Spanking in the 1970's

I was born in the very late 60's, so to all intents and purposes grew up in the 70's and early to mid 80's.. Just how common was spanking back in those days? I would be interested in hearing other members views, memories and experiences from those times! As well as being highly informative and fascinating in themselves, it will be interesting to compare other members recollections with those of my own!

I'm from that same era, perhaps a little older than you, being born in the early 60's. I grew up in the midwest, and in my case, spankings were very common. My parents didn't hesitate to spank me when they felt that I needed an attitude adjustment of some sort. It wasn't a brutal beating or anything like that -- just a spanking with a hand, or sometimes with one of my father's belts.

In school paddling was also fairly common. They didn't spank with their hand, they always used a paddle instead. That includes elementary school as well as high school. Actually they seemed to be much more frequent in high school, and it seemed that the boys received them more than the girls. The high school paddling might be done by the teacher themselves, or more often, in the case of a female teacher, they would call in a male teacher to take care of it. There were individual paddling for just one student that was acting up, small groups of 2 or 3 students paddled at the same time, and sometimes larger groups where it seemed that half the class would be paddled.

In high school, the worst paddling (by far) was always from our P.E. teacher. I attribute that to the fact that he was an ex-military, ex-Vietnam, he-man, ass hole who was probably suffering from PTSD. He thought that he was shaping up the boys in his classes for mandatory military service, so he was very tough on us. He (and the other P.E. teachers along with him) had their own set of strict rules and if you violated them, one of the frequent punishments was to be paddled. Gym shorts at the time were very short, very thin, and very tight. The only allowed underwear under our shorts was a jockstrap (in fact failure to wear their strap was one of the frequent reasons boys got paddled). All of that adds up to very little protection if you're getting paddled in P.E. class. Worse yet was a paddling in the locker room either before or after your shower. That was frequently nude or in just the jockstrap without the benefit of even those short shorts. My worst paddling that I ever received was in P.E. class. I believe I've posted that episode here in the past.

But I'm sure others here will have a totally different view. I believe spankings and punishment in general in the U.S. was a very regional thing, with some school systems around the country allowing (or encouraging) it, and others totally prohibiting it. I think it really came down to where you lived and how acceptable it was at the time.

I was born in the late 60's as well. Spanking was still very common when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's. My parents never hesitated to take a belt to my bare butt if I earned it.

My parents were of the belief that if I lived in their house I was subject to the discipline they felt was necessary. There was no magic age limit to getting spanked. I got the belt more between the ages of 13 - 14 then I probably did over the previous 3 years. Mom or Dad if you earned it you were getting it . High School, puberty, phisycal maturity was not a consideration. I can remember many times when my mom would walk out with the belt and yell "get in there" pointing at my parents room or sometimes my bedroom. And give you the order to "pull your pants down and bend over " very common occurrence for me in the early 80's. Fortunately I escaped getting my butt whipped in high school but I knew they wouldn't hesitate if I earned it.

But I'm sure others here will have a totally different view. I believe spankings and punishment in general in the U.S. was a very regional thing, with some school systems around the country allowing (or encouraging) it, and others totally prohibiting it. I think it really came down to where you lived and how acceptable it was at the time.

I was born in the early 1950s and went to 4 different schools in the US, all in New Jersey, both parochial and public schools (evenly divided, 2 of each). In none of them was corporal punishment ever handed out. I cannot recall a single instance and consciously knew it wasn't something that you needed to be afraid or concerned about in school. It just wasn't done. I never heard stories about it from friends in other schools either. As far as I knew, corporal punishment was a British thing.

Later in the 1960s I went to just 1 single school in Belgium, ending my tradition of school peregrinations and wanderings, but there too corporal punishment was not practiced. The same went for the 1 all girls school my wife went to in her youth, both lower and high school. No corporal punishment. Lots of other kinds, but no touching, hitting, spanking or paddling the pupils.

What I am often amazed about when reading accounts here, is not only the number of members who were in schools that handed out corporal punishments with such frequency and glee abandon, nor about the late dates it was still practiced, but especially that so many members seem to somehow have come to have fond memories of it all. I find that flabbergasting and utterly amazing and cannot understand why they would feel that way. Going to school was bad enough and a boring use of time, but to be whacked around by teachers into the bargain just takes the cake. There are lots of effective ways of punishing misbehaving students, but hitting them as if they were chattel or property just doesn't seem all that civilized or that well thought out a strategy.

