Just so there is some value out of the mention of Frankston, Victoria, Australia in this thread, the following is the final page of a punishment book from a state primary school located in Frankston, Victoria, immediately prior to abolition of corporal punishment from the state school system.
The Labor government that was elected in 1982 had announced its intention to abolish corporal punishment from government schools in that year. Though formal abolition would not take place until the following year, most state schools that had not already done so, abolished at the end of 1982, and I have some indications that primary schools (as opposed to secondary schools) were ordered to do so by a Ministerial letter I’ve been unable to track down (for historical legal reasons, regulations applying to secondary schools did not take effect until officially publicly Gazetted, but primary schools could be regulated by letter alone) were under instructions not to use the strap after the end of school year 1982.
I apologise for the watermark I’ve added to the image, but I’ve recently acquired copies of over 60 Victorian punishment books and I’ve had to agree to pretty strict conditions in terms of sharing those images. I can’t stop somebody ignoring the watermark and sharing this image further, but I can ask that people not do so. I am trying to get access to even more books from the same source and if I want that access, I need to follow the rules and that includes making that request, obscuring information that could identify individuals, or even individual schools (I feel safe saying this one was in Frankston because in 1982, Frankston had at least a dozen, probably more like twenty, primary schools – it was a decent sized city on the outer edge of Melbourne.
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RebeccaTaylor1512
Corporal punishment surveyHi, I don’t know if this forum can help, but I’m trying to put together some realistic data regarding the use of corporal punishment in schools.
Reading this and other internet sources of information it is clearly very hard to distinguish between genuine accounts of CP, peoples fantasies, and role play.
School punishment books are difficult to find, or access. When they are available they only show the information that the establishments wished to disclose. They also only reflect official punishments, generally administered by the Head, consequentially they are not very representative of the general use of CP within schools.
If I study references in the media, the reports are generally only written when the incident was questionably outside the law. In England where I live, and indeed went to school, corporal punishment was legally practiced up until 1986. Therefore there would be no reason for the media to cover anything except the unusual.
Many of us however have witnessed (often first hand) the use of corporal punishment at school. If you have (as indeed have I) I’d be very grateful if you’d reply to this post giving as much accurate information as you feel comfortable with. However to keep this thread out of the realm of fantasy, I’d ask that you only post facts, and leave the creative writing and long discussions to other forums.
The information I’d love you to provide is the following:
About You:
Gender:
Approximate age when punished:
Approximate year of punishment:
Crime committed or alleged:About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member:
Gender of staff member:
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc):
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc):
Number of strokes:
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc):
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc):
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc):
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc):About the school
Name of School:
Town:
Country:Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?:
Do you consider the punishment effective?:Any other relevant info:
Many thanks for your participation. I will reply to this post myself with the details of the CP I received.
Note: I see no reason why schools should not be named as they were operating completely within the law.
The cane was used a lot I would say from memory.Certainly a couple of my friends and some other classmates received 1 or more canings during their time at the school.Although I was caned twice as a junior girl I dont think that I was marked out as being exceptionally naughty.
There must have been a punishment book but it was never filled out in my presence.Otherwise how else would the Head have known how many previous offences and the number of strokes given when a girl presented herself for a caning.The routine before a caning was all very deliberate.You were called in to the office and asked to explain yourself.You were standing in front of the Heads desk and she was looking up at you and you would be trying to avoid eye contact.She would then lecture you and inform you of your punishment.In my case 3 or 6 strokes of the cane across my bottom.
She would then go to her cupboard and select an appropriate cane.You would be asked to take your blazer off if you were wearing one and then she would tap the end of the desk with the cane and order you to bend over.She would then deliver the punishment, in may case over my skirt and whatever garments I was wearing underneath and then she would send you on your way.
To my knowledge all canings were delivered in the Heads office in private with just you and the Head present.No girl was ever punished in front of other girls in my experience.
As for your own experiences you were indeed luck not to have been caned.Of course it was not meant to be pleasant and a deterrent for future bad behaviour.Having had it once you would have thought I would have been smart enough to avoid being caned again but no. It was pretty stupid of me to be out of school knowing there was a good chance I would be caught and that the punishment for the offence was the cane.
