Brian Coppola :: Late 19th/Early-to-Mid 20th C cartoonists & illustrators

“Old Fashioned Solution” (1960s) By Eddie Germano

Artist: Eddie Germano (All)

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“Old Fashioned Solution” (1960s) By Eddie Germano Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	“Old Fashioned Solution” (1960s) By Eddie Germano
Artist:	Eddie Germano (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Illustration
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	220
Likes on CAF:	0 1
Comments:	1
Added to Site:	4/26/2019
Comic Art Archive:

Description

“Old Fashioned Solution” (1960s)
By Eddie Germano (1924 - )
11 x 15, ink and wash on board

A native Bostonian, Germano became a full-time cartoonist in 1948, at age 24, after serving in WWII. Among other positions, he worked as the editorial and sports cartoonist for the Brockton Enterprise from 1963-1990.

You could spend hours picking this one apart. “Spare the rod, spoil the child” is popularly attributed to a few Biblical passages which, these days, are interpreted to mean providing guidance rather than the switch. The phrase itself, in this form, appears in a 17th Century satirical poem (although it is likely referencing the scriptural passages). Corporal punishment of children has been around for so long a time that it is easy to forget it is a choice and that it is governed by laws. Domestic corporal punishment of children in the home is mostly legal throughout the world, although there has been a upswing in making it illegal in the decade. Sweden banned it in 1966, and as of today, it is illegal in 58 countries, mainly in Europe. It is, of course, legal in the US. There are 128 countries where it is illegal in schools. The question came up in the US in 1977, and the Supreme Court ruled that the “cruel and unusual punishment” clause did not apply to schools. To date, there are still 19 states where corporal punishment is allowed in schools, with varying degrees of local regulations than do ban it. The three states with over 50% of schools still permitting it are Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas.

The crux of the corporal punishment argument is right there in the cartoon: beating on someone commandeers the respect of the person who is being beaten for the one who is beating them. Of all the words you might use in that sentence, only the one holding the switch selects the word “respect.”

Coming into the mid-1960s, there was a lot of unrest in schools derived from multiple sources, including integration and the growing war in SE Asia. An interesting article in The School Review (1978, vol. 87 (1), pp. 64-71; “Rising School Disruption: A False Alarm?” by Carl Milofsky) reviewed a set of books published on this topic.

“Teachers, being the minority in schools, must continually find ways of convincing children to obey their directions. … they must damp the ongoing dissatisfactions students feel when they are told they are failing or that, because they are of the wrong social class, they will not gain certain advantages. … If schools are losing their legitimacy, we might expect less integration of social classes and greater political instability.”

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	Brian Coppola Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	March 2009
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
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Aidan (Re-Legion ) Lacy
Member Since 2005

Posted on 4/26/2019

Lord, you could keep a debate on this topic, going for days. My parents used slipper, wooden spoon, belt rarely on my siblings but the threat hung in the air like a fallout from a nuclear winter. Because I was frail, they didnt use it on me but they came up with equally cruel pinishments...eg cutting the front lawn with a scissors ( 4 days of life I never will get back ) I love these cartoons for their thought provoking subjects

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