What I am often amazed about...that so many members seem to somehow have come to have fond memories of it all

I'm not sure that the memories should always be described as fond. Perhaps vivid might be a better way to describe them. Being hit by a wooden paddle tends to make you remember the incident. I'm sure I didn't really enjoy the spanking/paddling at the time. But it was just how things were (at home and at school) and it's not that I really had a choice in the matter. Looking back now, I still think that some of those paddlings in school were barbaric and cruel and were totally unnecessary. But I will also admit that some of them probably contributed to who I am today. For example, did getting paddled by my P.E. teacher while I was wearing just a jockstrap contribute to my jockstrap fetish? Absolutely, I have no doubt of that. I hated it at the time, but looking back now it is exciting to reminisce about going through that in front of the other boys.

agracier said

"peregrinations"

OK, that's my new five dollar word for today. The thing is the definition states, "to travel, especially ON FOOT." So, you walked to all those places??? 😁

OK, that's my new five dollar word for today. The thing is the definition states, "to travel, especially ON FOOT." So, you walked to all those places??? 😁

If the definition says 'especially on foot', then it also means that on other occasions it can not be on foot. And heaven forbid anyone should walk anywhere in the US. Actually it was mostly by school bus and bicycle, though one place we lived I really did walk to school every day it was so close.

Yup, peregrinations is a nice word, but I was aiming for $10 😃. Though at first I was trying for a play of meanings of some kind on the Odessy or Odysseus. But then I figured I wasn't married yet and hadn't fought in a 10 year long war and siege, so it would have sounded a bit presumptuous ... then again, when we moved around as a family, on occasion it was by ocean going vessel, so that would have worked on the Odysseus angle ... ha ha ha.

I'm not so sure of people having fond memories of corporal punishment. Most of us just view it as a way things were back then. Many of us laugh about it now.

I went to a Catholiic school through 9th grade. One year of high school. Corporal punishment was used in the catholic grammar and Jr high but it wasn't that often. The public school system in our city where I went to high school stopped using CP in the late 70's.

I grew up in the 70s and graduated from high school in the early 80s. Padding at school happened a lot and I got my share from teachers, principals, and anyone else with a paddle. Getting paddled in gym class was the worst because it could be bare or even if it wasn't it was nearly bare. Schools were almost zero tolerance for acting up so getting paddled at school didn't take much. It wasn't every day in every class but there weren't a lot of days during a school year when we didn't hear the sounds of someone getting paddled in the hallway or someone being sent to the principal's office to get paddled, or heard about someone getting paddled in gym class or somewhere in the school. In the 70s, every teacher that I remember had a paddle even if I didn't see every teacher use it. In the early 80s, the female teachers in high school usually sent boys to the principal's office for discipline as we had gotten bigger by then and I guess we needed a harder butt whooping from an adult.

At home, a spanking was also the first punishment that we got for misbehavior and even a little misbehavior usually resulted in one. I knew very few kids growing up who were not spanked and parents talked about spanking their kids in front of other parents and kids a lot. No one was ashamed to be spanking their kids and not a lot of kids acted like there was any strange about confessing to getting spanked or paddled. It got a little harder to admit to it as a teen but there wasn't any way to deny that it was still happening to us. Some dads made a point of telling their teen sons in front of company that they were not too old to get their butts spanked. I remember being told that in front of some of the neighbors and my cousins and being embarrassed, even though no one should have been surprised to learn that my dad still spanked us. I was probably 16 the last time our dad said that to me in front of other grownups and teenage kids.

Schools were almost zero tolerance for acting up so getting paddled at school didn't take much. It wasn't every day in every class but there weren't a lot of days during a school year when we didn't hear the sounds of someone getting paddled in the hallway or someone being sent to the principal's office to get paddled, or heard about someone getting paddled in gym class or somewhere in the school.

Almost every day physical punishments ... boy, a lot of serious, decent teaching must have gotten done at that school. I grew up in the 50s and 60s and I never knew of or heard of anyone ever being physically punished. Nor was there any of that officially stated zero tolerance nonsense either. From all that I can remember, aside from unruly or boisterous behavior, kids behaved without the threat of being paddled or whacked.