I hope this all answers your points but am more than happy to correspond further about any further aspects of my punishments or school life.
Kind regards,
Becki
fsngcf likes this post
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bripuk40930
Corporal punishment surveyHi, I don’t know if this forum can help, but I’m trying to put together some realistic data regarding the use of corporal punishment in schools.
Reading this and other internet sources of information it is clearly very hard to distinguish between genuine accounts of CP, peoples fantasies, and role play.
School punishment books are difficult to find, or access. When they are available they only show the information that the establishments wished to disclose. They also only reflect official punishments, generally administered by the Head, consequentially they are not very representative of the general use of CP within schools.
If I study references in the media, the reports are generally only written when the incident was questionably outside the law. In England where I live, and indeed went to school, corporal punishment was legally practiced up until 1986. Therefore there would be no reason for the media to cover anything except the unusual.
Many of us however have witnessed (often first hand) the use of corporal punishment at school. If you have (as indeed have I) I’d be very grateful if you’d reply to this post giving as much accurate information as you feel comfortable with. However to keep this thread out of the realm of fantasy, I’d ask that you only post facts, and leave the creative writing and long discussions to other forums.
The information I’d love you to provide is the following:
About You:
Gender:
Approximate age when punished:
Approximate year of punishment:
Crime committed or alleged:About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member:
Gender of staff member:
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc):
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc):
Number of strokes:
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc):
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc):
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc):
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc):About the school
Name of School:
Town:
Country:Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?:
Do you consider the punishment effective?:Any other relevant info:
Many thanks for your participation. I will reply to this post myself with the details of the CP I received.
Note: I see no reason why schools should not be named as they were operating completely within the law.
My guess is that in the early 60s many boys and mixed schools employed the cane and more frequently the slipper but even in a schoolin which I taught later only the boys were subject to cp. In my experience boys behaviour warranted the cane far more often but there were situations where I thought it would have been appropriate for a girl to receive the cane/slipper as a form of punishment. It clearly did happen elsewhere but I guess pretty rarely.
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larry19512,29880
Corporal punishment surveyHi, I don’t know if this forum can help, but I’m trying to put together some realistic data regarding the use of corporal punishment in schools.
Reading this and other internet sources of information it is clearly very hard to distinguish between genuine accounts of CP, peoples fantasies, and role play.
School punishment books are difficult to find, or access. When they are available they only show the information that the establishments wished to disclose. They also only reflect official punishments, generally administered by the Head, consequentially they are not very representative of the general use of CP within schools.
If I study references in the media, the reports are generally only written when the incident was questionably outside the law. In England where I live, and indeed went to school, corporal punishment was legally practiced up until 1986. Therefore there would be no reason for the media to cover anything except the unusual.
Many of us however have witnessed (often first hand) the use of corporal punishment at school. If you have (as indeed have I) I’d be very grateful if you’d reply to this post giving as much accurate information as you feel comfortable with. However to keep this thread out of the realm of fantasy, I’d ask that you only post facts, and leave the creative writing and long discussions to other forums.
The information I’d love you to provide is the following:
About You:
Gender:
Approximate age when punished:
Approximate year of punishment:
Crime committed or alleged:About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member:
Gender of staff member:
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc):
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc):
Number of strokes:
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc):
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc):
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc):
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc):About the school
Name of School:
Town:
Country:Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?:
Do you consider the punishment effective?:Any other relevant info:
Many thanks for your participation. I will reply to this post myself with the details of the CP I received.
Note: I see no reason why schools should not be named as they were operating completely within the law.
Rebecca has written that she was caned at a girls’ school in Cardiff in the 1970s.
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Another_Lurker10K289
Corporal punishment surveyHi, I don’t know if this forum can help, but I’m trying to put together some realistic data regarding the use of corporal punishment in schools.
Reading this and other internet sources of information it is clearly very hard to distinguish between genuine accounts of CP, peoples fantasies, and role play.
