While she was still on her way Mrs Seaton went on to say that, in the absence of the headmaster, she would be punishing the boys, too. She read out my name and form and that I was to be punished for being sent out three times, and then told me, too, to wait outside her room.

Any individual school could choose not to use CP. Some 20% of secondary schools did so in the 1970s, according to informal guesstimates by STOPP. The remainder were spread between those where canings took place every day and those where CP was almost unheard of, with every possible variation in between. After everyone had gone past Mrs Seaton came marching up. She looked at both of us as if we were something rotten that the cat had dragged in and, without saying a word, went straight into her office. Lindsey made a face at me and we continued to stand outside in silence. I suggest you stand up straight, and if you can't keep your hands from pulling at your shirt tails, you'd better take it off altogether." It's going to be six for you Thomas, this time. Make no mistake, even for a senior, six strokes of the cane will be a very salutary lesson and, you can take it from me, it's going to be a lesson that you will not forget in a hurry."Six," replied Wendy. Her eyes widened with nervous admiration as Thomas pushed open the heavy, squeaking, wrought iron gate and began to climb the apple tree just a short way up the drive.

Among the majority of mainstream state secondary schools, caning (usually across the seat of a bending student's trousers) had been particularly prevalent in boys-only schools of all types, from mediaeval grammar schools(5) to brand-new secondaries modern. However, all instances of "corridoring" were recorded and if you were sent out three times in the course of a week, you could be sent for the cane. Sophie had not consciously planned to push his embarrassment any further than this. It had never been her prime objective for the lesson, but observing the shame and discomfort this was obviously causing for him, and still feeling irritated by his moment of defiance, however fleeting it might have been, she was determined to make things even more uncomfortable for him. At many schools these formal canings would be administered privately, often in the head's or deputy head's office or in the staffroom. "Public" ceremonies of formal caning in front of the whole school were rare in modern times, though not completely unknown. One education committee, Romford (then in Essex but now part of Greater London), unusually banned public CP in 1961 after six girls were caned in front of 600 schoolmates. It should also be noted that the Article 2 claim stood up only because there were no alternative non-belting state schools within reach, and the parents in question could not afford private schools. If the modern system of "school choice" had been in operation then -- or even if the local education authority had made an effort quietly to find ways of satisfying the requirements of a tiny number of (in my personal view) cranky parents, instead of being so arrogant and rigid about the whole thing -- the case would never have got off the ground and things might have gone differently over the last 40 years.Such documentary evidence as is available tends to show that third-, fourth- and fifth-formers (ages 13 to 16 inclusive) were by far the most frequent beneficiaries. The caning of sixth-formers (up to and including age 18) was much less common, but by no means unknown, as in this 1959 grammar-school case and at two Croydon boys' schools as late as the early 1980s. She could feel that her words were hitting the mark. As soon as she has risen from her chair, and in the near silence of the late afternoon, a palpable tension had descended in the room. The truth was that if Thomas Attwood had not been a particular favourite amongst the students of Grey House then his housemistress, Miss Sternwood, would have been unlikely to have proposed such an unorthodox ultimatum. It is often said that we hurt the ones we love the most, and it works both ways, but despite what the old headmaster's cliché might suggest, in reality it always hurts most in exactly the place we would expect. Without being aware that he was doing it, Thomas's face instinctively winced in expectation. Perversely he knew that he was simultaneously both longing for and dreading the terrible impact that could now only be a few seconds away. I agree with Sara007. Why use a cane? It's just stupid, and meaningless. The kid won't even learn anything. Parents who use canes are the problem. They are the ones who turn the kids violent.