Odd that some/many schools can manage without and others seem to make it an intrinsic part of their culture. Sometimes after reading such accounts, I wonder if I didn't grow up in an alternate reality or something ... if you think about it, it's surprising older pupils didn't retaliate or pull some physical violence on their own, you know, as in monkey see monkey do, reap what ye shall sow, that kind of philosophy ...

Where did you grow up in the 50s and 60s? Even in Europe, there was corporal punishment in those days. Schools still caned boys in the 50s and 60s in England. I would be surprised if that was not still happening in other parts of Europe. Corporal punishment didn't start to decline in the U.S. until the 80s when some school started to debate whether to continue padding. There are still plenty of schools in the U.S. that use the paddle although more in the southern states. When I was in high school in the early 80s, I never heard any parent or teacher or anyone else say anything about ending paddling. It was just the opposite. I heard parents say that schools were too easy on us. If any principal, teacher or coach had any second thoughts about using corporal punishment in my school, I couldn't tell. There was a lot of talk in the 70s about parents and schools being too permissive about kids and my experience was that parents and schools worked hard to prove that wrong.

I agree with Davidwest. I grew up in northeast Ohio and graduated in 1988. Paddling was very much alive and well at our school when I graduated in 88. There was no talk whatsoever about eliminating paddling. Teachers, coaches, the principals -- all paddled butts. Boys RARELY got detention - that was for girls. Punishment was very swift and painful!

I dont even recall any parents being against it. My parents and most of my friends' parents were very pro-paddling. You did not come home and complain to your parents about getting paddled in the hope that they would pitch a fit to the school. On the contrary, you did NOT want mom and dad to find out because it would be way worse at home!

Where did you grow up in the 50s and 60s? Even in Europe, there was corporal punishment in those days. Schools still caned boys in the 50s and 60s in England.

When I was in high school in the early 80s, I never heard any parent or teacher or anyone else say anything about ending paddling. It was just the opposite. I heard parents say that schools were too easy on us. If any principal, teacher or coach had any second thoughts about using corporal punishment in my school, I couldn't tell. There was a lot of talk in the 70s about parents and schools being too permissive about kids and my experience was that parents and schools worked hard to prove that wrong.

I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s in New Jersey mainly, a short while in NYC. And I was sent to 2 different catholic schools and 2 different public schools. And none of them handed out corporal punishments.

Realize that Europe is not 1 country or socially homogeneous area, but an amalgamation of countless countries and distinct social groups and regions, all with different customs, mores and laws. Belgium was most definitely NOT the UK. People used to talk very disapprovingly about the whacking and spanking going on in British schools, usually adding some snide remarks about inappropriate (sexual) behavior on the part of teachers that was the probably root cause of the willingness to paddle and spank.

I went to a Jesuit high school in Belgium. Normally they are considered the epitome of strictness. And they were. But they managed it without corporal punishment. Was it their demeanor, their rigor in all things related to education, possibly their own example of being upright and fair? Whatever the case, as pupils we were of course terrified of them in a certain abstract way as anyone is when under the authority of someone older. But they maintained discipline without recourse to corporal punishment. And quite strict discipline at that. We wouldn't dare start a fight on school grounds, talk back to teachers, deface or steal or whatever. Our main infractions were laziness or tardiness of some kind. And that got you detentions or writing punishments and/or maybe a dressing down in front of the class as well. It seemed to work very well.

And parents saying that kids were having too good a time of it and growing up in permissive times is as old as the hills. Every generation, all over the globe since Confucius started whining about it, has been repeating the same old (mostly) baseless complaint. 'Us older folk know what deprivation and hard work is, you young 'uns don't know how spoiled you are, don't know what hard work is ...and blah blah blah ... you kids (loud sigh!) ... ' ha ha ha.

Seriously. Every generation hears that and every generation grows up and repeats it in turn, as if they didn't remember anything about their parents moaning about the same stuff when they were young. And yet the world goes on and improves bit by bit and technology advances because of inventions by those lazy, good for nothings kids who grow up to invent stuff and make money or go to war and die in droves because older politicians send them off without much thought.

Parents who complain about kids having a far too good permissive time of it now, must have short memories. Because you can be sure that they too used to be the objects of almost exactly the same complaints.

