The tension when the results were being read out was considerable, especially if it was being done Song Contest fashion and you thought you had done badly. It was actually a relief if your name was called out early on and you learned that you would only be getting one or two whacks – the […]

Getting 12 of the best was extremely painful. The whacks were given hard and were meant to hurt. The slipper caused a sharp stinging pain that burned away and got more intense as the whacking proceeded because the same area kept getting hit. The pain built up in a terrific crescendo and was close to […]

Reading out the marks in Song Contest fashion must have been a very tense affair particularly for the boy who suspected his name would be the last to be read out. Also as he made his way to the front and watched his classmates receive their slipperings knowing that soon it would be his turn […]

That period of 3 days when the results of tests were handed back must have been extremely stressful for the boys concerned. Receiving 12 strokes in itself must have hurt atrociously and left the boy concerned with a very sore backside. The thought of having to present his bottom for further treatment required a great […]

Parents would have been proud that their sons had passed the entrance exam and would also have expected discipline to be extremely strict. The fact that boys were subjected to corporal punishment on a regular basis was perceived as a necessary part of their education. I must confess that the regime that David describes seems […]

Reading out the marks in Song Contest fashion must have been a very tense affair particularly for the boy who suspected his name would be the last to be read out. Also as he made his way to the front and watched his classmates receive their slipperings knowing that soon it would be his turn […]

That period of 3 days when the results of tests were handed back must have been extremely stressful for the boys concerned. Receiving 12 strokes in itself must have hurt atrociously and left the boy concerned with a very sore backside. The thought of having to present his bottom for further treatment required a great […]

I can’t remember actually seeing anyone get 12 in successive lessons but it was certainly possible in theory. The closest I came to it myself was in the tests at the end of the third term in my fourth year. I got 12 for failing Geog. (I can’t remember my exact score but it was […]

I think some of the teachers whacked a bit harder when we were older and at least one used a bigger, heavier slipper. But generally more severe punishments were given by increasing the number of whacks. I believe 6 was the highest number of strokes of the cane that form masters could give. I don’t […]

There were normally two or three 12-stroke slipperings for bad test scores at the end of each term. The tests were more difficult and sometimes a higher pass mark was set. There was a general tendency to give a higher number of strokes in those years. For example, I and another boy got 12 off […]

I had my first experience of 12 of the best at the beginning of the second term in the third year. There had been a heavy snowfall and two of us were fooling around with snow. We shoved it down another boy’s collar and were caught by a teacher whom I didn’t even know. He […]

The 12 whack limit applied to all age groups, so it was possible for the younger boys to get 12 but it didn’t happen often in practice. I only saw one boy get 12 of the slipper in my first year. The gym teacher caught him urinating in the showers. He told the boy to […]

The boys had to walk out to the front and line up so that they could be whacked in the same order. If your name was not called out early on you got very nervous because your options were narrowing down. Would it be zero whacks or would it be 10 or 12? Anyone who […]

We hated it of course and I vividly recall the sinking feeling when I was half way though a test and I realised that I had not revised enough and had no chance of reaching the pass mark. I also remember the tension in the classroom when the results were announced. A favourite practice of […]

Back in the 1960s it was simply taken for granted. Anybody who thought it was morally wrong to hit schoolboys’ bottoms repeatedly with a big gym shoe hard enough to make them cry would have been regarded as a slightly cranky idealist. Even people who disliked the idea in principle regarded it as a necessary […]

I have often heard it said that the slipper was a relatively mild punishment hardly worth to be classed as corporal punishment at all. I have always been rather mystified by this attitude because some of the slipperings that were dished out at my school were extremely painful. Whether the slipper hurt as much or […]

Normal school uniform at that period also meant wearing quite tight black trousers, but it did also mean that girls wore micro skirts, often very tight ones. The type of skirt a girl wore in 1969 would simply be banned today. It certainly made slapping their bottoms very tempting, and after a few years of […]

There were certainly no bare bottomed slipperings at the schools I attended. You did get boys showing off the slipper marks on their bottoms in the changing rooms after a PE lesson, I’m sure I did this myself once. A Slippering was not considered to be a major type of punishment and after the initial […]

Changing room slipperings were not as severe as a gym slippering,the difference was when a boy was given a changing room slippering,it was touching toes,and the pe master would allow us to jump up after each whack, only for a few seconds before ordering us back into position. On the other hand gym slipperings were […]

No boy in my class was ever slippered after coming out of the showers, and I never heard of this happening. Boys were slippered quite regularly before going into the showers, but that was always over shorts for some misdemeanor through the p.e lesson. I dont think it made much difference pain-wise, shorts then were […]

A boy at my school who claimed to be a veteran of corporal punishment said several times that the head of year had given him the “wet slipper”. Even if he was making it up, he must have heard some schoolboy lore that said that the wet slipper was harsher than the dry slipper. He […]

Hard physical activity reduces sensitivity while caresses from gentle hands, or shower water, increases sensitivity. I believe it’s all to do with the constriction or dilation of blood vessels. That is why athletes always warm up before strenuous activity to avoid muscle strain. If the body is cold from the shower, it is more difficult […]

Compulsory showers after PT, games, swimming etc. at school have been around for a long time. I suspect they were already ages old when I was at school, and that’s too long ago to even contemplate. There wasn’t a shower of any sort in my junior school. The plumbing there was distinctly antique. At secondary […]

At the secondary school, I attended in the late 1970s the lovely!! pe master always made sure everyone had a shower after games so boys from 11 to 16 were always naked in the communal shower if any boys larked around in the showers we would be welcomed when we exited the showers by the […]

It was hard to escape the reputation of predecessors from your family in school. I still remember a comment from the first day of high school. The maths teacher said to one boy when he said his name. “I’ve struck your brother. At least I should have struck him.” I generally agree with your last […]

It would be interesting to conjecture whether those who were unable to read a teacher’s warning signs in class are the same as those who are insensitive in later life. I think it is fair to say that in our society females are far more acculturated from a very young age to be sensitive to […]

