Now that corporal punishment has been all but abolished in British education it would be useful to place on historical
record the CP practices which prevailed in particular schools. Individual readers will have their own particular
- and painful - memories; these are my own experiences as a schoolboy in the late fifties and early sixties.
At my boys-only state junior school, classes were large and discipline very firm. Each teacher kept a
'slipper' in his desk -an old gym shoe with a heavy rubber sole worn smooth by regular use. An infringement of
the rules meant that you were called out to the front of the class and made to bend over touching your toes. One
or two whacks was the usual dose, but that was quite enough, believe me. Those big slippers packed a terrific
punch and your bottom felt sore for quite a while afterwards.
It used to amuse us to keep an eye on a boy who had just been slippered and watch him wriggle this
way and that on his hard wooden desk seat in an effort to relieve the smarting. Of course it was not so funny if
it was you doing the wriggling...
Occasionally a boy would get three whacks. and in such a case he would often be on the verge of tears as he shuffled
back to his place in class, rubbing his behind. We lived in constant fear of the slipper and in consequence were
generally hardworking and well behaved - and all of us gained a proper knowledge of the three Rs. However, whether
it is right to conduct schooling by fear is a matter for debate.
I passed the 11-plus examination and entered a boys' grammar school where I was relieved to find that the slipper
which had previously ruled my life was not in evidence. However, the school did have the cane, although this was
generally reserved for the more serious offences and was wielded only by the headmaster.
I was quite a well behaved boy and did not indulge in the sort of acts which brought a beating: smoking, bullying,
vandalism and such like. Indeed, I was only caned once during my time at grammar school and that was because
of a rule which stated that if a boy received three detentions in a half-term he was automatically awarded
a caning as well.
I was 14 at the time and through general bad luck had gained two detentions in a row. There were still several
weeks to go until the end of term and I was in absolute terror of receiving a third detention, knowing that a
mandatory beating would follow. To my great dismay it did happen and I found myself arraigned before the headmaster
to explain my conduct. I related the unfortunate circumstances of each detention, skilfully implying (or
so I thought) that I did not actually deserve any of them, and I thought I detected a softening in the headmaster's
steely gaze. 'It's the last week of term - perhaps he'll let me off the swishing...' I comforted myself.
But no such luck! The head went to a tall cupboard in the corner and extracted a thin, swishy 'junior' cane which
he flourished in front of me. I stood almost hypnotised since I had never seen a punishment cane before in real
life - only in films and on TV programmes like the Jimmy Edwards ‘Whacko’ comedy show, where it was always treated
as a bit of a joke. And I must admit that compared with the heavy old slippers in use at my junior school, this
grammar school cane looked very insubstantial.
The headmaster gave me a lecture about my conduct, telling me to keep out of trouble next term. He said he hoped
that the beating I was about to receive would act as a deterrent against future misconduct and told me that most
boys who received a caning took great care to avoid a further dose.
I was made to bend over the back of an armchair so that my grey worsted school trousers were stretched tightly
across my bum cheeks and I then felt a couple of light taps as the head judged his aim. He was a small, wiry man
and with such a flimsy looking cane in the hands of such a puny person I did not think the punishment would be
too much of an ordeal. Of course I was wrong.
My previous experience had been of the slipper, which needs some effort and skill to use effectively. I could
recall on occasion getting two whacks, with one landing properly and hurting like mad, and the other falling off
centre and not being nearly so painful. I did not realise that even in the hands of a weakling, each and every
stroke of a springy punishment cane is invariably extremely effective - but I was about to discover that fact!
The head had told me I was getting four strokes and I steeled myself for the first one. There was a hissing noise
followed by a crack as the cane lashed my seat and I felt the most incredible stinging pain which almost made me
cry out. It was like a line of fire across my backside and I desperately wanted to jump up and rub it. Cut number
two landed, almost on the same spot, and the burning was now so fierce that I began to wriggle and squirm.
'Keep still!' I heard the head order, and once I had settled down I felt the third stroke, which mercifully landed
on a different spot. I knew by now that a caning was far worse than any junior school slippering, with a much sharper,
more intense pain. After just three strokes my behind was stinging like mad and I took a firm grip on the arms
of the chair as I awaited the final cut of the cane. This one landed low down, and consequently hurt even more
than the others and as I rose from the chair I was close to tears. The headmaster certainly knew how to employ
a school punishment cane to maximum effect.
After that unfortunate incident I managed to avoid any further encounters with the cane. However, the memory
stuck with me and whenever I heard of a boy in the school being 'swished' my sympathy went out to him.