The Conversation (0)
Harriet Brewis
Oct 25, 2023
Teacher and pupil smile as she pretends to whack him with a long, wooden ruler
TikTok via @noahglenncarter
An elementary school teacher has divided opinion on social media after she was filmed giving a young pupil “birthday spankings”.
The clip, which has been shared across TikTok, shows the woman beaming as she brandishes a large, wooden ruler and the boy braces for impact.
The child is smiling, too, as he clutches the table, and she swings her makeshift paddle.
Thankfully, the teacher stops before making contact, as she repeats a swing for each year of his life.
Pranks and peculiar traditions are a quirk of the festivities across the world, with almost every culture having their own special rites and rituals.
Bumps, “punches” and other torments have long been a celebrated part of the festivities, as have “spankings”.
The North American tradition sees the birthday boy or girl receive the number of hits that corresponds to their age, plus “one to grow on”.
@noahglenncarter People are upset with this teacher for giving a student birthday spankings #foryou #teacher #birthday
Numerous TikTok commentators pointed out that they’d received the same treatment at the hands of their teachers while in school, though not everyone remembered the custom fondly.
Search “birthday spankings” on the platform and you’ll see a number of videos dedicated to people’s realisation that the whole thing is a bit… creepy.
@queenkoppes #stitch with @smithfulteaching The 90s were a different time. #teachersoftiktok
@mackenzig__ i thought this was a fever dream or smth for the longest time until someone told me they saw it too
Still, plenty of TikTokers have also laughed the whole thing off or pointed to similarly bizarre conventions that they’d fallen prey to.
“This is a family tradition for me,” one wrote. “We all got and gave each other birthday spankings. It’s just a fun thing.”
“My Spanish teacher pulls ears for birthday,” added another, explaining that it was “her culture’s tradition”.
However, influencer Noah Glenn Carter pointed out that some traditions simply don’t age well, and plenty of people would file a complaint with the school if this happened to their kid.
“So far it doesn't seem like any action has been taken against the teacher, which I think is fine because she probably didn't mean anything by this,” he said in a commentary on the clip.
But, he added: “If I was a teacher, the last thing you would see me doing is giving out birthday spankings to students.
“Because even if I was just doing it to be funny, people could see it in a very different light.”
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