Slippering (punishment)

A slippering is a term for the act of smacking the , or the hands, with a slipper as a form of corporal punishment. A slippering on the buttocks is a form of spanking; it is a much more common method than slippering on the hands. The verb "to slipper" means "to give a slippering". Until at least the 1970s slippering was widely used by British parents as a means of punishing children and adolescents. The routine nature of such punishment is demonstrated by the frequency with which comics of the day (e.g. The Beano and The Dandy) showed scenes in which characters such as Dennis the Menace, Roger the Dodger, Minnie the Minx and Beryl the Peril were slippered by an irate parent. In a typical scene the child is placed across the parent's lap or bent over the end of a sofa and the sole of the slipper is applied vigorously and repeatedly to the seat of the child's trousers or skirt. Such scenes presumably represented day-to-day reality for thousands of British children. However, in real life it is probable that many children fared rather worse than Dennis and his friends inasmuch as they were punished on the bare bottom, either lying across the parent's lap or (especially in the case of teenagers) bending over an item of furniture. While slipperings are no longer depicted in comics, the practice no doubt continues in many British families but is much less common than in former times.

There are very little data, research or evidence about the use of slippering. Information is mainly based on anecdotal reports from individuals who have given, received, or observed slipperings, or who have been in households or schools where slipperings were used. Slipperings are particularly associated with Britain and Commonwealth countries, although not exclusively so.

In the United Kingdom, especially in England and Wales, the slipper was a common implement for administering corporal punishment in schools for students of both genders and all ages. In schools that used the cane as the ultimate penalty, the slipper was seen as a less severe alternative for punishing less serious misconduct. In some mixed schools the slipper was used on girls and the cane was reserved for boys. "Slipper" is a misnomer, as the usual item of footwear used was the plimsoll, or gymshoe or tennis shoe, with a fabric upper and a heavy rubber or synthetic sole. This could deliver a very painful stroke, depending on the force with which it was used, and the size and flexibility of the particular slipper; a size 11, well-worn, flexible slipper would deliver more sting than one that was new and stiff. Though not a slipper in the usual sense of the term, the implement used was invariably referred to as "the slipper" by teachers and pupils alike, presumably on account of its similarity to the type of carpet slipper used for parental punishments.

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