Columbusguy, we moved around a lot when I was a kid and I never noticed any difference in attitudes toward corporal punishment in various places we lived. My dad was in the military so that may be the reason why. We lived near or on military bases so discipline may have been stricter. The 60s and 70s were a time when older parents were very worried about their kids becoming hippies, growing their hair long, using drugs, getting in trouble so there was a lot of interest in cracking down on us kids. And the easiest way to crack down was paddling our butts in the schools and spanking our butts at home. You mentioned growing up in NE Ohio where paddling was not just acceptable but done a lot. I didn't grow up in just one place. We lived in the south, midwest, and west. There might have been more spanking at home in the south, but I couldn't tell any difference between the schools that I attended there and the schools in the north or west. And, at home, we got spanked regularly for misbehavior so I'm not sure that the southerners spanked any more than my parents did. I remember the tension between parents and schools and us teens over boys wearing long hair. My brothers and I were required to have short hair so that was one fight that we lost until we left home and went to college. But I knew boys who got paddled at school for violating the dress code rule about no hair touching the collar of the shirt. There was one kid who got paddled every day for a week until he gave in and got his hair cut and showed up the next Monday with the right hair cut. He got tired of getting his butt paddled every day and knew that he couldn't handle another week of that. He and I were friends and I remember him telling me that the principal paddled him harder every day that week. Saw him in the locker room and he was very bruised. But no one would have complained about that to the police or anyone else.

And you are right about boys getting paddled and girls getting detention. That was the usual way where I attended school too. Except for some teachers who knew that a boy was playing sports and would get paddled anyway for missing a practice because he got detention. So those teachers would give him detention, make him miss practice, and know that the coach would paddle him at the next practice for missing practice.

Realize that Europe is not 1 country or socially homogeneous area, but an amalgamation of countless countries and distinct social groups and regions, all with different customs, mores and laws.

I think if you apply that same understanding to the U.S., then you'll better understand how some U.S. schools employed paddling/discipline and others didn't. It's not all one huge country with consistent customs and views throughout. It's very regional/local.

Almost every day physical punishments ... boy, a lot of serious, decent teaching must have gotten done at that school.

A lot depends on the neighborhood where your school was located. Let's face it, there are good schools and bad schools -- good neighborhoods and bad. If you happened to grow up in a tough neighborhood, the school located there might have also been viewed as tough, with the teachers not taking any crap from anyone! Or, equally as often, the school in the bad part of town might have been much more permissive and not even bothered with some form of discipline. The teachers there might have figured that it's all a lost cause anyway, since the kids there don't care about learning anyway.

It really all just depends.

I saw a friend spanked - that left a lasting memory that made me behave!!!!

I lived in northern Illinois and was an adult in the 70's and we had 3 girls at that time. Our schools system did not use corporal punishment but that didn't mean we didn't. A paddle was used regularly (probably 4-5 times a week). And if we wanted to kick it up a notch there was a leather strap hanging inside the closet. Oh we had both a wooden paddle and one made of Lexan, after the girls were adults they told us the Lexan one stung a lot worse.

Our schools system did not use corporal punishment but that didn't mean we didn't. A paddle was used regularly (probably 4-5 times a week). And if we wanted to kick it up a notch there was a leather strap hanging inside the closet.

If you had to use paddling 4 to 5 times a week, it must not have been a very good method of teaching the behavior you wanted. An appropriate method should either show results after a reasonable amount of time and if not, then something else should be tried.

Heaven help us if businesses were run that way, consistently applying methods that did not give the expected results. Either something works and you get the changes you desire, or nothing changes in the results which means you should try something else as method.

That seems so glaringly obvious. Doing the same thing time and again and expecting a different result ... sigh sigh ...

I grew up in the 70's in northwestern NM. Paddling was a daily occurrence. ALL of the teachers had paddles, and you could hear the paddle echoing in the halls about a dozen times per day.

Paddling would take place for almost any infraction, major or minor.

If a student was going to be paddled, they would be led into the hallway where they would wait against the lockers until a witness could be found (usually another teacher from an adjacent classroom). Once the witness was found, the teacher doing the paddling would instruct the student to come to the center of the hallway, bend over and put their hands on their knees. The teacher would then administer 3 to 5 swats depending on the infraction.

It was jarring to hear every single time it happened.

