Born in '55, just retired as middle school principal. From an educator's perspective, the pendulum has done a full swing from schools, teachers, and admin having almost absolute power to grade, discipline, and promote (or not). If you got the strap for something at school, chances are good you also got it from dad when you got home. If the teacher wanted to fail/repeat you, then that is what happened, no discussion. Fast forward to today: many actions now require conversations and conferences, with the judgement of the school/teacher being called into question. Touching a child, never mind strapping (which disappeared in the late '80s), can almost cost a teacher a career. Parents with issues can now sometimes go straight to the media, elected offificials, or the Superintendent, which was unheard of back then. Bullies existed back then, but parents had a view that you had to stand up to them or figure it out on your own. There was no sense of expected protection or programs to help those who felt they couldn't deal with it.