Whilst it certainly was humiliating to be punished in class in front of other pupils, I felt it was also humiliating to witness the punishment. If it was a severe punishment, such as a caning, I used to look away. I always felt sorry for the person being caned, especially if it was for a trivial offence such as failing to bring a book.
If a child had to be punished at all, it was best carried out in the office of the head with just the two people present. At one school I worked at, the headmaster would ask a male member of staff to witness when he caned boys and the senior mistress would find a female to watch her cane girls. Several of the staff said they felt uncomfortable having to do this duty and one actually refused. The witnesses were there, the head said, to prevent allegations of abuse.
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I also don’t dare to look at the person getting the cane,usually 1st caning is given in the office,the 2nd ones,is in the class,the last caning,will be of course in the school’s stage….The sound of the caning is very loud,so i can ‘imagine’ the pain of the caning,is…..very painful..
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I had mixed feelings about watching other poeple get it. At my secondary school slipperings were normally carried out in the classroom and we all got to watch. I always found the spectacle fascinating. I think we all did. There was an incredible silence in the room as soon as the teacher got the slipper out of the drawer and called the boy to the front of the class. I felt sorry for the boy but not that sorry. The slipper hurt but it was not given unfairly. Part of me enjoyed the ritual of watching the boy respond to the command to bend over, seeing the teacher fold back the boy’s blazer and line the slipper up on the seat of his trousers before raising it high in the air, then bringing it crashing down with a loud thwack across the lad’s backside. Normally the procedure was repeated several times. Six was the usual dose but we got as many as 12 sometimes. Watching the boy walk back to his desk clutching his backside and crying was quite moving. We didn’t half behave ourselves for the rest of the lesson.
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At 12, I can remember my mate (Eddie) being caned in the Head Teachers office. He got 6 of the best for causing trouble at lunchtime. First lesson after lunch was PE. Cutting a long story short, by the time the Head reacted to the problems at lunchtime, PE had already started and we were in the gym.
He got pulled out of PE to see the Head Teacher who also called me and another lad (Carl).
Eddie got 6 of the best. Carl and I got 2. At the time, we were just wearing shorts as we got pulled out of PE. It was bad enough seeing poor Eddie getting 6, but just in shorts, it really hurt.
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I was given the strap on the hands in Canada.Second offence in one year meant 6 on each with a rubber like tawse.Having my grade 6 teacher there to witness (female) was extremely humiliating.I ended up in tears from the horrific sting…and she seemed rather upset at the severity of the punishment.I have to admit it was earned and ended my brushes with authority….
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I witnessed corporal punishment at school in the classroom from spankings too canings not nice for the victim and not always good too watch
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I witnessed both boys and girls over the knee at the front of the class and saw many boys underpants and girls knickers as Mrs B always spanked over their underwear. The girls always cried, some boys did but the majority including me returned to my desk with wet eyes and a sore backside!!
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