Same...except my dad actually made a paddle, less bruising that way. In fifth grade they enrolled me in a cult where the abuse ratcheted up. Now I was getting beat by the pastor, associate pastors and staff. All over minor things, like talking about a TV show or movie I watched over the weekend. My favorite was when I said I didn't think we were God's only creation. My belief in aliens got me in serious trouble. If I got it at school I got it at home. This went on until my eight-tenth birthday. Fast forward twenty years later and my spine is all jacked up. Seven herniated disc...