Finally some just never think they are going to get caught, the smokers always seemed so surprised to be rounded up again. I recently asked someone if now he had settled with a partner did he finally think he was going to stay out of prison his reply was `depends if I get caught again` […]

In communities like mine where everybody knows each other, certain families gained a reputation. The children from these families were very likely to be subjected to punishment far more than the rest of us even when we were all guilty of the same offence. When myself and old school friends reminisce we tend to remember […]

Some adults have short fuses and fragile egos, they can not bear to be questioned, for anyone to have an opinion not of their own or have their authority challenged in any way. A teacher with such a personality is going to have a very low tolerance to any pupil with a natural high spirit […]

As already mentioned some were just not very good at seeing the warning signs they were pushing the boundary just a little to far. Males I have to say are often poor at recognising the signs people give when less than pleased, this is why I find myself ranting at a bewildered husband who is […]

For some the reward from the behaviour outweighed the consequences. I don`t believe pain or the thought of pain is enough to stop anyone doing anything that they enjoy or has enough value, if it was none of us would take part in sports or activities that may involve pain. We would not run through […]

A different student was also fond of wisecracks. One of the teachers was the most patient and mild-mannered of people. I never saw him lose his temper. Mr Church was gently admonishing the class for some reason when the student commented loudly “Watch out lads, the Church Bells are ringing!” Mr Church wasn’t amused and […]

One class clown couldn’t resist impersonating the voices of teachers, making silly remarks as he sat at the back of the class. To the class this was very funny, but eventually it ceased to be amusing for the teachers concerned and he was sent to the headmaster to be caned. Incredibly, when he entered the […]

I think that the majority of boys at my school were spanked or slippered or caned at least once, some more often and a much smaller percentage frequently. As you say, for some bravado and for some an incurable but mistaken optimism that their chances of retribution were slim. Had you asked me at the […]

However, they were not very good at reading the warning signs when liveliness crossed the line into unruliness and as a result often ended up in the headmaster’s study. For them it was one of the risks they were prepared to take. They didn’t enjoy being caned, but they didn’t fret about it. It was […]

  I too have thought about those who were repeatedly caned. Typically they were fairly high-spirited lads who enjoyed a prank – these days they might be described as “hyperactive” – I might prefer the word “mischievous”. I don’t think they lacked intelligence but they tended not to be the top students, even so their […]

I left the room with stinging buttocks, but somehow feeling elated it was over. Walking or just standing still was a strange sensation as if my bottom had been altered in some way, constantly aware of it, that is aside from the unusual warmth and smarting. I also wondered oddly if others could divine I […]

how hard you were caned depended on the teacher, the Cane, what you were wearing, if anything, and possibly your own anatomy. So it’s probable that this experience cannot be exactly repeated for an adult. Much of the effect was mental. The existing anxiety increased on seeing the Cane and being guided into the required […]

Frankly, had it been a male teacher she might have got away with it, but not with Sam. That, plus a potty mouth earned her 3 licks in the hallway. I was the next-door teacher, so was asked to witness the punishment. Sam used a good ash 1” inch thick paddle, and, yes, she really […]

In High School, especially senior high, in States such as both the one in which I teach and my home State, it is necessary to paddle both young men and women with considerable force if paddling is going to be an effective lesson. However, the reaction of some students is disproportionate to the pain inflicted, […]

He told me to put my hands on his desk. He squeezed around the desk (it was a small room) behind me and turned up my blazer at the back. There was whirr and a dull thud and almost immediately a repeat of the same. It was uncomfortable rather than painful; I never saw his […]

On the one occasion it happened to me I had been taken by a teacher to the Deputy Head, who did most of the caning. I was given no opportunity to defend myself, he then lectured me for some time, which was far more effective than the caning, and then, in his usual way, leered […]

My school took bullying seriously, no let me rephrase that, my school chose to ignore many incidences of bullying, denying there was even a problem until something happened and they were forced to act. Then they stamped down hard, if the bullying had been serious they either expelled the bully or used corporal punishment, the […]

I did have a fascination with school corporal punishment and I received the cane in first form by my form master for whispering during assembly. He gave me four strokes during lunch and I winced in pain when I sat down for my next lesson. I am not sure if the pain I felt was […]

I believe school corporal punishment worked best when it was used for minor offenses, just uncomfortable enough to be undesirable and make you think twice before stepping out of line, but quickly over and having few after-effects. Corporal punishment for misbehavior such as bullying may have provided a useful element of retribution, but it is […]

  Even if it was true that you had done something that could be construed as violent – and from your writing here you don’t come across as that sort of person – I am not sure six strokes of the cane would have done anything to help that situation. I remember one bully at […]

I received a six-stroke caning across my behind because they believed I was a violent bully and a one-stroke caning across my hand because I was insolent. I can understand the one stroke for insolence – that is the way things were, but I am not sure the six strokes for bullying were appropriate. From […]

On one occasion I thought the cane was going to be painful and it was very much so. On another occasion heaven knows what I was thinking at that time but had I been capable of a sensible thought (in which case I wouldn’t have got caned anyway!) I would have thought and indeed known […]

  Yes, I thought the cane would hurt, and it did hurt an awful lot! In the circumstances, I was very upset and they told me it was going to be very painful, it was unlikely I would find it anything other than extremely painful. Two years down the line I was caned again in […]

  In answer to the question, I can say that the few times I was caned it really hurt. Yes, a slippering hurt a lot and the strap was worse. But the cane across the backside six times with was I felt was pretty fierce strokes was very painful and certainly lived up to my […]

I don’t think I dreaded the cane, rather I was curious about it. The Head rarely caned but those who had experienced it said it hurt. The Deputy Head, who caned frequently, was far less respected for his caning abilities. On the one occasion when I found myself in trouble with him he said, after […]

For me, the answer is no. On the one occasion I was caned I had said something as a teacher passed by which, I suspect, he misheard. He took me directly to the Deputy Head. I could guess what was likely to happen, the DH caned frequently. After a lecture, during which I was given […]

