Tawse Tawse The tawse, sometimes formerly spelled taws (the plural of Scots taw, a thong of a whip) is an implement used for corporal punishment. It was used for educational discipline, primarily in Scotland, but also in schools in the English cities of Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Manchester and Walsall. A tawse consists of a strip of leather, with one end split into a number of tails. The thickness of the leather and the number of tails is variable. Many Scottish saddlers made tawses for local schoolmasters. The official name "tawse" was hardly ever used in conversation by either teachers or
Corporal punishment of minors in the United States parents have also reported using an object, such as a hairbrush or wooden spoon, to hit their children, according to a 1995 survey. According to Elizabeth Gershoff, these data, combined with the common use of wooden paddles to administer corporal punishment in schools, demonstrate "a prevailing acceptance of objects to deliver punishment". Race, gender, and social class appear to be significant factors in U.S. domestic corporal punishment patterns. Boys are more likely than girls to be spanked at home, and corporal punishment of boys tends to be more severe and more aggressive than that of girls. Murray Straus suggests that