Back in the day (late 60's early 70's) it was entirely acceptable for teachers to use corporal punishment. Teachers would not hesitate to manhandle a student who was out of line. In 7th grade we had a math teacher who was rather enthusiastic in his application of discipline.

Mr. V had various sizes of paddles in plain sight on his desk and he did not hesitate to use them. He would also grab students by their shoulder and squeeze; making the student squirm. He had some other disciplinary techniques but I'm sure you get the picture.

For all this disciplinary enthusiasm, Mr. V had the most disorderly classes in the school. The problem was that his classroom was like a circus. The boys were always acting up which resulted in a paddling or other punishment in full view of everyone. This of course would make everyone hoot, holler and laugh at the kid being punished; and when a girl was paddled the uproar was even worse.

Anyway, with all the paddling and other nonsense going on in class; there was little if any learning of math.