I was last spanked in '74 at the age of 14, but most of my spankings occurred in the late 60s. Just about everyone my age I knew got spanked. The one incident that stands out about 70s spankings happened one summer evening when I was 15.

Very few families had air conditioning in those days, and we kept cool by running fans and opening windows in the evening. I had returned home that evening from a friend's house, parking my beloved Schwinn Varsity 10 speed bike in the garage, where the side door was open, but a heavy metal screen door and Shell No-Pest Strip kept the bugs out. I was closing the garage door and about to head in the house when I heard commotion coming from an open bedroom window of our neighbors, the Crotwells.

Land was already at a premium in CA and newer houses were built very close together. The distance from our side garage door to the neighbor's window was about 10 feet so it was easy to hear everything. Apparently, Kerri, who was about 9 at that time was in trouble and begging her dad not to spank her. But seconds later came the unmistakable sound of a belt on a bare bottom and shortly thereafter crying. It was quick, maybe 10 lashes, but it got me thinking about if any of my spankings had been overheard as well. .

Hi Richard, Memories like that stay with you, don't they! Being in the right place at the right time! Back in those overhearing spankings and whuppings was a normal part of everyday life. Pure nostalgia! Thanks for the contribution!

I was born in ‘74 in Southern Cal. Spanking was universal amongst my friends growing up, and there were constant references to it by those in authority. It was also understood that any adult could spank you if they saw fit. This was made clear to me a few times when I complained of babysitters, or friends parents threatening to spank me. (The threats worked, but I thought it was unfair for them to spank me...my parents did not).

As others have stated, AC was not common back then, so most people had their windows open in the summer months especially, and hearing spankings coming from houses was common. It was a source of great embarrassment to me with my own spankings, as I was very vocal and almost sure I was heard every time I got spanked. I can remember being spanked and going out to play later and having neighbor kids snicker at me, mock me by patting their butts and howling, etc. Of course, they got it sometimes too but that didn’t stop kids from making fun of you.

I also witnessed a few spankings, but not many, and that I can remember right now, no one outside of my family saw me get it.

Public schools for the most part did not use spanking as discipline in CA at that time, although a couple of my friends did get paddled in sixth grade, it was very rare. However, birthday spankings were given by teachers in grade school, the birthday boy or girl would be called to the front of the class, placed over the teachers knee, and given the appropriate number of spanks on their clothed bottoms. In second grade, you could choose a “spanking tunnel”, a game where the kids would form two lines facing each other, join hands, and as the birthday boy or girl passed through everyone would try to hit their butt. The girls mostly chose to let teacher spank them, but the boys were egged on by the other boys to pick the tunnel. I got a couple of less swats taking the tunnel than going over the knee.

Speaking of which, EVERY birthday party I went to included a spanking for the birthday boy. Usually one person would hold him down, while everyone smacked their bottom. Parents would usually not participate...because they would do it another time, presumably BARE. I can remember one of my friends in particular being told by his mom “I’ll get you later” and the boy smiling and blushing bright red. My own parents were not big on birthday spankings, but allowed them at my parties, and my cousins always made sure I got them.

So how common was spanking in the 70s/80s? Pretty much universal, I would say, at least where I grew up. In sixth grade my teacher asked for a show of hands on who got spanked at home. Almost every hand went up. Mine did not...but I was lying! (Trying to be cool). In 10th grade, my sociology book said 50% of high school seniors reported being spanked at home.

You can also look back on Diffrent Strokes and Good Times episodes that had many references to and jokes about spanking. I remember watching Arnold get threatened with spankings all the time.

'80s was changing, in the Pacific Northwest anyway. "birthday spankings" were rare and in general I only got spanked by my parents or, rarely, grandparents. Everyone else would just pass on my misbehaviors to my parents. Spanking wasn't always the first line choice for discipline either, but it was definitely an option. School paddlings had generally gone away, at least I never received one (and if they had been in common use I would have been familiar with them based on the number of visits I had with the principals).

It was also understood that any adult could spank you if they saw fit. !

Not to be too legalistic about this, but if one wants to get technically down to brass tacks, no adult except parents/guardians or those invested with the authority (teachers) were allowed to spank under-aged children.

Perhaps some parents condoned it - say when done by older family members or a trusted neighbor - but otherwise woe unto any adult who handed out spankings to children unknown to them. A complaint by a parent and that particular spanko will have some serious explaining to do to police or a judge.