One thing about the subject at hand. A work colleague once told me that at his school a girl had written something very rude on the blackboard. The teacher assumed a boy had done it, but no one would admit to it, nor would they say that this particular girl had written it . All […]

One thing about that very painful slippering, was that a very attractive girl gave me a very sympathetic look after she had seen me in some distress. Sadly at that age I was too shy to speak to girls. She also used to brush up against me in lessons like biology and chemistry where we […]

I was only caned once, on the other hand, and I was expecting to hurt and it certainly did. However, the most painful punishment I got was a slippering. This was at the end of a PE lesson and I was only wearing thin shorts. I really wasn’t expecting it to be that painful and […]

After all the rumours and comments made by boys who had been caned it all seemed rather an anti-climax. One of the tougher boys, who played in the 2nd 15 said that a caning from the headmaster was much more painful and was usually six although he sometimes gave four. The head only caned a […]

The short answer to the question is “no”. If anything I was rather disappointed! On the one occasion I was caned I was taken to the Deputy Head so had no opportunity to prepare myself. After a lecture, which was probably more effective than the caning, he said “I’ll give you two”. I was told […]

Never thought for 1 moment that the cane was ever given moderately, but do agree my teachers were not monsters. Met quite a few in my professional life and always enjoyed a laugh and a joke with them. To start with I was a little embarrassed but what the hell. They were always pleased to […]

It stung more than it hurt. ‘hurt’ is when you knock yourself, sting is a sharp burning experience and what you felt when being caned. The harder the caning the more it stung, and the more strokes the worse it got as the sting built up. Six of the best was a sensible limit as […]

Most teachers were not monsters; most schools used corporal punishment moderately. In most cases the cane was meant to be a swift, unpleasant sting to remind you that skipping gym or using a swear word was not OK…. Not a horrendous flogging. But of course, most boys passed on the most terrible horror stories swearing […]

As he got up he said “Put your hands on the desk” which I did. He moved round behind me and turned up the back of my blazer. Then there was a whirr and a dull thud, followed almost immediately be another whirr and thud. It certainly wasn’t as painful as the slipperings the PE […]

On the one occasion I was caned at school quite honestly it particularly hurt. When I was taken to the Deputy Headmaster I knew what would happen, he was a frequent caner. But he was known to cane both on hand and backside and that was my fear. Would I be able to hold my […]

From the day I started junior school at 7 YOA always fantasised about getting the cane. It was only in the 2nd year that I finally received it. I am 60 but can still recollect going back to my seat and thinking how could anyone want to have this much pain. ONly 1 stroke but […]

You ask what seems like a very simple question. The simple answer is “Yes!” but the worst was over quickly. The real answer is more complicated. The physical effect was painful enough but the stressful situation and the feeling that it was out of your control made it seem much worse than it probably was. […]

Most people dreaded the Cane – but did it hurt as much as you thought?

My Headmaster would cane in a very measured way. Having carefully chosen his selected cane from several hanging up in a tall cupboard he would ask me to bend over the end of the desk holding on to the sides. He would first swish the cane a few times and then tap the cane at […]

If I jumped up and tried to rub I was immediately told to bend over and touch my toes so I could not rub my bottom. Then there were the awful two taps the cane being drawn back and a 2-3 second wait before the cane came swishing forward again. Then there was a little […]

The school used slippers(on the bum)or straps(on the hands). The slippers came from lost property, or from the nearest boy’s PE kit bag, but the straps were ordered (from somewhere in Ireland, since you asked) by the friend’s mum who issued them to teachers upon request. She advised Anya to see her and sign for […]

I’ve never heard of any formal training in CP being given (mum, dad, bro & sis all teachers, so you’d think I would’ve heard something over the years), but hark to the following… At one time my girlfriend was the daughter of our school’s secretary, who hosted frequent Friday night parties, attended by many of […]

I think the Magdalene caning was on the backs of their thighs. I recall a story of a newly-qualified teacher about 40 years ago who was given instruction in hand strapping by the headteacher before going into the classroom. Firstly he had to put on a boxing glove so the headmaster could demonstrate the proper […]

How about the actress Geraldine MacEwan as Mother Superior in The Magdalene Sisters? She canes the bare bottoms of two unfortunate girls in her office in a convincing, practiced and vigorous way .. did it come naturally to her? Or was it what the director insisted on?

I think that the Headmaster caned me and my friends in front of each other was because we were all caught for the same offense, whereas I received my previous canings for an individual offense and subsequently I had to line up with the other boys and we were called in individually. While the sting […]

The third time my Headmaster caned me I was caned with four friends and we were caned in front of each other receiving six strokes each, I received two extra strokes for not being over straight away when I jumped up after the third and fourth strokes and one friend received an extra for not […]

My next visit was several weeks later and I was sentenced to six strokes of the cane the same procedure was followed except that I was the only boy in line and the Headmaster took his time selecting the rod that he was going to cane me with (there were three canes in his cabinet). […]

After I had been summoned the Headmaster flexed the cane three times and ordered me to bend over and touch my toes. He walked behind me swishing the cane and lined the cane against my bottom. He tapped my bottom three times with the cane and announced that I would be receiving four strokes. The […]

The first time I was caned I had to line up outside the Headmaster’s study with my hands on my head and facing the wall. There were two boys ahead of me in the line and the first boy was called in. I could hear the swish of the cane and the thwack sound as […]

I have always felt that a headmaster would have learnt his technique from his peers mixed with his own experiences as a schoolboy and refined it over time. I was caned six times during my schoolboy days and each time my headmaster administered my punishments. It was not just the caning technique but the entire […]

there was a time limit to each stroke of the cane applied to the bottom, and as we all know there is a 4 or 5-second delay as to when then stinging takes hold. this is the point I make, as in, is the headmaster taught to cane a bottom and wait till the sting […]

I thought that there were some guidelines for administering the cane but as the Headmaster developed his technique there would be some slight changes. My Headmaster would administer between four and six strokes to the buttocks. He would leave about three seconds between each stroke and count each stroke out loud. After the cane had […]

Coming back to the UK, this is admittedly only a sample of one, but a former housemaster tells me that he was quite specifically instructed how to do it by a more senior staff member — the expert flick of the wrist at the last moment, the importance of aiming at the lower half of […]

It is certainly true that the Singapore Ministry of Education provides training for discipline masters (the famous “DM” who does all the caning in each school), and the similarity of modus operandi between different schools noted in various anecdotal accounts does suggest that this training includes how to cane properly, or at least that the […]

I heard in Singapore, that all becoming principals & discipline masters/mistresses, are trained in our Ministry of Education, they are taught how to give painful canings without injuries to the student, the final stage is to give each trainee each 1 stroke so that they know what a stroke of cane is like.

