Following on from Ketta's interesting topic of the size of slippers, were there different sizes of cane used in schools, both in length and diameter, for children of different ages?

A Nursery cane - very thin - very short - very whippy

A Junior Cane about 28"- very thin - very whippy - lots of surface sting

A Senior Cane regulation 32" - thicker - more thud than sting - longer lasting effects.

SC

S'pore school uses cane of 1 meter,10mm thickness...

Of course the thickness of the cane did change with the age of the pupil but other considerations were taken into account, and in fact more important. If the cane was going to be used on the hand a much thinner and flexible cane was used than if it was going to be used on the buttocks. This was to reduce the risk of injury to the fingers and bruising to the hand. When using a cane on the buttocks a thicker cane was used if it was done over clothing. Canes used on the buttocks over clothing tended to be much more rigid so as to ,make a greater impact on the buttocks. Such canes were the ones that left the buttocks bruised often for three weeks and the boy feeling where he had been caned for several days. These canes landed with more of a THUMP sound than the whippy canes used on the hands.

Like myself, in spite of reservations about its use by many, a fair number of heads use to cane either on the pants or the bare buttocks. It is true that the later was most commonly used in private schools or in my case church schools run jointly with the local authorities, mainly prior to 1965. A few heads did prefer to cane on the pants or bare buttocks as the thinner whippy canes could be used. These landed with a THWACK sound. Such strokes would sting at the time more than the rigid canes, but did not leave the buttocks so bruised as the thicker canes used over clothing. These thin canes bent on contact with the buttocks, and with the boy not bending over so much, as trousers and pants did not need to be stretched so the buttocks were more relaxed and so would not cut or graze . this was the advantage of a thin whippy cane used on the buttocks

I think that in some schools it was only the junior canes that were used on girls.

School canes in the UK came in two lengths, 2’ 6” for juniors and 3’ for seniors. This length included the crooked handle.

1 x 100 cm rattan with a maxmum of six strokes is suitable for clothed teen boy buttocks .

1cmx100cm.?That's the standard cane used in S'pore's school,1-2 strokes is enough,very painful even wearing extra brief inside,cane marks lasts at least 3 days.

The marks from a "good" school caning usually lasted a week or two or three on boys with white skins. The tram track marks were the most persistant. The bruising moved and faded more quickly. One or two strokes were awarded for minor offences and 4 or 6 for more serious.

The most strokes in a S'pore school allow is 3 strokes,here the principal/discipine master canes full strength,twist their body[like playing golf],so just 1 stroke is enough to send the student jumping up..

Jumping up or moving when you were getting caned was dangerous because it might earn you extra strokes. Also, your classmates and friends would tease you if you did not take your caning stoically. If the cane is to be used at all it needs to be used well. It is not possible to cane too hard. Our geography master was known for the severity his canings. In five years he never caned anyone in my class and very few if any in other classes.

Jumping up or moving will not be dangerous,because our discipine master usually hit us vey hard for the first stroke,no extra strokes for rubbing our bottom,usually after the 2nd stroke,if the discipine master 'felt' the student has 'suffer' enough,the caning will stop...usually no classmate will laugh for not brave enough.

Standard here:-

Length: 32 inches (Approx 80 cm).
Width: 1/2 inch (Approx 1.2 cm).
Weight: 1 1/4 ounce (Approx 35 grams).

As we are dealing with a product that stems from a natural source (indeed it stems from a stem!), you do get some variation.

For a long time, the standard was 36 inches in length, but legal problems were identified with that length.

Re: Cane Size
April 30 2008, 11:21 AM

Standard here:-

Length: 32 inches (Approx 80 cm).
Width: 1/2 inch (Approx 1.2 cm).
Weight: 1 1/4 ounce (Approx 35 grams).
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Density is a good indicator of strength and useful indicator of stinging power. Dominum, your canes are rather thick and of low density compared with the old days. Quality rattan is now very hard to come by. The jungles of SE Asia have been depleted of wild rattan and there are bans on the export of unprocessed rounds. The cultivated product is often of poor quality.

Schools & prison still can get heavier canes from India..

Winston, is it possible for parents to buy a school cane in Singapore? Who sells them? What do they cost?

Yes,easily can get from a furniture shop,S$3.00 for a cane 90 cm x 8 mm dia....markets also sells canes for small children,these S$0.50 canes about 50 cm x 4-5 mm thick.