School punishment books are difficult to find, or access. When they are available they only show the information that the establishments wished to disclose. They also only reflect official punishments, generally administered by the Head, consequentially they are not very representative of the general use of CP within schools.
If I study references in the media, the reports are generally only written when the incident was questionably outside the law. In England where I live, and indeed went to school, corporal punishment was legally practiced up until 1986. Therefore there would be no reason for the media to cover anything except the unusual.
Many of us however have witnessed (often first hand) the use of corporal punishment at school. If you have (as indeed have I) I’d be very grateful if you’d reply to this post giving as much accurate information as you feel comfortable with. However to keep this thread out of the realm of fantasy, I’d ask that you only post facts, and leave the creative writing and long discussions to other forums.
The information I’d love you to provide is the following:
About You:
Gender:
Approximate age when punished:
Approximate year of punishment:
Crime committed or alleged:About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member:
Gender of staff member:
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc):
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc):
Number of strokes:
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc):
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc):
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc):
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc):About the school
Name of School:
Town:
Country:Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?:
Do you consider the punishment effective?:Any other relevant info:
Many thanks for your participation. I will reply to this post myself with the details of the CP I received.
Note: I see no reason why schools should not be named as they were operating completely within the law.
Corporal punishment surveyHi, I don’t know if this forum can help, but I’m trying to put together some realistic data regarding the use of corporal punishment in schools.
Reading this and other internet sources of information it is clearly very hard to distinguish between genuine accounts of CP, peoples fantasies, and role play.
School punishment books are difficult to find, or access. When they are available they only show the information that the establishments wished to disclose. They also only reflect official punishments, generally administered by the Head, consequentially they are not very representative of the general use of CP within schools.
If I study references in the media, the reports are generally only written when the incident was questionably outside the law. In England where I live, and indeed went to school, corporal punishment was legally practiced up until 1986. Therefore there would be no reason for the media to cover anything except the unusual.
Many of us however have witnessed (often first hand) the use of corporal punishment at school. If you have (as indeed have I) I’d be very grateful if you’d reply to this post giving as much accurate information as you feel comfortable with. However to keep this thread out of the realm of fantasy, I’d ask that you only post facts, and leave the creative writing and long discussions to other forums.
The information I’d love you to provide is the following:
About You:
Gender:
Approximate age when punished:
Approximate year of punishment:
Crime committed or alleged:About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member:
Gender of staff member:
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc):
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc):
Number of strokes:
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc):
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc):
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc):
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc):About the school
Name of School:
Town:
Country:Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?:
Do you consider the punishment effective?:Any other relevant info:
Many thanks for your participation. I will reply to this post myself with the details of the CP I received.
Note: I see no reason why schools should not be named as they were operating completely within the law.
Thank you for another most comprehensive and informative response to my queries.
With regard to the fact that I was not caned at school you said:
I doubt very strongly that incurring two canings indicated that you were in any way stupid. We have in the past heard from people who were manifestly very far from being stupid, but who were caned at school more than once, in some cases on several occasions.
My own theory is that the deterrent value of SCP depends very much on the effect of the original experience thereof on the recipient. We all have our individual standards for what constitutes a worthwhile risk. If we believe that the potential consequences may outweigh the potential benefits we don’t usually take the risk.
At age 13 your first 3 stroke caning was clearly not sufficiently painful and/or demeaning to your self-image to persuade you that in future being caned was something you wanted to try to avoid at all costs. However in my case finding myself as a little lad rather painfully providing entertainment for a class of older children had the opposite effect. If Miss B had conducted the punishments in private on that fateful day, who knows, I might have been regaling this Forum with accounts of canings galore. The Prefects at my Secondary School would have probably accounted for half a dozen at least! 
I have no more questions, but I hope very much that you will find it possible to comment and contribute here in the future.</div>
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RebeccaTaylor1512
Corporal punishment surveyHi, I don’t know if this forum can help, but I’m trying to put together some realistic data regarding the use of corporal punishment in schools.
