Corporal punishment survey 9

Approximate age when punished: 15
Approximate year of punishment: 1992
Crime committed or alleged: Throwing wet toilet paper at school
About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Headmaster
Gender of staff member: Male
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 12
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Bent over
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Across trousers
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): With 2 other friends also getting caned

Country: SA, Australia

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: Not 4 the same thing, got caned 8 times for fighting, also across the bottom when I was 12

Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes – seeing my friends get it first was a turnoff. Gee it hurt, absolute turn off going to the office again

About You:
Gender: Female
Approximate age when punished: 11
Approximate year of punishment: 1980
Crime committed or alleged: Littering

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Headmaster
Gender of staff member: Male
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Headmasters office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 3
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Touching toes
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): In school dress
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): Headmaster in office, with secretary in outer office and door to secretary open

About the school
Name of School: Sydney Church of England Coeducational Grammar School (S.C.E.C.G.S.) Redlands
Town: Cremorne, NSW
Country: Australia

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: Not by caning
Do you consider the punishment effective?: No

Any other relevant info: Second day at school and I was in a list of students (6 boys and 6 girls, two from each form) summoned to the Headmasters office after assembly to be caned. It was a set up – they were looking for children to make a point with.

Approximate age when punished: 12
Approximate year of punishment: 1980
Crime committed or alleged: Damaging library books

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Deputy Head
Gender of staff member: Female
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Deputy Head’s office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 3
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Bending over a stool
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): In winter uniform skirt
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): Only the Deputy Head and myself in the office, but door open to secretary’s office

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?:Yes

Any other relevant info: I’d been making notes in the margin of a book in pencil. I didn’t really think there was anythign wrong with doing this, but the library teacher didn’t agree and sent me to the office.

Approximate age when punished: 13
Approximate year of punishment: 1981
Crime committed or alleged: Deliberate defiance

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Deputy Head
Gender of staff member: Female
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Deputy Head’s office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 4
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Bending over a stool
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Summer dress
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): Deputy Head in office with door to outer office open

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes

Any other relevant info: We had a school excursion to the Museum and we were banned from bringing any money to buy lollies but could bring money to buy souveniers. We were told several times that it wouldn’t be allowed, but I decided to buy some lollies which were on the counter at the gift shop along with some other children. The teachers worked out what we’d done and when we were told to hand over what we’d bought to the teacher in charge to be confiscated I was the only one who refused to do so. Instead I ate them on the bus trip home in the vain belief that if all the evidence was destroyed by the time we got back to school, I’d be able to escape punishment. This was the first time my parents knew I’d been caned – I told them because the Deputy Head told me after I’d been caned she was going to see them at Parent Teacher interviews about whether or not I’d be allowed to go on future excursions. They were not happy, but I managed to convince them not to make a big fuss about it, and as it was deserved they agreed.

Approximate age when punished: 13
Approximate year of punishment: 1981
Crime committed or alleged: Being involved in a dangerous practical joke

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Headmaster
Gender of staff member: Male
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): An empty classroom
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 3
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Touching toes
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Winter skirt
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): Along with two other girls and three boys in an empty classroom near the office

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?: No, I was completely innocent

Any other relevant info: I was in a classroom at morning playtime – I had permission to be in there to finish some work, and there were other children in there as well. Some had permission, I don’t know if they all did. At least one of the boys (I know it wasn’t the girls because we were working together and I don’t think one boy could have done it alone) moved the heavy wooden pelmet that was above the sliding door to the room so it would fall down when the door was opened. When the bell rang at the end of recess and a teacher was leading the class in, it did fall, landing on a child and knocking her down. The teacher sent all of us who were in the room to the office. When we got there, the secretary spoke to the Headmaster and he came out of the office with the cane and punishment book and lead us up the hall to an empty classroom. He questioned us briefly but all any of us were saying was that we weren’t the ones who’d done it (true in my cases, but everybody was saying it) and so after only a minute or so, he just told us all to line up along the wall and one at a time, he called us out and told us to touch our toes and caned us. It was horrible watching other people getting it and knowing what was coming, I was the second last one caned – he alternated between girls and boys.

Approximate age when punished: 13
Approximate year of punishment: 1982
Crime committed or alleged: Being out of my seat

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Deputy Head
Gender of staff member: Female
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Deputy Head’s office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 3
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Bending over a stool
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Summer dress
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): Door to secretary’s office was open. Could probably also be overheard by another child.