Of course, in the classroom environment, the teacher did not have to record punishments, so in some cases that I know of, it was open slather. I can recall only one teacher who blatantly over-used and abused corporal punishment in the classroom.   To this day I loathe the memory of that man, who made […]

In private schools, I think that it was a matter of the individual school or teacher. Having a witness to the caning is news to me. There was never an official witness to any canings at my schools. Perhaps this was standard procedure elsewhere, I don’t know. If a kid was officially caned where I […]

One would also have to assume,that before actually using the cane,that they would have had to practice on something-or somebody. I know that according to the regulations governing caning in state schools in Queensland,where I grew up, caning had to be on the hands. I think that previously, caning on the bottom was in vogue […]

I have often wondered who taught the headmaster how to use the cane, was it at college when he was training to be a teacher or was he caned at school and just followed tradition and caned in the same way? did he decide to cane hands or bottom and did he have a policy […]

In the 1950’s I am pretty certain that my three brothers and I experienced the receiving end of Mr. Wildmans wares on very numerous occasions. I clearly remember my father mail ordering his canes from a school punishment cane supplier in London and who I am pretty certain was Mr. Wildman. They were intimidating crooked […]

Judgment, however, went against him, as might have been expected. The Magistrate expressed no wish to “crush him out of existence,” but decided — unconsciously using a phrase of Wildman’s own — that what he needed was a “sharp lesson,” which he was going to get. “He must learn that he is not the world’s […]

The Defence had no easy task. They took the line that Wildman had suffered physical and psychological injuries which affected his brain to the point of fanaticism, and that he quite sincerely believed in his mission to spread the gospel of corporal punishment. To this end he had devoted all his powers, and genuinely felt […]

The cosh wave, for instance, which reversed the views of many previous opponents of beating, is a case in point. His contrasting of the temporary marks left by the rod with the well-nigh permanent stain left by a prison sentence proved an essential argument in his cause; he earnestly sought to prevent the origins of […]

The Prosecution further alleged that Wildman had long been carrying on a business that was at least partially obscene, which was why they had removed his armoury of birches, whips, canes and straps. The police-tactics had been of the usual type: as private individuals they had applied for pamphlets and received them; this they continued, […]

The trial proper took place in May, 1953; the Prosecution urged that Wildman was guilty of obscene libel in publishing pamphlets of whose detailed nature the general public had naturally no precise knowledge. Here we can but list some of the titles of works to which objection was taken: A Girl’s Beating; Punishment Postures (with […]

The summons itself arrived a few days later, and Wildman appeared in court on a charge of obscene libel. Curiously enough, the trial was twice postponed, and the prisoner let out on bail, during which interval he continued in his dangerous activities, thereby displaying that want of tact and indeed almost of sanity to which […]

Wildman apparently was employing quite a substantial staff, mainly female. The police then removed into four huge vans the entire contents of the rooms save the furniture; not only were drawers emptied and their contents removed, but every piece of literature was confiscated; what is more, they took away every punitive weapon found on the […]

All the more pity, therefore, that Wildman should have allowed strictly non-ethical attitudes gradually to assume the reins in his activities. These were to prove his downfall. In this he was aided by his Messianic conceit, his megalomania which persuaded him that he had a World Mission in the matter of the corporal chastisement of […]

Where a mother, for example, would write telling him how she had given her daughter twenty-five strokes, he would always suggest that twenty-one would have sufficed. This was his principle. Never did he recommend an increase in the total of stripes. Moreover, in mentioning the beating of a daughter, we have arrived at another of […]

Few of these potential clients, again, would concur with the father mentioned by Wildman who, when his son was three years old, had already purchased and stored in a wardrobe a series of instruments for the punishing of the lad in succeeding years, culminating in a flexible Wildman Smoky Malacca cane which was to wait […]

These would have been ready enough to admit that little Jack or Harry needed an occasional whacking to render him obedient or keep down his high spirits, but they would have been repelled and bewildered by Wildman’s excess of paraphernalia. Nor would such teachers or parents have liked his over-insistence, his apparent denial that boys […]

Yet just here he tended to alienate many of his would-be customers. Most normal parents or teachers do not think in terms of graded sizes of straps and canes, nor do they regard their children and charges primarily as belonging to the “strapping age” or the “tawzing age” or the “caning age” or the “birching […]

Wildman himself, of course, poured out scorn lavishly on psychologists, psychoanalysts and all members of any “modern” or “progressive” movement. These, in fact, were largely to blame for the chaotic state of British discipline to-day. One result of this one-sidedness, clearly unforeseen by him, was to alienate many moderate-minded persons who up to a point […]

Wildman’s mode of presenting his case was not always of the happiest. He laid stress on aspects of whipping that cannot but exist yet need not be emphasized; he further hindered his cause by undignified publicity and indeed by a craving after vulgar applause; he lacked both prudence and a sense of proportion, thus laying […]

He insisted to the end that his purposes were purely ethical, and that among his clients were monasteries, convents, church-schools, and individual ministers of religion. Throughout he laid stress on the ethical value of judicious chastisement, pointing with a sigh to the decadence of the age and to phenomena like the Coshing-wave, which he claimed […]

