Although it is unacceptable now, physical violence in Irish schools used to be commonplace, with many people saying watching the show gave them flashbacks.
Lifting the lid on the horrific memories of the past and giving a voice to those abused and silenced is RTÉ’s documentary maker John Downes.
Shining a light on corporal punishment, the documentary reveals how those impacted by the violence are still haunted by it today, and the response on social media mirrors that.
The eye-opening documentary features the first-hand accounts of numerous victims, many of whom have never told their stories.
John’s documentary also broaches the topic of the level of official record keeping in regard to the mistreatment of students around the country at the time.
According to newly released figures by the Department of Education, between 1962 and 1982, just 108 allegations involving physical abuse by teachers against pupils were recorded by the unit.
This is a dramatic under-reporting considering that nearly every person who was in school up until 1982 experienced, in one way or another, the socially accepted violent abuse at the hands of their teacher.
The real and raw documentary evoked huge emotions amongst those who watched it, with many taking to social media to share their thoughts on the show.
One user wrote: ‘I remember in the 90s, a teacher used to hit us and bully the living soul out of his students. We were in 2nd class and scared shirtless beyond belief. This was the 90s.’
Another reminisced: ‘Hard to watch #leathered There are things you never forget even after decades!!!’
A third penned: ‘Leathered is giving me flashbacks. It’s a shame there were no women giving testimony but I can understand reliving their trauma is too much.’
A fourth wrote: ‘I’d hazard a guess that there isn’t an adult aged 40+ who went through the education system that wasn’t subjected to or witnessed physical abuse more than once every year from the age of 4/5 onwards. I’m 53 and can still remember their names!’
In 1962, there were 570,380 students enrolled at primary and secondary schools funded by the State and by 1982 that figure had risen to 766,864- one child experiencing violence is too many, but it is hard to fathom the sheer number of children who suffered during this period.
Although corporal punishment was banned in 1982, teachers in Irish schools remained untouchable from prosecution for ‘physical chastisement’ until 15 years later in 1997.
Navan native Peter Kane is one of the brave former students who told his story in the documentary and described his time as a 12-year-old boy in school.
Peter recalled how every day, there was an element of fear when attending school as his teacher would lose it over the tiniest things.
He added: ‘On this particular morning, the Brother called me up, ‘get up here’ he says, and the first thing I got was a couple of clatters around the head, my face, I think maybe six or 12 slaps I got off him with a leather strap.’
‘I didn’t cry, that in itself was a signal for him to carry on beating you and he done so, and bounced my head off the blackboard, bounced my body around the room, knocked me up against his desk, and at one stage I collapsed and fell on the ground because he done something to my back. Then he dragged me up, and proceeded to beat me, I was in a lot of pain and I was basically sore all over. It took me a number of weeks to recover.’
Poet and author Theo Dorgan who hails from Cork recalls his time in school as a ‘predator and prey’ situation, revealing that if you simply looked at your teacher the ‘wrong way’ you would get hit.
Kilkenny native Eoin Costello revealed the harrowing story of the day the classroom fell silent, recalling: ‘I saw this shadow on the glass door at the entrance to the room. He marched literally with closed fists, punched and then punched…and then turned on his heel and walked out.’
‘It never went away. Forty years. It’s never gone away the impact of that punch in the face,’ Eoin concluded.