What would you think if (for instance) shoppers in a supermarket started handing out spankings to annoying kids whenever they saw fit? What do you think would happen to them? Or if a (sour-pussed) neighbor decided to start handing out punishments because they thought kids a pain in the ass and annoying?

What would you think if (for instance) shoppers in a supermarket started handing out spankings to annoying kids whenever they saw fit? What do you think would happen to them? Or if a (sour-pussed) neighbor decided to start handing out punishments because they thought kids a pain in the ass and annoying?

Spanking is not condoned today and even parents can be held accountable should they leave a mark and a teacher sees it and turns them in. Spanking is about as rare as enemas now, both out of favor. My youngest sister has never spanked her 6 year old boy, when he is naughty he gets a "Timeout". Not my style but whatever works.

Or if a (sour-pussed) neighbor decided to start handing out punishments because they thought kids a pain in the ass and annoying?

Well that actually happened to me at about 7 years old. The upstairs neighbor worked nights and all the kids in the apartments knew if you woke him up you would be in trouble. He kept a water bucket by his front door and if you woke him up the first time, he would dump it on you. The second time he would chase you with a wooden plank and “spank” you. I had both happen to me, he dumped the water right over me the first time, and the second time chased me with the plank, and when he caught up to me, he whacked my butt with it. Once was enough.

Keep in mind the thread topic. This was in ‘70s and ‘80s. Whether or not there may have been any legal repercussions, it didn’t make much difference. Nothing happened to that guy. My dad did go over and talk to him both times, but I have no idea what was said or how it was handled, all I knew was I got busted. The water bucket was actually way worse.

The second time he would chase you with a wooden plank and “spank” you. I had both happen to me, he dumped the water right over me the first time, and the second time chased me with the plank, and when he caught up to me, he whacked my butt with it. Once was enough.

Keep in mind the thread topic. This was in ‘70s and ‘80s. .

I grew up in the 1950's in the USA. And believe me, if any neighbor/person had ever done that to me, my mother might very have taken a shotgun to that person or maybe scratched his eyes out or something else in a fury. Or probably had my father do so. If anyone had ever laid hands on me or my siblings, there would have been bloody hell to pay and the other person would have done the bleeding.

She even berated my father and caused a huge fight when he once wanted to do the 'go cut a switch for your whipping' routine to me. She had no truck with that kind of backwoods nonsense. She was strict as could be when it came to manners, etiquette, politeness and dressing etc. But never laid a hand on me nor allowed it from others. I am certain her reputation proceeded her ...

I was brought up during this time and was spanked. It was the norm, my friends, cousins and a lot of people I knew at school were spanked. It was also when corporal punishment was permitted at school, which I also experienced. I think spanking was the norm, and expected until the mid 1980s, and then the tide began to turn.

As a kid I saw a few spankings take place outside till about 1954... In the early 1950's I saw a couple of adult men spank kids who were not theirs. Almost happened to me till I threatened that I'd tell my father who would take kindly to my being spanked - my father was a big tough protective guy.

I also saw mothers spanking their kids outside... the worst was that of a mother who came out with a yardstick and lifted her daughters' dress and lowered her panties and spanked her behind to a bright red! Also witnessed my female teacher having after class a girl stand up on a table and having the girl hold her skirt up so she could use a long pointer stick to spank her over her panties!

Just as Examined described . I was born in the early 1960's in the UK. Spankings at my all boys prep school were a regular occurrence . I can recall being put over the deputy headmaster knees on a couple of occasions for quite minor transgressions. Once for going into the headmaster's garden to retrieve a tennis ball. After lunch I was called up to the head table where the masters sat and in front of everyone at that sitting, I was put over the deputy head's knee where upon the leg of my school shorts pulled up as far as it could go and given 3 stinging smacks on my bottom/thigh.

The same master would take games and after rugby we were made to queue naked expect for a towel and wait to be called for our shower , we would hang our towel up on the peg opposite and were made to shower in full view of the games master and the other boys waiting and those leaving the cubicle .. For not washing all the mud off your knees , Spankings ( naked )were dished out liberally as part this pervy ritual . I'm absolutely sure in this day and age this would be regarded as criminal activity and would undoubtedly lead to prosecution . How things have changed .