Whether the authorities themselves approved of the Headmaster’s practical joke is not known, but a partial indication is found in the fact that, on the subsequent disbandment of the school for the reasons already given, no mention was made of the Wildman incident, which would surely have supplied useful fuel for an attack on the […]

Since then he apparently became more sceptical of beaming [sic] invitations, and this proved, in fact, to be his last public lecture. We can well imagine the gaiety which succeeded his departure from the school, and how masters, scholars and visitors alike guffawed over his undignified fall. The local Press, needless to say, gave the […]

  Released at last, the lecturer was met with derisive laughter, while the Headmaster duly handed him two pounds for his fare. Storming, he fled from the building, only to rush into the local hospital, where a surprised Matron beheld him taking down his trousers and exclaiming indignantly “I’ve been beaten by boys!” She, too, […]

His talk was listened to with attention, which says much for the boys’ good manners, since they had never been chastised and the whole tenor of his remarks must have sounded alien to their ears. Still, they heard him out, or rather until a certain moment when the lecturer, proudly displaying his canes, remarked of […]

  The Headmaster had officially invited Wildman to give a lecture to the assembled scholars, and to demonstrate to the lads (though not, of course, on them) his methods of imposing school discipline. The theme of the lecture was to be general: discipline, manliness, corporal punishment and so forth. Wildman fell straight into the trap. […]

It would seem that his fame as a self-styled “apostle” was growing; he was even invited to lecture. Always he accepted, never suspecting, for instance, the trap laid for him at a certain school in some secluded Midland valley. This incident may be worth recalling in some detail. The school concerned was eminently “progressive”, and […]

Other correspondents, of course, took up decidedly different viewpoints, and many even anticipated the verdict subsequently passed on Wildman by the Magistrates of his country. Not that this in any way impeded his zeal: papers in the various parts of England and Wales were printed from his pen, an occasional letter, and always on one […]

This viewpoint was in strict accordance with Wildman’s own attitude as expressed in numerous letters to the press, many of which probably remained unpublished. The Richmond and Twickenham Times, for instance, published in 1951 a letter from Wildman in the midst of a growing controversy on the theme of corporal penalties. In this massive missive, […]

He began enlarging his activities in his office itself: at one time, during the school-vacations, a “resident housemaster” was to be seen there, who professed himself ready to give free advice on the upbringing of boys. And his advice was sometimes actually sought. According to reliable accounts, a long discussion might take place as to […]

Wildman himself, deadly serious with the eyes of a fanatic, appeared at such functions always arrayed in cap, mortar-board, and gown; his speeches were invariably of the dullest and most monotonous type: content and delivery were alike undistinguished. In addition to the two main bodies of opinion, the hall would contain a handful of journalists, […]

In his Kensington period he went further and either he himself or hired sandwich-men paraded the borough with huge placards lettered with this type of query: “Parents, do your children need beating?… If so, etc.. . .” Small wonder, then, that his removal from the district followed soon after. During all this time his “missionary” […]

Not content with selling his goods personally or by post, Mr. Wildman embarked, foolishly even as regards his own interest, on a grandiose scheme of publicity. Frequently on crowded notice-boards in all parts of London one observed, amid advertisements for sewing-machines or flats to let, a neat yellow card bearing the Corpun imprint, recommending parents, […]

The extent of the director’s energy — or it might be truer to say mania — is shown by the variety exhibited within each type of weapon: shape, size, design, and weight were there in a kaleidoscope to suit apparently all tastes. The price-list naturally varied accordingly. It would seem that the main trade was […]

Throughout all these moves he kept to a more or less rigid type of organization: the duplicating-machine and the neat card-indexes, the scattered canes on the floor and the parcels on many tables, and — most noticeable of all to the average visitor — the walls hung with instruments of punishment cast in a variety […]

It may well be imagined that his premises were never permanent: beginning in the Oxford Circus [London] district, his landlord and fellow-tenants not unnaturally objected to his type of publicity, and he was forced to move to the quieter neighbourhood of Kensington. Here again his luck was out, and he was compelled to move to […]

His main activity, none the less, was the production not of literary material but of weapons of chastisement. His prospectus stated that his customers for these articles included addresses as far apart as America and the Gold Coast — with what truth we do not, of course, know. Certain it is, however, that he was […]

Together with managing these institutions, he edited a fortnightly review called The Retentionist, not to mention the Bulletin of his League. These publications, be it said at once, reached no very high literary level: badly duplicated, each number was apt to reveal the same clichés, the same type of letters and anecdotes, and above all […]

One phenomenon that it is hard to classify is the work of Eric A. Wildman. His singular activities indeed ended in disgrace, but they remain of interest to the sociologist and psychological investigator. Briefly, Wildman was the founder and organizer of the League for the Retention of Corporal Punishment and of the Corpun Educational Organisation […]

  His defending lawyer had suggested “there was no deliberate trading in pornography. Wildman was a man with a kink. Corporal punishment had got control of him. He thought he had a crusade for its retention”. However, The Times newspaper reported that Wildman has been running: “…a substantial business in the publication of various obscene pamphlets … […]

On 23rd March 1952 Wildman boarded the passenger ship, Queen Mary, at Southampton, with a First Class ticket bound for the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York. The purpose of his visit isn’t clear but one assumes he was intending to preach the corporal punishment gospel and promote his canes to the USA. Mention of his […]

One assumes at that point some signal was given by the Headmaster as a number of the boys suddenly rushed at Wildman, grabbed him and bent him over, holding him in position while another boy whacked him with his own cane. He was finally let up to the sound of derisive laughter. We are told […]

His lecture appears to have been listened to very politely and attentively until the Headmaster asked the following question: “Tell me, Mr. Wildman, what is the most suitable cane for a boy 15 years old or over?” Apparently at this point Wildman brandished his prized 30-inch Dragon smoky malacca cane which he described as a […]

In 1948 Wildman was to be involved in an extraordinary event which would end up being reported in newspapers far and wide including TIME magazine. He was invited to give a lecture concerning his methods of imposing school discipline at Horsley Hall school, a small ultra-progressive co-educational boarding school in Eccleshall, Staffordhsire, with just 24 […]

Over the next few years he published a number of booklets and mimeographed pamphlets including Modern Methods of Home Discipline (1948), Modern Miss Delinquent (1950) and Punishment Posture for Girls (1950).

