful if I didn’t agree with her all the time. I was opinionated and vocal. That made me the black sheep. There, now I am done with my confession!

I also am saddened to hear of the harsh punishments other jellies have been dealt . I have known people who had the belt when they were young. It seems so horrible, and to me, clearly constitutes child abuse. But I have been surprised that many people don’t seem to think it was all that bad. I have even had people tell me, “I deserved it” which I think is just horrible. You know, the whole, “Spare the rod, spoil the child mentality”. And these people, even though they excuse their parent’s abuse, usually say that they themselves would never do that to their own child.

Reading about what some people have gone through really makes me cringe. I’m sorry you went through that. And hope that you’ve all found yourself in a better place.

I don’t know of any other parents who punished their kids by threatening to not take them to school. Maybe the strangest part of that was that it actually worked.

My wifes mother used to keep her home from school, because she felt it was useless to believe my wife would ever graduate, or amount to anything. Might as well keep her home and have her help with cleaning the house, and laundry.
My wife was eventually moved to a foster home to make sure she went to school. She is the only one of her parents 5 kids who graduated.

@filmfann Were any of the others deaf or just her?

@janbb My wife was the only deaf child in her family.

The punishments I remember most were the ones where I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong.

My sweet 3-year-old sister was locked in her room for much of the day with a cold and greasy pork sausage link that she had refused to eat at breakfast. The theory was, according to the English nanny that we had (incomprehensively) for two years, that my sister would eat the sausage in exchange for bathroom privileges and liberty.

My sister, at 64, still talks about that sausage.

@gailcalled That’s incredibly sad. I’m sorry she had to go through that