THE FIRST GENERATION OF BROTHERS
By the 1820s, these Brothers were in touch with the headquarters of the French Brothers of the Christian Schools in Paris. From here, they received two important disciplinary instruments – the wooden signal and the leather strap.
The strap – ’13 inches long, 1.25 inches wide, and 0.25 inches thick’ used only on the hand was a mild instrument in comparison to most used in British schools.
So mild, in fact, that the strap was not even considered to be corporal punishment.
At the time, the strap could only be given to a boy’s non-writing hand, and under normal circumstances only one strap was to be given.
Quote: ‘Blows are a servile form of chastisement and degrade the soul. They ordinarily harden rather than correct, and blunt those fine feelings which render a rational creature sensible to shame.