By the late 1940s he seemed to be in full missionary mode and was giving lectures on his principles and techniques at London’s Caxton Hall. Apparently these were often attended by both supporters and opponents so would frequently end in disorder. Gervas d’Olbert in his Chastisement Across The Ages describes Wildman’s appearance at these meetings as “…deadly […]

It is clear that he had a weakness for publicity and, amongst other things, this led him to place cards on notice-boards all over London advertising his services and urging parents and teachers to contact him for advice and to inspect his canes, birches and straps. He later went further and paraded through the borough […]

It seems there were already a number of opponents of cp in schools around this time and a Committee for the Abolition of Corporal Punishment In Schools had been formed. Wildman, however, was having none of it and formed a counter organisation entitled The National Society For The Retention Of Corporal Punishment In Schools. He […]

In what appears to be more of an advert than an item of genuine news the 26 year old Wildman appeared in an 1947 edition of the Daily Mirror newspaper where he claimed to be supplying canes to over 100 schools. An even more bizarre feature in the Mirror later that same year suggested a national shortage […]

Eric Arthur Wildman was born 20th May, 1921. After serving in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War he set up the Corpun Educational Supply Company which specialised in selling a variety of corporal punishment instruments, including canes, straps and tawses, to schools around the country.

I am sorry but I find this very hard to believe, no master in my school would hand over the disciplining of a classmate to a girl, even though it would have been excellent classroom entertainment, I don’t think any of my female classmates would have wanted to participate. They were quite happy to watch […]

Some time ago I came across an item on the web where in a local area Forum former pupils at a school were discussing the rather unusual disciplinary practices of one of the teachers. Like your PE Master, the teacher in question also had a miniature cricket bat for disciplinary purposes when dealing with errant […]

The cricket bat that the p.e master used was not a full-size cricket bat but a smaller version i would say it was approximately two feet long, as far as I can recall. My bottom was a very deep red in color, and sitting in my next lesson was a bit uncomfortable but that faded […]

He administered three strokes each to the seat of our shorts. Our crime – throwing a medicine ball at each other, it was very painful, I remember gripping hold of the bars on the horse with my eyes closed, and the noise echoing around the gym as it landed,i managed to hold the tears back […]

I attended a co-ed secondary school in the late sixties and early seventies. We had two P.E.Masters who both administered CP almost every lesson, as far as I can recall there was always some boy touching his toes or bending over the vaulting horse. Now one of these masters always used the plimsoll, with devastating […]

I attended a couple of school reunions last year, it had been 45 years since we all last met. One of our teachers turned up as well along with his wife.He was a PE teacher who is now in his late 80s. He used to line us all up in the gym and whack us […]

  In my school the PE teacher generally used a thick leather strap or a slipper. But I recall a couple of times when he punished a few boys in the middle of a cricket match by whacking them with a cricket bat.I managed to avoid this!

Back in the 1960s I was speaking to a girl who worked in Edinburgh and asked her if she had ever experienced the tawse at school. She said that she had not because she was living in England during her schooldays and indeed there was no CP at her girls only school. She confided, however, […]

Thought you might be interested in this entry Amanda Philp – 1986 Lochend, Glasgow Mrs Gordon – Does any other females remember this sadistic PE teacher, instead of giving the belt she would use a cricket bat, I think the flat end was called big bertha and the handle was called wee bessie!.

I would agree that a cricket bat is much to heavy to be suitable for corporal punishment, but the miniature versions are absolutely ideal for an across the knee type of punishment. I also used to have one of these and you can buy them , with the autographs of your team on , at […]

I have found one advertised that states the boxed weight as 180 grams (approximately 6 ounces), which suggests it would be about the right weight and size for use as a corporal punishment implement. In my studies of corporal punishment in South Korea, I was appalled to find that some teachers resorted to the use […]

I agree , a standard cricket bat is totally unsuitable for corporal punishment. However there are a number of miniature bats available between 12 and 18 inches long, normally used to collect autographs. I remember experimenting with one of these as an improvised paddle, though I no longer have it so cannot check the measurements.

A cricket bat is not a suitable implement for administering CP. It is much too heavy and would cause severe deep bruising if applied with any force. Impliments used for CP need to be safe, that is, unlikely to cause serious or lasting injuries even if applied with maximum force.

The man he asked to undertake this pleasant duty at first declinced thinking it was in jest. However, when he realized Tom was serious, he gave him such hearty applications with the bat as quite satisfied such an enthusiastic cricketer as Tom” The book also mentions that in about 1890 a Notts player called Sherwin […]

As a keen cricket fan I have been reading a book called ” Nottinghamshire Cricket and Cricketers ” published in 1923. There are some very entertaining tales in the book, but one in particular struck me ( no pun intended). In around 1855 a Notts player called Tom Davis ( 1827-1898) was so upset by […]

Reply I have virtually stopped dressing as Jae and as for going out, it is a distant memory. It is very, very painful and if circumstances change I wonder if I two might have lost the confidence I used to have. Is there a saying along the lines of “if you don’t use it you […]

I was not aware of anyone being offered a choice of punishment at our school. In high school detention was rare, whilst the cane was used regularly. As someone who was not caned, I would have chosen detention. One reason was that the cane was semi-public, and I would have been apprehensive both as to […]

If I could avoid her finding out about the detention, I’d willingly take the detention – but if she was going to find out (and they often wanted us to get something signed by our parents when we got detention) I’d rather get the strap – and would have rather got the cane as well. […]

One big factor for me that hasn’t been mentioned is the chance of my mother finding out I’d been in trouble at school. If she found out I had got a detention, I would have probably got the wooden spoon at home anyway. So I’d do the detention (it was called ‘penals’ at my school) […]

