For many British observers, another intriguing feature of the discussion has been the very existence of the American “birthday spanking” tradition.
The custom appears to have been sufficiently familiar in parts of the United States for references to it to require little explanation.
Traditionally, the birthday celebrant might receive one playful smack for each year of age, sometimes accompanied by the familiar expression “and one to grow on”.
To British ears, the custom can sound distinctly peculiar.
Britain has certainly possessed its own assortment of birthday rituals. Perhaps the best remembered is the practice of giving somebody the “birthday bumps”, in which friends ceremonially lifted the birthday boy or girl.
Historical photographs show the bumps being administered at British seaside resorts as far back as the early twentieth century.
But the American birthday spanking appears to have developed along somewhat different lines.
The original discussion even produced reference to an American newspaper report dating from 1922 in which a “birthday spanking” was mentioned casually enough to suggest that contemporary readers understood the expression.
Whatever its precise origins, the custom seems to have survived through generations.
That does not, of course, establish that it belongs in schools.
Many perfectly respectable social traditions would be unsuitable if conducted by teachers during school hours.
The discussion nevertheless prompted a broader consideration of how customs cross the Atlantic.
British life has absorbed numerous American influences since the war.
Television, cinema, popular music and advertising have all contributed to changes in language, clothing, entertainment and social customs.
By the 1970s, few would seriously suggest that this exchange had been entirely one-sided.
Some welcome such influences enthusiastically. Others regard them with suspicion.
The argument is hardly new.
Every generation tends to believe that the generation following it is abandoning sensible traditions in favour of ridiculous new fashions.
Nevertheless, American popular culture undoubtedly possesses an extraordinary ability to export customs.
Practices once regarded as distinctly American can, within surprisingly few years, begin to appear perfectly ordinary in Britain.
Whether the birthday spanking will ever become one of them is another matter.
There are good reasons for doubting it.
British attitudes towards school discipline have historically differed from those found in the United States, even during periods when corporal punishment was commonplace in both countries.
There is also a distinction between the traditional birthday bumps amongst friends and a ceremony conducted by an adult authority figure.
The former belongs primarily to the playground or birthday party.
The latter raises questions about professional boundaries.
One need not condemn an entire country’s customs to recognise the distinction.
Traditions acquire their meaning from the society in which they develop.
Transporting them into another setting — particularly a school — can produce consequences that nobody originally intended.