This is the legislation voted into law on 25 March 1998, which took effect the following year. An equivalent law for Scotland came into force in 2000. As far as is known, corporal punishment was nowhere systematically made a matter of choice either for parents or students, as is nowadays routine in some American schools. However, there was one element of "voluntary CP" at some state boys' schools, like Maidenhead Grammar School (as also at some independent schools, such as Emanuel School in London), where it was understood that a student who had accumulated other punishments, such as detentions or impositions, could present himself at the headmaster's office and apply to be "swished" instead. The request, if granted, would be fulfilled forthwith, and the slate thereby wiped clean. The beneficiary would emerge sore and stinging, but with suddenly a lot more free time. This optional facility was known in some schools as "getting your detentions caned off". By the late 1960s the traditional "six of the best" had given way in most places to milder penalties of only two or three strokes as the norm, though to some extent this must have been compensated for by the fact that, with the advent of synthetic textiles, trouser material became significantly thinner in the 1960s. Underwear, too, got briefer and more lightweight as fashions changed. Other things being equal, each stroke of the cane was probably therefore sharper in its effect than in the days when trousers were made of wool and underpants of heavy flannel. One consequence of the perceived collapse in school discipline has been a tendency for some (especially immigrant-descended) parents to send their teens abroad to complete their secondary studies, often to Africa or the Caribbean, where a stricter and more structured education, including CP where necessary, is still available. See for instance this Nov 1997 news item about an under-achieving 13-year-old whose parents sent him to school in Ghana, with miraculous results, and this similar Nov 2007 report in which a British 17-year-old, sent away, also to Ghana, to study for his GCSEs, admitted he had been caned there several times and agreed he was benefiting academically from the novel experience of strict discipline. See likewise Children sent to Caribbean for 'basic' schooling, a news report from July 1996, and UK Ugandans rush kids to Kampala schools, from May 1998. You were sent out of the classroom three times last week, Marling. I am going to give you one stroke of the cane for each time and one extra one, for putting me to this trouble. How many strokes is that?"Some of the teachers had pet names for their slippers. My English teacher in the fifth year called his "Hotspur". I remember Hotspur well. It was a huge white plimsoll with the canvas round the heel cut away so that the teacher could get a better grip. Hotspur was thoroughly dilapidated and looked ancient enough to have belonged to Shakespeare himself. However, the business end was intact. Well aware of the fact this off-the-record punishment had already pushed the boundaries of appropriateness to breaking point, she hesitated once again before making up her mind. "You're not done yet. Pants too! Put them over there with the rest of your clothes." Despite Lindsey's reaction the fifth stroke followed after the now familiar pause. Poor Lindsey! This time there was an almighty yell, sounding really loud even through the closed door. I heard thudding sounds and Lindsey's voice, raised and tearful. There was a longer pause, when all I could hear was raised voices, then it went quiet again, but no sixth stroke followed.

nextcorrea - Lots of interesting points. Here in America we like to think that we are the gold standard of humane treatment of prisoners. We proudly note that we do not practice corporal punishment unlike more "savage" nations. But I think in lots of indirect ways prisoners are punished physically when they enter the prison system. The Commission was divided (there are three dissenting opinions) but the majority thought this particular caning, which caused weals, swelling and bruising, was, unlike other school cases considered, serious enough to be "degrading treatment" under Article 3 of the Convention. It would have been hard for him to explain, but there was something beguiling in the incongruity between her relaxed, friendly manner and his memories of seeing supposedly hardened bullies scurry off to the toilets to hide their tears at the end of yet another painfully unequal confrontation in Miss Sternwood's office. It was precisely this conflation of fear and desire that had occupied so many of his erotic dreams over the last couple of years.

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Later that day my form master told me that he had reported me and that I would have to see the headmaster after assembly on Monday. You can have a dozen if you like," Thomas called out cheerfully from half way up the tree, relishing the opportunity to demonstrate his bra She watched the glass as Thomas, finally free to rub his bottom, struggled to simultaneously turn his boxer shorts the correct way around using only his left hand while his right hand frantically massaged at his burning cheeks. With a wry smile she reflected he would not be rubbing away that sting for quite a while. Even by her own superlative standards she knew those had been six very smartly delivered and powerful strokes.