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes, but excessive

Any other relevant info: A teacher had to leave the classroom, and we were supposed to sit in our seats quietly and wait for him to come back. A boy did leave his seat and was leading some of the class in a game of rude word hangman on the blackboard. When the teacher came back – he’d been gone quite a while, he saw the boy and the obvious half written swear word on the board (rude word hangman really was quite a silly game) and told him to go to the office. I had just stood up and walked over to the rubbish bin to sharpen a pencil, and the boy said: “I’m not the only one out of my seat” and so the teacher sent me as well.

The Deputy Head gave him four strokes and I got three. I heard him being caned from the outer office area, so I assumed he’d heard me as well. He later got beaten up by a boy who liked me (who got six of the best for doing that).

Approximate age when punished: 14
Approximate year of punishment:1982
Crime committed or alleged: Sliding on the floors of the showers before PE

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Headmaster
Gender of staff member: Male
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Headmaster’s office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 3
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Touching toes
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): In PE uniform
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): In an empty classroom

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes

Any other relevant info: We went into the changerooms to change for PE, and the shower area was absolutely flooded. One girl showed us that this meant you could slide along the tiles. A few of us did it, and the PE teacher sent us to the office. The Headmaster took us to an empty classroom and gave the four of us the cane. It was somewhat embarassing as our PE uniform meant we were wearing sports briefs – about as revealing as underwear and the idea of him obviously looking at my bottom while I was bending over in those was confronting. It really was quite a stupid uniform.

Approximate age when punished: 14
Approximate year of punishment: 1982
Crime committed or alleged: Lying about making prank phone calls

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Deputy Head
Gender of staff member: Female
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Deputy Head’s office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 6
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Bending over stool
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Skirt lifted up and caned across underwear
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): Secretary could hear through open door

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No – and I didn’t do it that time
Do you consider the punishment effective?: I was innocent, so, no, but it did give me a great respect for just how bad the cane could be.

Any other relevant info: There were a couple of public phones in the school for children to use if they needed to. I was seen near one of them just about the time it was supposedly used to make a prank phone call. I was called in and accused of making the call – I denied it, and I hadn’t done it, and I was told I was obviously lying and if I wasn’t I should be able to name the person who had done it because I was there. I hadn’t seen anyone, so I couldn’t – and having just been called a liar I got quite angry and I wouldn’t have wanted to cooperate anyway even if I had (although I think I would have to avoid the cane). After arguing for a few minutes, I was told that my lying meant I was going to get six of the best, and when I further protested, I was told if I didn’t cooperate my parents would be called in about my continuing misbehaviour – my parents knew I’d been caned once before. I hadn’t told them about any of the other times. If they’d been called in and they were told I’d been caned six times instead of once, how could I have convinced them I was being honest now? Even if they had believed me, or just been so horrified about the number of times I’d been caned and wanted to do something, about the only thing I could see happening was being sent to a state high school and the ones near our house had pretty poor reputations, and it would have meant leaving all my friends and the school – there was actually a lot about the school I really did like, overall I was happy there despite the unfair punishments. I bent over when I was told, the Deputy Head lifted the back of my skirt and folded it up across my back which upset me more and frightened me more, but I was already so upset and frightened, it couldn’t really make much difference and I got six of the best. It was horrible, it would have been bad enough if I’d deserved it. I had a very hard time keeping that one from my parents – I had a Girl Guide camp that weekend and one of my friends saw the marks the cane had left and told one of the leaders, and to stop her telling my parents, I wound up having to convince her it was a fair and deserved punishment.

About You:
Gender:
Approximate age when punished: 14
Approximate year of punishment: 1982
Crime committed or alleged: Not doing enough homework

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Deputy Head
Gender of staff member: Female
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Deputy Head’s office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 3
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Bending over stool
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Summer dress
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): Secretary could hear through open door

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?: No

Any other relevant info: I did not deserve this punishment. It was right at the end of the school year, and the homework in question was to summarise events from the previous terms teaching. I only had one page left in my exercise book and it seemed stupid to start a new book to write one page in, so I wrote really small to squeeze everything in. When the teacher came around to check our homework, he sent a boy to the office for not having done enough, and when he got to me, he told me to go as well. I protested but to no avail. I even counted words to show how I had more than twice as many words on a line as the girl sitting next to me who’d done just over a page. It just didn’t move him at all. I am pretty convinced that he knew I’d written as much as anybody else, but having sent a boy he felt he had to send a girl, and after going around the entire class – while I frantically counted every word on my page and the girl next to me counted hers as well (an act of real friendship – because would you want to be the girl admitting you’d written less than the girl being sent to the office for not writing enough?) and finding no other girl who really deserved to be sent – he had to send somebody. I had been caned before – if he was going to be unfair to somebody, why not me? And when I got to the office and into see the Deputy Head and her first words were something like “I hope I’m not going to have any more lies and nonsense from you?” I didn’t even bother to try and argue technicalities with her. I didn’t dare. I’d passed the boy coming back from the office and he told me he’d only got 2, and I didn’t want to turn 2 into six of the best across my underwear by ‘lying’. As it was, I got 3 for whatever reason.