  However, one boy elicited a degree of admiration from those who’d sampled the sandal by taking his whacks without any visible sign of distress. This was the early 1950s and he’d previously been a boarder at a local Prep School notorious for CP while his parents were abroad for a period. When asked the […]

I cannot recall any status attaching to receiving CP at either my Junior School or my Secondary School, with one exception. As I’ve mentioned before the Form Master in my first year at Secondary School, a very large and muscular young man, wielded a size 12 leather-soled sandal instead of the more traditional gym shoe. […]

One further factor to be considered when comparing punishments is that of status. Getting the cane was for many boys a rite of passage, a test of courage, a means of demonstrating manliness. Taking one’s medicine in a manly fashion was not considered undignified. Of course, it depended upon the offense. Some were far more […]

Detention For: Detention involved having to write an essay on a set topic. I just loved writing essays when I was at school. Still do actually. I bet that really surprises everyone!  Usually some choice over when to serve it. Generally, you’d have the option of the same day or the next school day. No […]

  Painful, perhaps even very painful. I never heard anybody who was caned at that school claim it didn’t hurt. Inconveniently time consuming. A Prefect’s caning took about 15 minutes what with the imposed waiting, all attendant ceremonies, and treking up (and then down) several flights of stairs to get to the Prefectorial eyrie at […]

The Cane For: Although I wouldn’t have known it at the time, if I’d been caned I might be able to hold my own in discussions Against: Very undignified. In the case of both Prefects and Headmaster touching toes, or as near as could be enforced, was required. In the case of the Prefects there […]

Only my secondary school had caning. Quite often by the Prefects, who were limited to three strokes, and occasionally by the Headmaster, who wasn’t. Although there was one occasion involving each where in theory I might have been caned, in reality I never came anywhere near it. The only detentions I served were a couple […]

At school I would always have chosen detention had I been given the option; I was scared of the cane and hated the indignity of the procedure. Unfortunately, my feelings about it didn’t always stop me from having moments of irresponsibility! It was only after I left school that I came to terms with the […]

Given the Choice of the Cane or Detention – what would you have chosen? When I was at school – it would have been Detention, but toward the end of that time – it might have been the Cane.

I like it and I need it, if you knew me, you would understand that discipline does me good and is part of my sexuality. That doesn’t mean I like being punished. Not many people would enjoy a real punishment. Even a properly given paddling, an adult size spanking so to speak. the giggles will […]

  A 9th-grade teacher who was fed up with my excessive rebellious behavior surprised me with paddling when I believed it wasn’t used anymore. She wore my butt out, and embarrassed me horribly and I felt no “erotic” pleasure from this until much after the fact despite my fetish. Into my adult years I craved […]

I am 40 and have had a spanking fetish since I was about six. It was caused, I am almost certain, by my first-grade teacher brandishing her paddle and hearing the loud spankings being done in the hallway. I have read that childhood trauma can be repressed as a coping mechanism and resurfaces with a […]

A boy’s posture and physique has a major effect on the severity of a caning quite aside from the psychology, or his sensitivity. A large, flat, well-padded firm muscular backside will be injured much less and will be hurt much less than a small bony bottom or a soft flabby one. I invite interested persons […]

  It does not take much strength to bring a light school cane to an effective speed. It is mainly a matter of technique and timing – coordinating wrist flick, arm swing, and torso unwind. A competitive squash or badminton player is likely to be able to cane very much harder than a near-geriatric headmaster. […]

My comments relate to secondary school canings, Male/male, applied to the clothed buttocks only, back in a time when corporal punishment of boys was accepted as the norm. Doubtless, practices varied from community to community and over time. Even within a school, there was likely to be quite a difference between different masters using the […]

I have a healthy respect for the cane certainly but a confused one also. I have heard some recipients refer to its bite as the “worst pain ever felt” at on end of the spectrum while hearing others say “thousands of school boys have managed its sting quite stoically and while it hurts it is […]

I was 19 years old when I was caned and in my case it was certainly the “worst pain ever felt”. I cannot claim to have managed the caning stoically either, having involuntarily cried out vociferously a second or so after each stroke landed.As for the marks, on the evening of the caning, there were […]

  I actually took a bare bum whacking with a rod-like instrument (not a rattan cane) which was stiff and perhaps more solid than a cane. Whether or not it was applied properly is doubtful. I do know I was left black and blue for about a week with the damage getting worse by the […]

I have seen images that suggest that six of the school cane do a good deal of damage that lasts for up to several weeks and images that suggest that it produces no more than red stripes that disappear within an hour or so. There seems to be no consistent description or response to what […]

“Do not underestimate the pain generated by a stroke of the cane across the bottom. I certainly did as I am sure have others! You would do very well indeed if you were able to voluntarily remain in a position to take six strokes if they were properly administered with a traditional rattan school cane.” […]

As an American who has never been slippered or caned, I have recently become fascinated by Brit style schoolboy discipline as practiced at various independent/”public” schools. I find the ritual and civility of it all rather fascinating as well as the apparent contract between Master and pupil that created both expectation of CP as well […]

He had me bend over an old padded bench loosely securing my wrists and ankles. He did not take any run up and there was just a short swish and a crack as the cane hit my bare bottom but followed by the most unbelievable pain. I was in a state of shock after just […]

I can honestly state that my experience I would not seek to repeat although I still retain a fascination and interest in corporal punishment. I was never caned at school but my curiosity increased when I left for university. I therefore followed up an ad in the magazine the wording I still remember to today […]

I was shown his impressive but scary collection of canes. Particular attention was paid to a crook handled dragon cane which had a rubber coated tip. I winced at the sight of him flexing the cane and the horrible sound it made when he swished it through the air a few times. It was made […]

  Before the last visit I only had vague recollections of school punishments as an indicator of what was to come. Although I knew the cane would hurt I didn’t anticipate quite how painful 12 strokes with a senior cane would be. Unfortunately, having discussed the matter with the master he clearly takes the view […]

