A Fact of Life
For most of the twentieth century, corporal punishment was used on regular basis in many British
schools. Indeed, the cane was a fact of life which few boys saw fit to question. This account
examines the practices in one such school, attended by the author in the late 1950s.
Haverford College (name changed) is a fine redbrick grammar school of ancient foundation located in central England. Anyone travelling back in time would be struck by the uniformity of the pupils compared with many of today’s schoolboys. Each pupil - even if he is a sixth former - wears a school cap in a distinctive shade of dark maroon matching the school blazer. The prefects can be recognised by virtue of wearing caps which sport a tassel.
Our time traveller might also be surprised to see that most junior boys are wearing short trousers. At Haverford during the period under examination, short trousers are compulsory for first and second-formers, and some parents see fit to keep their sons in shorts until well into their third year. The shorts are generously cut in the fashion of the time, tailored from grey flannel and reaching halfway to the knees. They are worn with ribbed grey woollen 'stockings’ sporting coloured banding on the turn-over tops.
The classroom cane
The corporal punishment system at Haverford has been in use for many years and is considered to play an essential part in the smooth running of the school. The most commonplace sanction is the classroom cane, kept on display as a visible deterrent on a special shelf above the blackboard in most classrooms. This is a junior model, thin and swishy, and if a boy offends against classroom discipline he can be summoned to the front of the class and made to hold out the upturned palm for up to two strokes on each hand (juniors) or three strokes (seniors). 'Handers' can also be imposed by masters for late homework, poor work, inattention and so on.
Although these canes are stingy and leave the miscreant's palms sore and throbbing, some of the more disobedient boys seldom get through a school week without several encounters with the classroom rod. Such difficult pupils inevitably progress to the greater rigours of a housemaster's or headmaster's beating, inflicted upon the offender's backside.Opinions differ amongst the boys as to whether it is preferable to be caned on the hand or the backside. Some of the more sensitive lads find hand canings a particular penance, especially if the hard springy rod is aimed badly and lands on the fingers. There is also the added ordeal of having to accept your 'handers' in front of the class, trying manfully to hold back the tears which desperately want to flow after a full dose on both hands. The palms are left sore and smarting and the pain seems to linger longer when compared with the same number of strokes received across the backside.
Housemaster's beatings
Each housemaster keeps a selection of punishment canes, ranging from junior models through to big senior sticks. A boy can be called before his housemaster if his behaviour is considered to be getting out of hand, or if his school work is especially poor. A housemaster's beating can also be awarded for such offences as misconduct out of school - for example horseplay on the school bus.
Housemaster's beatings are applied to the offender’s clothed seat. A conscientious housemaster will attempt to grade the punishment to the offence. For example, a boy reported for using profane language may receive three strokes, but a repetition of the offence in the same term will result in a very unpleasant six of the best. In another hypothetical case, that of a boy whose behaviour during lessons has been repeatedly bad with the threat of the classroom cane no longer having the desired deterrent effect, the housemaster is likely to inflict six of the best right away.A housemaster's beating is given in private, so although it is somewhat humiliating to have to bend over and offer your bottom for chastisement, at least you are not being observed by the mocking eyes of your classmates. It has to be admitted that a well laid on six of the best with a senior punishment cane is rather painful, often producing copious tears from the distressed receipient; the average schoolboy will dread a repetition and do his best to stay out of trouble (or at least not be caught) in future.
The gym slipper
Before considering the school's ultimate sanction - a headmaster’s beating - the various types of semi-official corporal punishment should be mentioned. The PT master keeps a selection of old gym shoes in his small office next to the gymnasium, and boys are well aware that misbehaviour during his lesson may result in a painful dose of the gym slipper. It is an unwritten law that the PT master may give an offender no more than three whacks across his gym shorts, or two on the bare bottom, but he has a strong right arm and within those limits can soon have the toughest of boys hopping up and down in agony, rubbing his burning backside.
There is no more pitiful sight than a class of woebegone first-formers, who have been rash enough to misbehave in the changing rooms whilst the teacher was away, queuing outside the PT master's office and shuffling in one by one to have their young bottoms scorched by the big slipper.
A couple of venerable old slippers also reside in the prefects' room where they are employed occasionally on a semi-official basis. Prefects have the authority to impose lines and a boy who fails to produce his quota on time may find himself hauled into the prefects’ room for a whacking. Periodically, the prefects may decide to come down hard on boys they consider to be persistent troublemakers; after arraignment before a specially convened 'court', the undesirable elements will find themselves being slippered by the head boy in front of an amused audience of prefects.
A headmaster's beatingThe apex of the corporal punishment system is reached in the headmaster's office. The headmaster prefers to leave workaday canings to classroom teachers and housemasters, reserving his own efforts for the most serious cases. However, there are certain offences for which a boy is always sent to the head, including bullying, smoking, dishonesty, truancy, vandalism and any type of 'gross misbehaviour'.
A headmaster's beating is the most dreaded of all because the offender is required to change into PT kit (the shorts being worn without underpants) before reporting for his chastisement. This ritual lends a certain gravitas to the 'execution,' and it must be admitted that the cane stings fearfully across thin cotton gym shorts. Six of the best from the headmaster is a feared ordeal, leaving long-lasting weals which serve as a reminder of the punishment for some days afterwards.
In the later 1960s and early 1970s the corporal punishment system at Haverford College was modified to fit in with the changing mood of the times. First of all the classroom cane was abolished for seniors and a few years later classroom beatings were also discontinued for juniors. A new headmaster abolished his predecessor's practice of caning boys across gym shorts and also prohibited all semi-official slipperings by masters and prefects. Finally, in the mid-1970s, housemasters lost their right to beat, with corporal punishment being inflicted solely by the headmaster and reserved for 'very serious' offences.
Looking back from the perspective of today, the punishment system at my old school may seem somewhat stern. However, it has to be admitted that the system worked and that the great majority of pupils were industrious and well behaved. On those occasions when a boy was 'caught out' he accepted his allotted dose of corporal punishment with relative equanimity. The cane and the slipper certainly hurt - make no mistake about that - but the punishment was quickly over and done with, following which the slate was wiped clean.
