Switch (rod)
Encyclopedia
A switch is a flexible rod, typically used for corporal punishment
of the birching
type, called switching after it, especially when using a single branch: multiple branches are rather called a rod, a less flexible single rod is rather called a cane
, an inflexible one a stick; a paddle is broader but hard and flattened.
(also use for a very severe birch
) or hickory (see hickory stick
); as the use of their names for disciplinary implements, without specification, and as verbs for lashing, indicates, birch and willow
branches are time-honoured favorites, but branches from most strong trees and large shrubs can be used, often simply nearby from a garden, an orchard or the wild. In the southeastern United States, fresh-cut, flexible cane (Arundinaria
) is commonly used. The usage of switches has been hotly contested in North America and Europe.
Making a switch involves cutting it from the stem and removing twigs or directly attached leaves as those would lessen its sting (hence deliberately left on for sauna use). For optimal flexibility it is cut fresh shortly before use, rather than keeping it for re-use over considerable time. Some parents decide to make the cutting of a switch an additional form of punishment for a child by requiring the disobedient child to cut his/her own switch.
The practice of switching is banned in the United States School System in 29 states and no longer occurs in public settings. In 21 states including Mississippi and Texas, corporal punishment is still practiced in schools and is called licks or paddlings. Many adults from rural areas still vividly recall being switched as children.
Parents in the United States
(where the wider paddle
is the most common spanking
implement) are reputed to threaten disobedient children with gifts of utilitarian coal
and switches for Christmas
should they not reform their behavior, although the actual practice of this is rare to the vanishing point, especially as most people live in urban areas where less suitable wood is easily at hand for the old-fashioned woodshed treatment and most modern educators consider such severe physical discipline cruel and it is often banned by law as child abuse.
Physical punishment
Physical punishment is any form of penalty in a judicial, educational or domestic setting that takes a physical form, by the infliction on the offender of pain, injury, discomfort or humiliation...
of the birching
Birching
Birching is a corporal punishment with a birch rod, typically applied to the recipient's bare buttocks, although occasionally to the back and/or shoulders.-Implement:...
type, called switching after it, especially when using a single branch: multiple branches are rather called a rod, a less flexible single rod is rather called a cane
Caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...
, an inflexible one a stick; a paddle is broader but hard and flattened.
Punitive switching
Switches are most efficient (i.e., painful and durable) if made of a strong but flexible type of wood, such as hazelHazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
(also use for a very severe birch
Birching
Birching is a corporal punishment with a birch rod, typically applied to the recipient's bare buttocks, although occasionally to the back and/or shoulders.-Implement:...
) or hickory (see hickory stick
Hickory Stick
The Hickory Stick is a college football rivalry between NCAA Division II teams Northwest Missouri State University and Truman State University.It is the oldest traveling trophy in Division II football....
); as the use of their names for disciplinary implements, without specification, and as verbs for lashing, indicates, birch and willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
branches are time-honoured favorites, but branches from most strong trees and large shrubs can be used, often simply nearby from a garden, an orchard or the wild. In the southeastern United States, fresh-cut, flexible cane (Arundinaria
Arundinaria
Arundinaria, commonly known as the canes, is the sole genus of bamboo native to South Africa and eastern North America and the only temperate bamboo in North America. The genus is endemic to the eastern United States from New Jersey south to Florida and west to Ohio and Texas...
) is commonly used. The usage of switches has been hotly contested in North America and Europe.
Making a switch involves cutting it from the stem and removing twigs or directly attached leaves as those would lessen its sting (hence deliberately left on for sauna use). For optimal flexibility it is cut fresh shortly before use, rather than keeping it for re-use over considerable time. Some parents decide to make the cutting of a switch an additional form of punishment for a child by requiring the disobedient child to cut his/her own switch.
The practice of switching is banned in the United States School System in 29 states and no longer occurs in public settings. In 21 states including Mississippi and Texas, corporal punishment is still practiced in schools and is called licks or paddlings. Many adults from rural areas still vividly recall being switched as children.
Parents in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(where the wider paddle
Paddle (spanking)
A spanking paddle is an implement used to strike a person on the buttocks. The act of striking a person with a paddle is known as "paddling". A paddling may be for punishment , or as an initiation or hazing ritual, or for erotic purposes.A paddle has two parts: a handle and a blade...
is the most common spanking
Spanking
Spanking refers to the act of striking the buttocks of another person to cause temporary pain without producing physical injury. It generally involves one person striking the buttocks of another person with an open hand. When an open hand is used, spanking is referred to in some countries as...
implement) are reputed to threaten disobedient children with gifts of utilitarian coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and switches for Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
should they not reform their behavior, although the actual practice of this is rare to the vanishing point, especially as most people live in urban areas where less suitable wood is easily at hand for the old-fashioned woodshed treatment and most modern educators consider such severe physical discipline cruel and it is often banned by law as child abuse.
- The tamarind switch (in Creole English tambran switch) is a judicial birch-like instrument for corporal punishment made from three tamarindTamarindTamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .-Origin:...
rods, braided and oiled, used long after independence in the Caribbean Commonwealth island states of JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and Trinidad & Tobago. - The Gilbertese tribal community at Wagina in Choiseul province (Solomon IslandsSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
) reintroduced by referendum in 2005 traditional "whipping" with coconut tree branches for various offences - the national justice system opposes this.
Media references
- In the movie The Harder They ComeThe Harder They ComeThe Harder They Come is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell.The film stars reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, who plays Ivanhoe Martin, a character based on Rhyging, a real-life Jamaican criminal who achieved fame in the 1940s...
the lead character, after assaulting another character is punished by "8 strokes of the tamarind switch." - In the season one episode, "Basic Genealogy" of CommunityCommunity (TV series)Community is an American television comedy series created by Dan Harmon that airs on NBC. The series is about a group of students at a community college in the fictional locale of Greendale, Colorado. The series heavily uses meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television...
, Troy's grandmother asks for a switch several times to beat Britta and Troy with. - In Spring AwakeningSpring AwakeningSpring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1892 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in late-19th century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of...
, Wendla asks Melchior to hit her with a switch as a way to sympathize for Martha, who is abused by her father.
See also
- CaningCaningCaning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...
- BirchingBirchingBirching is a corporal punishment with a birch rod, typically applied to the recipient's bare buttocks, although occasionally to the back and/or shoulders.-Implement:...
- Corporal punishment in the homeCorporal punishment in the homeDomestic corporal punishment typically involves the corporal punishment of a child by a parent or guardian in the home—normally the spanking or slapping of a child with the parent's open hand, but occasionally with an implement such as a belt, slipper, cane or paddle.In many cultures,...
- Judicial corporal punishmentJudicial corporal punishmentJudicial corporal punishment refers to the infliction of corporal punishment as a result of a sentence by a court of law. The punishment can be flogging, caning, birching, whipping, or strapping...
- School corporal punishment
- SwitchgrassSwitchgrassPanicum virgatum, commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico...
External links
- Agony&Ecstasy - Dictionary of flogging instruments
- World Corporal Punishment Research