British newspaper letters from 1960s (#5 of about 12): Caning and slippering girls
by Anne O'Nimis
Yet another in the series of letters from British newspapers.
Reminder: Credit for collecting and scanning these letters goes to some other anonymous soul. I just found the scans and am typing them in. And credit goes to you, the reader, for exercising your free will in choosing to whether or not to read them!
From the Nottingham Evening Post:
She Could Not Sit! (12 May 1965)
What a difference in the methods of punishing girls today and those of
50-60 years ago. I am 70 years of age and well recall being hauled in
front of the class and receiving up to three strokes on each hand by a
tight-lipped schoolmistress.
All girls up to the age of 17 had this treatment at the boarding school I
attended, and sometimes, for serious offences such as breaking bounds,
the girl concerned would have to bend over a chair and receive six to
eight strokes on the bare skin. I well remember being unable to sit down
for a long time!
It was no use writing home to complain. One's parents upheld the
school's rules and regulations to the hilt. All this punishment was
carried out in front of the classes. I don't know what girls of today
would think of that, but one thing remains clear; there was no
disgraceful behaviour such as goes on today -- although I think the
teachers of those days went to extremes.
Caned 55-60 Years Ago.
I have to say that both of the following letters are a bit fetishistic in their attention to detail. Are they hoaxes?
'Spanking At Home Was Effective' (19 May 1965)
My husband and I have been rather relieved by the correspondence in
your columns supporting the use of the cane for young offenders.
Both of us, when children, were caned by our parents, as were most of
our friends, but we seem to be almost alone among present day parents
in using the cane in our own home.
We have five children, now aged 17 to nine. If we may boast, we have
not infrequently been complimented on their general good behaviour.
Yet they are by no means subdued, frightened or cowed. They are
cheerful, friendly and affectionate, and a very lively handful.
All received fairly frequent mild spankings with the hand or slipper in
early childhood, and from the age of nine, the cane has been the usual
punishment in all cases. Canings are given when a child does something
expressly forbidden, or where the wrongdoer is so outrageous that the
child's age and intelligence should make the fact clear that it would be
forbidden.
Naturally, we have not kept records, but the joint recollection of
ourselves and the children is as follows. Between the ages of nine and
12, the four elder children have had about four canings a year, and about
two in their thirteenth year.
There has been only one instance of caning a child over 13, and that was
when a boy, aged just 15, experimented with driving the family car!
Canings are given in private, as soon as possible after the offence, and,
in the case of older children, only by the parent of the child's own sex.
After punishment, the matter is regarded as completely closed.
One significant fact -- there have been only two instances of a second
caning for a repetition of a former offence.
Mater Familias, West Bridgford.
No Good Alternative to the Cane (19 May 1965)
Critics of my letter on judicial caning have yet to suggest a viable
alternative. Juvenile crime is still increasing, and present penological
[sic] methods are proving ineffectual to deal with this. It is just not
enough to deplore the lack of parental discipline. Reform is needed now.
Birching was unsuccessful largely because of inconsistencies of
sentencing. The most serious mistake was the failure to screen out those
psychologically disturbed individuals in need of therapy, rather than the
rod. As I see it, judicial caning, on the other hand, would be given only
to "normal" offenders between the age of 12 and 18, but it would be
compulsory for certain broad classes of offense.
Statutory maximum (e.g., 12 to 18) [sic!] and minimum (e.g., four to
six) numbers of strokes, depending on the culprit's age, would further
ensure equity of treatment, while leaving room for magisterial discretion.
Failure to receive sufficient punishment leaves the young offender with
a burden of guilt and hostility and leads to further crimes. The pain and
humiliation of a normal caning provides exactly the emotional release
that many young "repeaters" may be unconsciously seeking. Girls are
not different from boys in this respect.
One girl has described a history of minor delinquencies while at
grammar school, until she reached the sixth form. The usual non-
corporal punishments had no effect. Then one day she was sent to the
headmistress's study where, in her own words, "Miss ------ slippered me
until I was numb. The indignity of it makes me blush even now. And
the soreness afterwards! But funnily enough, as the smart lessened, I
had a wonderful feeling of release -- freedom, that I'd never had before.
I realize now that that beating was one of the best things that ever
happened to me."
This girl is now taking her university finals.
May I thank all those who have written to me, describing their own
experiences and saying how attractive they find my proposals? I also
know a reliable cane manufacturer.