My PE teachers used the sole of a Converse tennis shoe. One kept a bucket full of paddles in various shapes and sizes, one of which was a 1-inch thick middle of a baseball bat. Me and some other kid got caught talking in health when class the coach stepped into the hallway for a bit. When he came there were just yakking it up.
Coach pulled the bucket out of the closet and made us choose our poison. I took the smallest thinking that wouldn’t hurt as much and the other kid took the sawn baseball bat. I grabbed my ankles and got my swat first and he smacked my ass hard and left a huge welt. Then when he went to the other kid who was bent over at the ready when Coach stepped up to his backside like Reggie Jackson waiting on 3-0 pitch and swang with all his might. But just when he was about to make contact he checked his swing and then just lightly tapped him!
What really truly hurt was when you got more red ones on top of the blue ones.
You learned to behave at least until the other ones cleared up.
Our Vice Principal in high school carried a similar “Board of Education.”
My HS math teacher had one of those and you could hear it echo down the hallway when he put it to use......
Got smacked with those plenty in my youth. Last time was in the Principle’s office. I had told a girl in my class that “her living bra died of starvation”. She made a big scene and it disrupted the class.
Principle asked me where I heard that. I told him on the Carol Burnett show last night.
He was breaking up laughing, but he paddled me all the same. HARD!