Approximate age when punished: 15
Approximate year of punishment: 1983
Crime committed or alleged: Pushing a boy down the stairs

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Deputy Head
Gender of staff member: Female
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Deputy Head’s office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 6
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Bending over with my hands on the seat of a chair
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Winter skirt
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): Secretary could hear

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: Not quite
Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes

Any other relevant info: I was picking on this boy – I’m afraid I was a little bit of a bully at times, and I had been teasing him quite badly. When the bell rang, he got to the stairs going down ahead of me, and slipped on the top stair, sliding all the way down. I’m afraid I laughed. He took the smile well and truly off my face by telling the teacher who came to his aid at the bottom of the stairs that I’d pushed him, and I was off to the office to see the Deputy Headmistress who gave me six of the best. I didn’t argue even though I was technically innocent. For a start, I didn’t dare – she was unlikely to have believed me and I would have just made my punishment worse – my winter skirt was thick enough to make some difference and besides I was actually feeling a little rotten about laughing at a boy who could have been badly hurt and if I’d been seen teasing him that alone could have got me sent to the office. So all in all, I didn’t feel unfairly treated, but it does illustrate just how easy it was in that school for unfair punishment to happen.

Approximate age when punished: 15
Approximate year of punishment: 1983
Crime committed or alleged: Bullying

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Deputy Head
Gender of staff member: Female
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Deputy Head’s office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 6
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Hand on seat of chair bending over
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Across underwear
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): Secretary could hear

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: Yes (though I didn’t deserve it)
Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes

Any other relevant info: I really deserved this one. No doubt about it. There was a girl in our class who came out in a rash on school camp after rubbing up against tea tree. Now, she was a really, really, nasty person. Worst bully by far in our year, probably in the whole school – far worse than me – at least up until this point. Anyway, I wanted to get her and knowing just brushing up again tea tree had given her a rash – during a swimming session I got permission to go to the change room to use the toilets and I covered her underwear and bra with tea tree oil (I also made everybody elses clothes in the area wet). For good measure I also put it on her towel. She was in a very significant amount of discomfort, including horrible itching in some really awful places. I got six of the best across my underwear again – this time my skirt wouldn’t stay up and I had to undo it and lower it – but I think that paled in comparison to what had happened to her. This was the second time my parents knew I’d been caned and I think it tested their disagreement with corporal punishment to the limit, especially my fathers (he is a paediatrician and I don’t think I could have committed a worse crime in his eyes). He checked me out when I got home and I felt very vulnerable and nervous that he was about to end a long held belief on my bottom.

Approximate age when punished: 16
Approximate year of punishment: 1984
Crime committed or alleged: Bullying

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Deputy Head
Gender of staff member: Female
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Deputy Head’s office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 6
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Hands on seat of chair, bent over
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Summer dress
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): Secretary could hear

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes, except I wasn’t guilty

Any other relevant info: Somebody (not myself) photocopied and pasted up all over the school a polaroid photo of the girl from the previous incident in the showers. They weren’t the clearest images (black and white photocopies of a photo) but they were recognisable. She claimed I’d taken the photo and that was accepted. In fact, I’d had nothing to do with it at all – neither with the photograph being taken or the photocopying. But I didn’t argue too much about it – by this stage, I knew the odds were I’d just make things worse by ‘lying’ and I really didn’t feel able to bring my parents into it, I didn’t want to remind them of what I’d done before. But I did feel like a convenient scapegoat.

Approximate age when punished: 17
Approximate year of punishment: 1985
Crime committed or alleged: Rudeness

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Headmaster
Gender of staff member: Male
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Headmaster’s office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 6
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Touching toes
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Winter skirt
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): The secretary could hear through the open door. The Deputy Head probably could as well.

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes, but excessive

Any other relevant info: A teacher overheard me referring to the Deputy Head as ‘desperate for a date’ sent me to the office for being so rude. The Deputy Head initially took me into her office, but after I’d admitted what I’d said, took me across to the Headmaster and said she thought he’d better deal with it. He thought it was worth six. I honestly think I would have been better off if she’d dealt with it – this series of stories really isn’t totally fair to her, she did have a sense of humour and could be nice a lot of the time. But once she decided something – tunnel vision in the extreme – and she was very much a ‘following orders’ type, I think as well.