Reading this and other internet sources of information it is clearly very hard to distinguish between genuine accounts of CP, peoples fantasies, and role play.
School punishment books are difficult to find, or access. When they are available they only show the information that the establishments wished to disclose. They also only reflect official punishments, generally administered by the Head, consequentially they are not very representative of the general use of CP within schools.
If I study references in the media, the reports are generally only written when the incident was questionably outside the law. In England where I live, and indeed went to school, corporal punishment was legally practiced up until 1986. Therefore there would be no reason for the media to cover anything except the unusual.
Many of us however have witnessed (often first hand) the use of corporal punishment at school. If you have (as indeed have I) I’d be very grateful if you’d reply to this post giving as much accurate information as you feel comfortable with. However to keep this thread out of the realm of fantasy, I’d ask that you only post facts, and leave the creative writing and long discussions to other forums.
The information I’d love you to provide is the following:
About You:
Gender:
Approximate age when punished:
Approximate year of punishment:
Crime committed or alleged:About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member:
Gender of staff member:
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc):
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc):
Number of strokes:
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc):
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc):
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc):
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc):About the school
Name of School:
Town:
Country:Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?:
Do you consider the punishment effective?:Any other relevant info:
Many thanks for your participation. I will reply to this post myself with the details of the CP I received.
Note: I see no reason why schools should not be named as they were operating completely within the law.
The editor has confirmed where I received my corporal punishment whilst at school.
To comment on your point I had female friends who went to mixed schools in the same city and as far as I know girls were not subjected to the cane but boys certainly were.I am guessing it was up to the individual school in conjunction with the local education authority to set thier own rules regarding corporal punishment.My school was all girls in terms of both pupils and teachers so I am presuming that it was deemed acceptable for the female Head of the school to dispense CP to girls as she saw fit.I did in fact live much closer to one of those mixed schools so if I had been sent there I would never have received the cane.However the school I attended had a good academic reputation and if I had behaved myself better I would again not have been subjected to CP.
Kind regards,
Becki
fsngcf likes this post
Corporal punishment surveyHi, I don’t know if this forum can help, but I’m trying to put together some realistic data regarding the use of corporal punishment in schools.
Reading this and other internet sources of information it is clearly very hard to distinguish between genuine accounts of CP, peoples fantasies, and role play.
School punishment books are difficult to find, or access. When they are available they only show the information that the establishments wished to disclose. They also only reflect official punishments, generally administered by the Head, consequentially they are not very representative of the general use of CP within schools.
If I study references in the media, the reports are generally only written when the incident was questionably outside the law. In England where I live, and indeed went to school, corporal punishment was legally practiced up until 1986. Therefore there would be no reason for the media to cover anything except the unusual.
Many of us however have witnessed (often first hand) the use of corporal punishment at school. If you have (as indeed have I) I’d be very grateful if you’d reply to this post giving as much accurate information as you feel comfortable with. However to keep this thread out of the realm of fantasy, I’d ask that you only post facts, and leave the creative writing and long discussions to other forums.
The information I’d love you to provide is the following:
About You:
Gender:
Approximate age when punished:
Approximate year of punishment:
Crime committed or alleged:About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member:
Gender of staff member:
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc):
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc):
Number of strokes:
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc):
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc):
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc):
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc):About the school
Name of School:
Town:
Country:Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?:
Do you consider the punishment effective?:Any other relevant info:
Many thanks for your participation. I will reply to this post myself with the details of the CP I received.
Note: I see no reason why schools should not be named as they were operating completely within the law.
When I said I was stupid I meant it in the sense that I did not learn form my previous mistake and ended up doing something that resulted in a punishment that was twice as bad as my previous punishment.I do get your point about my first punishment not being sufficiently severe enough to stop me from offending again.However as a teenage girl I dont think I was capable of that sort of thinking. Even after my 2nd caning I would not have said that my behaviour during the rest of my time at school was ‘angelic’.I think it was more of a case of not getting caught.There were times when I am sure I sailed very close to the wind but got away with it.Perhaps a more humiliating experience first time round would have made me think twice about re-offending but then again who knows.Teenage hormones have a lot to answer for.