“The session still has a vivid significance for me almost a year later ! It is without doubt a turn on for me now – although I know that to repeat the session would leave me feeling just as scared, tearful and striped as I felt that day.” I wondered if you’d been tempted to […]

I also feel that unless you have experienced corporal punishment yourself it is difficult to administer and authentic, ritualistic, painful, humiliating lesson. Whatever some of the postings on this site say, corporal punishment is generally something endured by males of a certain generation. The session still has a vivid significance for me almost a year […]

This whole experience may seem bizarre to many. The idea of dressing as a naughty schoolboy to voluntarily accept severe corporal punishment will not appeal to everybody! I hated the experience at the time as I felt exactly as I had felt at school when being caned (although this adult punishment was probably more severe […]

After an uncomfortable wait I heard his footsteps along the corridor and saw him enter the room carrying a thin, crook-handled swishy school cane. I was already sore from the spanking and plimsoll whacking – I dreaded what was about to happen but was determined to accept my punishment stoically. After a few practice taps, […]

It was with this in mind that I visited a willing master last year. After being made to change into my PE shorts I was subjected to a severe session of corporal punishment to teach me a lesson. Firstly, over his knee for a prolonged hand spanking. Secondly, to bent over and grasped my ankles […]

I was caned and slippered at school. Although I hated it at the time it left me with a curiosity about cp as an adult. I suspect that stems from a relationship after my university days when an ex g/f took an unusual interest in the fact I had been caned at school, and seemed […]

We examined each other for several days and were proud to still bear the feint evidence of our ordeal more than two weeks later. We still use cane and strap on each other, but we normally take the precaution of having a safety word in reserve. It still puzzles me how, without experiencing it originally, […]

It is almost ten years since the memorable occasion of my first proper caning. As you say, there is nothing quite like the agony of the burning pain produced by a rattan cane when applied with force to the sensitive flesh of a very bare bottom! After my four strokes I wept for about fifteen […]

When I returned to the dorm grinning, I was treated as a hero (especially as I hadn’t even been guilty of the offence). As a timid boy who was no good at games, I had not previously experienced much admiration from my peers but that all chnaged from this point on. The following year I […]

A prefect came in to see what the noise was and copped the lot. I happened to be out of bed at the time and was assumed to be the culprit. He grabbed me by the neck and marched me back to his study. Normally I would have got the slipper but I can only […]

I was interested in the account of the boy who benefitted from a caning, not I suspect, in the way the headmaster intended. The experience I had at boarding school, which made me realise for the first time that I had an “unusual” interest in CP, was similar in some ways. It was the early […]

  Being part of the queue outside the headmaster’s study helped him greatly. He was just carried along. All the boys exiting the office did so as nonchalently as possible suggesting things were, perhaps, not too bad. The second stroke landed on his backside before the first had registered properly. It was a bit of […]

It does vary greatly from individual to individual. Firstly, it depends on whether one accepts one’s fate or not. It is easiest if there is acceptance. It rains. Canings happen. Things break. It is no use worrying about these things as nothing can be done about them. Secondly, it depends on whether one shares one’s […]

A school friend benefitted very greatly from his first caning – two hard strokes for breaking bounds in his second year at high school along with a dozen other boys. Up until this time he had been exceedingly fearful of the cane and a bit on the outer as one of the few uncaned. He […]

I believe it varies considerably according to the individual.I have seen recipients of the cane leaving the study in considerable distress after being caned and certainly unwilling to discuss the experience with anyone. Others, whist obviously displaying acute discomfort immediately after the caning, have been only too willing to display the marks and discuss the […]

It seems to be part of the human condition that, if we survived an ordeal through courage, grit and resolve, we are often better for it. Many boys (and a few girls it seems) got pleasure and satisfaction from a visit to the headmasters office – in retrospect at least. I can recall some very […]

I agree with you the pain from a stroke of the rattan cane across the bottom is not comparable to anything else. How long ago was it that you experienced this first caning? I would also be interested to learn whether your friend went through with her caning having seen your reactions to the strokes.

I don’t remember ever being spanked as a girl either at school or at home, but I developed an almost obsessive interest in such punishment during my early teens and eagerly questioned my friends on whether they had ever been smacked. As far as I know, corporal punishment had not been used in my Girls’ […]

I think school canes vary quite a lot from school to school and over time. However, 8 mm diameter sounds a little thin to me although boyhood memories are likely to be quite unreliable. I remember our woodwork teacher improvising with a 3-foot length of 3/8 inch dowel (10 mm approx). It was about the […]

The general view seems to be that the typical school cane was about 8mm thick. Is this what would have been described as a “senior cane”? If so, what about the so-called “junior cane” – how thick was that usually, and what age groups would it have been typically used for? Just curious, as I’m […]

I took the full six tonight! I have to say it took some real effort and if I had not been strapped over the horse I do not believe I would have managed to stay put. The “Headmaster’ used exactly the same cane yet even from the first one, each stroke seemed even more excruciating […]

Also, normal rattan can wrap around the flank and deeply mark the hip if the caner is not experienced and the inherent stiffness of a dragon cane can help avoid this unwanted wrapping when accuracy is lacking. The dragon can really drive the air from the lungs when applied hard – especially with that all-important […]

The dragon cane is of a much denser type of rattan and as such is heavier and less flexible. It does, however, pack much more real “punch” than the more common koodoo rattan and is generally the most feared of canes for those who have experienced the effects of both types. The dragon cane really […]

Role play including telling off, corner time, having to bend over an authentic school desk to be caned (absolutely mind-boggling!!) getting the backs of your legs slapped, etc. can all combine to ensure the mindset is right for the experience. Canes differ of course. The usual standard rattan is very flexible and at around 8mm […]

I personally enjoy the role play as much as the CP itself and so a full school uniform is almost essential. Short trousers can emphasize the juvenile status but are lined and offer a little bit more in the way of protection. Unlined longs, or unlined shorts if you can find authentic ones, will allow […]