Years ago a friend of mine was considering a teaching job in North Carolina. She didn't want to travel alone so I agreed to come to keep her company. We got to the school, met the principal and he took us for a tour. During the tour I vividly remember the principal stating the rules around corporal punishment and at first I just laughed, thinking it was just a very odd joke. I then realized he was very much serious and just played it off as me misunderstand what he was saying. As soon as the tour was done my friend and I both got in the car and decided we needed to get the ** out of there.

I told this story to many people over the years and everyone thinks I'm making it up or just didn't hear right. Having a teacher tell me it's ok to hit kids felt like I stepped through a portal into another world.