I recently had the first edition of this book returned. I was sagely told in this estimable Forum never lend a book but lend anything else even a wife. The same publisher as Miss Martindale series publishes this but unlike Miss Martindale this qualifies as a documentary and has been legitimately referenced as such. It is a hardcover and well put together without any unsavory drawings or photos. Here is a review with a typical graphic. It wouldn't be out of place in a public library. It is reviewed below. The second edition 2002 is revised and expanded significantly. I will review it upon receipt. Given what a used copy it would be lucrative to self publish. This is a pretty thorough review. It may seem old hat but it is well put together. If I can get it for under $50.00 I will buy it.

The 'Corporal Punishment of Schoolgirls' is not, as one might think, a lip smacking prurient piece of prose designed to achieve trouser tenting but a serious and quite statistically detailed book published by Margaret Stone 10 years ago and recently revised. Ms Stone takes a look at the practice of corporally punishing girls both here in the United Kingdom and in the United States.

This extract relates to a school which is not that far from my part of the world, at Broad Heath Secondary Modern School in Coventry, West Midlands, formerly the Broad Street Girls School. For American and other non British readers, a Secondary Modern was an 'also rans' school for kids who failed the 11 plus examination and thus did not make it to Grammar School.

"The school published a Punishment Book which was kept from 1914 until 1972 when corporal punishment ended. In all 263 girls were caned over this 58 year period....not you see as many as the horror merchants would have you believe, an average of just over 4 a year. I presume the school became a mixed Secondary Modern very close to the demise of corporal punishment for the last name in the book is that of a boy.....the only boy to be caned in the history of the school!!

The book gives the name of each girl, the reason for punishment, date administered and, often, the name of the mistress administering punishment.

The Book does not actually provide a column for recording the teacher's name, though for ten years from June 1922 to May 1931 the 'Remarks' column was used for this purpose. Before and after this period it is used , as one would expect, for remarks concerning the punishment until, in the 1960's, the rather curious practice of having a girl sign for her punishment was instituted. Her name is entered in the same column as always but her signature appears under 'Remarks'

For many girls a single caning sufficed to keep them in order but there are a few persistent offenders. Gwen Griffiths, for example, is caned on June 8th 1920 along with Amy Smith for "direct disobedience". On the 17th September that year Gwen and Ella Ansell were caned for "leaving school without permission" On March 22nd 1921 Gwen was caned again for "disobedience and refusing to answer" and on November 27th Gwen was again caned for "rudeness to teacher".

It was not uncommon for girls at Broad Heath to be caned in groups. On June 16th 1922, Winnie Higginbottom, Olive Higginbottom, Phyllis Sargent, Violet Johnson and Beatrice Scott are all caned in one session for "disobedience after repeated warnings" On April 13th 1951, Pauline Walters, Barbara Holte and Doris Hignett receive two strokes each for "defacing ceiling". In the Remarks we read "Stock room ceiling ruined".

Nonetheless, the great majority of canings were individual. In many cases the description of the offence is terse in the extreme. "Rudeness" and "Disobedience" appear frequently. Gerty Wood and Alice Ward were caned together on May15th 1930 for "extreme rudeness". Many entries however tell a fuller story. Julie Roberts is caned on May 21st 1963 for "Throwing stones at the house near the annexe" . Clara Teale is caned on 24th February 1947 for "Striking headmistress, hiding the coat of a delicate girl who has just come out of hospital and who had to go home without a coat in bitter cold". Under 'Punishment Awarded' we learn that Clara was caned on her buttocks for "refusing to hold out her hand". Not surprisingly, Remarks records "A girl completely out of hand. Note about bad behaviour sent to mother" On November 30th 1936, Pat Corke was caned for an offence described reticently as "Impatience" but under Remarks we learn that "Pat had been asked to unpick her knitting and had not done so, instead she threw her work across the room"

Some say this and some say that. I like this point/counterpoint or pro/con format on this decidely weighted against CP site. It is the kind of disputations that diffuses rather than polarizes. It's a matter of serendipity that I came across this searching for Margaret Stone's Corporal Punishment of Schoolgirls referenced in this link. Don't get the idea she is against school corporal punishment because she is referenced here. The first edition is 1995 and not 1998 so the second edition was 2002 maybe it is time for the third edition in 2009. I'm trying to go directly throgh the publisher si maybe I can obtain the book for $47.00 with S/H. We'll see.

CP PRO/CON

Hi American Way. You said in the Long ago thread:

I hope the link image appearing under Margaret Stone's work was not removed by larry 1951 but was just trouble downloading.

What has happened is something we've discussed previously. The site where the image linked in your first post in this thread resides has blocked what is known as 'hot linking'. Many webmasters regard hot linking as theft of bandwidth and thus block it (see this explanation). It is very common for blog sites (which the site in question is) to block hot linking because bloggers are often restricted in how much bandwidth they are allowed to use.

Here is a link to the picture for those having difficulty seeing it. Once this link has been used the picture will appear in its correct place under the initial post if the page is refreshed.

I was intigued by what I thought was an electricity cord coming out of the long low table on the right of the above image. Then I noticed there was a similar cord on the other side of the table and the penny dropped. Unusually rigorous and severe method of CP for a girls school I'd have said - and the book is supposed to be about the corporal punishment of schoolgirls! Or am I letting my fevered imagination run away with me?

A_L

The Headmaster(?) has a cane in his left hand. There appears to be a small lamp on the desk nearest the wall, too, so maybe the electrics are needed to illuminate his aim.

However, with the undressing going on & five others clearly about to go through the same, I would have thought the Head might not have needed artificial light. Although this could be a late-evening dorm party that got discovered!

Fascinating-I hope this isn't where Wilf n' Davers got THEIR routine from!


Steve