I Received Corporal Punishment At School

At English schools in the 1950 and 60s, the standard punishment for serious or repeated offences was the cane. At my school canings were always given in private, so none of us knew exactly how many strokes other boys got, but we always assumed it was six. Why did six become the standard dose, I wonder? Or perhaps it wasn't so standard, and "six of the best" is a sort of urban myth? Did anyone ever get more than six?

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miscreant6x6 · 56-60, M

I got more than six in the privacy of my house master's private study.

It was a boarding school with its own rules & regulations and whatever he said happened.

He caned me on my 2nd day there for 'running in the corridor' (my first caning was 3 strokes and I thought he's cut me in half !).

I never received so few as 3 ever again and he caned me very regularly over the next 4 and a half years. Mostly the time-honoured six, but occasional 8s, 9s and the odd dozen.

Then there were the sentences with 'extras' for moving or noise that earned more than the allotted six. It was always intense.

MartinII · 70-79, M

@miscreant6x6 Sorry to hear that. He sounds like a right sadist.

miscreant6x6 · 56-60, M

@MartinII The house master was a noted sadist indeed. It was considered drawing the 'short straw' if you were one of the boys allotted to him during your tenure. He would cane boys for breaking any of the countless petty rules. If you've seen IF, it was that type of school.

MartinII · 70-79, M

@miscreant6x6 Well, it sounds rather worse than that. And of course the caners in IF were prefects, not masters.

miscreant6x6 · 56-60, M

@MartinII Yes of course they were prefects in IF. The cruel wait outside the gym intensified matters and then there was the walk-up method for effect.