There have been a number of cases in which complaints of excessive punishment made against schools or teachers have been successful defended on the basis that the punishment was reasonable in the particular circumstances. In such cases comparisons are made. If a particular punishment is widely used and/or has been in use for a long time this usage is likely to be used as the standard for reasonableness. This does not explain why six but it may explain the wide acceptance of this number as the normal maximum once it was established as a maximum by one reputable school authority.
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