Approximate age when punished: 17
Approximate year of punishment: 1985
Crime committed or alleged: Skinny dipping

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Deputy Head
Gender of staff member: Female
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Classroom
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 6
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Bending across desk
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): On underwear
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): With four other girls

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes

Any other relevant info: End of our final year, with just exams to come, students traditionally had some celebrations and unofficial end of year activities. One of these involved breaking into a local public pool and swimming around naked. We were warned against it, but some of us decided it was worth the risk.

We wound up being given a choice – six of the best or find somewhere else to sit our exams. One girl tried to take the second option but her parents had other ideas and after six years of avoiding the cane (no mean achievement) she got six of the best on her last day. Once again, I had to watch others caned in front of me, and that’s a memory that really sticks with me.

Some boys were also caned by the Headmaster at about the same time for the same thing.

Rodney, Sorry to take so long to reply… I’m not sure of the dates she attended Alleynes, I think it would have been from about 1942

Rebecca, Many thanks for such a comprehensive account of your cp experience at school. In this survey it helps to redress the balance between girls and boys receiving cp. It appears that Jenny and yourself have nearly balanced the girl/boy equation singlehandedly!

Many thanks to all those who have contributed to this thread which is rapidly becoming one of the more informative threads on the web. Please keep them coming !

Robin

APPROX YEAR OF PUNISHMENT : 1969
APPROX AGE WHEN PUNISHED : 12
CRIME : PLAYING TRUANT

ADMINISTERED BY : MR PARR HEADMASTER
LOCATION : HEADMASTERS OFFICE
TYPE OF PUNISHMENT : CANE
NUMBER OF STROKES : 6
APPLIED TO : BOTTOM
POSITION : BENT OVER STOOL
DRESS : TROUSERS
PRIVACY : 1 BOY 2 GIRLS AND SENIOR MISTRESS PRESENT

EFFECTIVENESS ; NEVER PUNISHED FOR SAME OFFENCE AGAIN
: PUNISHMENT VERY EFFECTIVE

OTHER INFO : 4 of us decided to play truant one friday,we were all caught in the local
town centre by the wag woman as they used to call them.She took us back to
school,the headmaster decided he would punish us first thing Monday morning
myself and the other boy received 6 on the bottom the girls were punished
by the senior mistress 3 strokes on the hand.Us boys had left the heads
office so did not witness girls caning

About You:
Gender: M
Approximate age when punished: 13
Approximate year of punishment: 1983
Crime committed or alleged: Threw a tennis ball across the romm hitting a fatgirl in the heaad

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Head Master
Gender of staff member: Male
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Heads office
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Cane
Number of strokes: 6
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): 3 each hand
Position adopted (Standing, Bending over Chair, Desk etc): Standing hands out
State of dress (Over Trousers/Skirt, panties, bare etc): Full Winter uniform with blazer
Privacy (In private, In front of Class, With another teacher etc): private

About the school
Name of School: Gelong Grammer
Town: Melbourne
Country: Auatralia

Effectiveness
Were you ever punished again for the same offence?: No
Do you consider the punishment effective?: Yes

Any other relevant info: The school had a policy of caning you for just about anything and girls as well as boys were being given it daily.

I studied in a missionary school in C.India in the eighties.The school was headed by an Irish nun who was a martinet. Incorrigble girls were usually sent to her for correction.I was unfortunate to pay her a visit during 1984 or so.I relate below the details of caning I received.
my sex–==Female Age—-14
height at that time—5’1
type of punishment—-caning
where?——-Over the panties
No of strokes—–6
position–Bending over a table
person punishing–Female-H.M
Purpose—–Having altered my mark sheet
After effects–Six clear red lines were visible over my buttocks which disappeared after two days.

Gender: M
Approximate age when punished: 11
Approximate year of punishment: 1983
Crime committed or alleged: Disruptive in class

About the punishment
Administered by Head, or Staff member: Teacher
Gender of staff member: Female
Location punished (Classroom, Office, Hallway etc): Classroom
Type of punishment (Cane,Slipper,Paddle etc): Ruler
Number of strokes: 6
Applied to (Hand, Bottom, Legs etc): Bottom
Position adopted: Bending Over
State of dress: Full school Uniform (shorts, shirt, jumper)
Privacy: In front of the class

About the school
Name of school: Werrington
Country:
Australia

I was punished again for the same offence a couple of months later but I was sent to the headmaster and he gave me six strokes of the cane. I was caned again about 2 weeks later by the deputy headmistress for being disruptive for a substitute teacher. My sister tattled on me for getting the cane and my father gave me the strap that night.