When it comes to matters of CP some of us have prodigious memories, havning imprinted forever on our minds scenes, articles, and films that contain the references to the subject. However, the edges of some of the details do get a little blurred or may not have been absorbed in the first place.

Around the late 60's, early 70's (approximately)I read in an Aussie newspaper of an incident occurring in Africa - probably Rhodesia in the reign of Prime Minister Smith (but there's a chance it could have been S. Africa..don't think so).

Anyway, the salient details are as follows. A large number of students from government high schools truanted from school to attend an illegal public protest over the government's racial policies - probably apartheid. The names of the students were taken and the government ordered that all participants, both boys and girls, should receive six strokes of the cane at school for their actions. The punishments were handed out soon afterwards in mass line ups of offending students.

I have never since been able to find an historical reference for this incident and, of course, the cynics love to assure me it never happened. Well it certainly did, and I would appreciate any light that our historians can throw on this one...or even similar incidents on the African continent.

I have an extremely vague memory of newspaper reports sometime in the early 1970s about a mass punishment in Ovamboland. I believe that adults (rather than schoolchildren) were involved, and that this was a "tribal judicial" punishment involving public beatings with a palm branch; but again it followed some kind of political demonstration in support of SWAPO, the South West Africa People's Organisation. As I recall, the reports said that the victims were held over some kind of stool, with males being required to drop their trousers and females lift their skirts.

I haven't been able to find details of the contemporary reports, but here is an obituary of Bishop Richard Wood, containing the following paragraph:

Wood was accused of being the author of political statements issued by black organisations. Another cause of concern was his involvement with the Lutheran bishop and a member of the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo) in a legal action over the public flogging of male and female Swapo supporters in Ovamboland, where most of the Anglicans were located, which contravened human rights. This action continued after Wood's expulsion; and in 1975 the South African Court of Appeal found in favour of the appellants.

Ryan - 1970 or 1971 in Salisbury.

Strange as it might seem to my current students, I was a radical back then - all through the 1960s and early 1970s I protested for rights for Australia's indigenous people, and I was well aware of all the civil rights incidents around the world. Can't remember all the details, but I think that where and when the incident you describe took place.

I think it caused a stir because British officials were in the area trying to sort out all the mess, and they kicked up a fuss about it.

Brilliant, Doctor, at least someone else remembers the incident. I'm afraid it resists all attempts at googling, but perhaps my skills at this are too limited.

Not being so long out of school at the time the thought of long lines of high school students of both genders waiting to be caned by government order was quite striking (shall we say). I'd have been interested in rereading the circumstances if they could be found.

For Archivists in South Africa

Justice In South Africa by Albie Sachs | LibraryThing

Just Google the above.

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=316269

Some of the quoted sounds, from this previous link very much like, those who are discussing the pros and cons in the 21 states that permit CP here. FTR I am vehemently opposed to the public humiliation aspect that Thomas Hand then and the Memphis Charter School employs now. Children being hit in front of others or taken to the office and whacked with pointers on the buttocks broadcasted over the PA system with the preface of this is what happens to those who etc etc etc was IMHO child abuse in my Catholic school and doesn't happen here thank God other than the Memphis aberration.

From an American perspective the decline in numbers here reflects a narrower definition of a last resort, IMHO a good thing, as well as fear of legal recriminations, IMHO a bad thing. Funding in schools is often on classroom size, (now increasing in size because of financial constraints to keep the teachers employed), are based on the aggregate student body totals in the classroom and not isolated from the other students. It could prove tempting for the less scrupulous teachers to isolate as many students to keep the student/teacher ratio and problems down.

Saturday detention handles that but at what costs to the taxpayer? Paying two teachers, willing to monitor the most troublesome and more so because of being angry for having to be there is a lot to ask of the teachers on their free day. The movie Breakfast Club was enjoyable and a breakout movie for those who became stars but not to their teachers who couldn't lay a finger on them. It's expensive to pay the teachers and costly to open the schools on Saturday. The money diverted I'm sure could go into something better

In my city one of the 29 states that practice alternative means of punishment the City High School has a three times higher average of combined suspensions plus paddling and twice the average in the Regional Vocational School, a selling point for the parents.

ryan1 wrote: "Around the late 60's, early 70's (approximately)I read in an Aussie newspaper of an incident occurring in Africa - probably Rhodesia in the reign of Prime Minister Smith (but there's a chance it could have been S. Africa..don't think so). [...] I have never since been able to find an historical reference for this incident [...]

Here you are:
http://www.corpun.com/zwju7107.htm

Incidentally, that page has been on my site for over 9 years. You might find the site's search function useful.

I was part of a group of nine boys who were caned by our headmistress in primary school (5th grade 1983) for our involvement in a school fruit fight in the main playground during lunch. We were lined up outside her office and we were called in two at a time and received four strokes of the cane each. The cane was administered to the palms of our hands, two strokes on each hand and after we had been caned we had to line up facing 'the wall' outside the administration block. We were also punished with three days of half lunch detention where we had to write 25 lines.