Becki
fsngcf likes this post
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Another_Lurker10K289
Corporal punishment surveyHi, I don’t know if this forum can help, but I’m trying to put together some realistic data regarding the use of corporal punishment in schools.
Reading this and other internet sources of information it is clearly very hard to distinguish between genuine accounts of CP, peoples fantasies, and role play.
School punishment books are difficult to find, or access. When they are available they only show the information that the establishments wished to disclose. They also only reflect official punishments, generally administered by the Head, consequentially they are not very representative of the general use of CP within schools.
If I study references in the media, the reports are generally only written when the incident was questionably outside the law. In England where I live, and indeed went to school, corporal punishment was legally practiced up until 1986. Therefore there would be no reason for the media to cover anything except the unusual.
Many of us however have witnessed (often first hand) the use of corporal punishment at school. If you have (as indeed have I) I’d be very grateful if you’d reply to this post giving as much accurate information as you feel comfortable with. However to keep this thread out of the realm of fantasy, I’d ask that you only post facts, and leave the creative writing and long discussions to other forums.
The information I’d love you to provide is the following:
About You:
Gender:
Approximate age when punished:
Approximate year of punishment:
Crime committed or alleged:About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member:
Gender of staff member:
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc):
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc):
Number of strokes:
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc):
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc):
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc):
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc):About the school
Name of School:
Town:
Country:Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?:
Do you consider the punishment effective?:Any other relevant info:
Many thanks for your participation. I will reply to this post myself with the details of the CP I received.
Note: I see no reason why schools should not be named as they were operating completely within the law.
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wills-nl1
Corporal punishment surveyHi, I don’t know if this forum can help, but I’m trying to put together some realistic data regarding the use of corporal punishment in schools.
Reading this and other internet sources of information it is clearly very hard to distinguish between genuine accounts of CP, peoples fantasies, and role play.
School punishment books are difficult to find, or access. When they are available they only show the information that the establishments wished to disclose. They also only reflect official punishments, generally administered by the Head, consequentially they are not very representative of the general use of CP within schools.
If I study references in the media, the reports are generally only written when the incident was questionably outside the law. In England where I live, and indeed went to school, corporal punishment was legally practiced up until 1986. Therefore there would be no reason for the media to cover anything except the unusual.
Many of us however have witnessed (often first hand) the use of corporal punishment at school. If you have (as indeed have I) I’d be very grateful if you’d reply to this post giving as much accurate information as you feel comfortable with. However to keep this thread out of the realm of fantasy, I’d ask that you only post facts, and leave the creative writing and long discussions to other forums.
The information I’d love you to provide is the following:
About You:
Gender:
Approximate age when punished:
Approximate year of punishment:
Crime committed or alleged:About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member:
Gender of staff member:
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc):
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc):
Number of strokes:
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc):
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc):
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc):
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc):About the school
Name of School:
Town:
Country:Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?:
Do you consider the punishment effective?:Any other relevant info:
Many thanks for your participation. I will reply to this post myself with the details of the CP I received.
Note: I see no reason why schools should not be named as they were operating completely within the law.
Gender:Male
Approximate age when punished: 11
Approximate year of punishment: 1966
Crime committed or alleged: Freaking out and shouting at classmate on the bus home for deriding my little Dansette record player (really). Then failing to place my school cap on my head again as required after the commotion subsided.
About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Head (in this case Mr. Handley)
Gender of staff member: Male
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Next to the head’s desk in the classroom in which he taught the top year.
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Slipper (actually an old plimsoll)
Number of strokes: 6
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Bending over.
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Fully clothed
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): In front of Class.
About the school
Name of School: St Michael’s Prep
Town: Hitchin
Country: England
Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes
Any other relevant info:
I had to knock to announce my presence, and wait several minutes outside the head’s classroom. I was slippered in front of the class who all seemed to be leering. The embarrassment exacerbated the beating. I returned to my own class and had to describe my punishment (Six of the best, Miss).