Christian Brothers spanked bare buttocks and punched boys in the head to keep discipline at the Mount Cashel orphanage. William Earle has testified that he was beaten regularly on his bare buttocks for breaking minor rules.’ (The [Montreal] Gazette, 23rd September, 1989)
In Australia, Brothers institutions in Western Australia have received similar accusations from ex-British child migrants in the late 1940s. Apart from regular (and legal) punishment with the strap, Brothers are alleged to have flogged boys beyond the bounds of legal punishment, hit them with any instrument that came to hand. Some stories are possibly exaggerated – others are undoubtedly true.
Pupils were cheeky and uncontrolled. Times were hard. Staff untrained. Resources inadequate. HOWEVER, discipline procedures diverged by a wide margin from the standards set by the leaders of the Order, and an equal distance again from the principles established by Edmund Rice.
When and why did these changes occur?
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