Dangerous cane replaced by two-tailed strap
In 1906 the then Manchester
Education Committee in England, after long and lengthy discussions, brought out
a new ruling for all the city’s teachers. The cane was to be abolished!
But that didn’t mean
corporal punishment was to be banned. The cane was to be replaced with the
tawse. a leather strap 3/16 ins. thick and 24 ins. long and 1½ ins. wide with
two leather tails at the end.
The tawse could only be
used by the headmaster and a record had to be kept of any pupils receiving such
punishment.
The Manchester Evening News reported in 2011 the move away from the cane to
the tawse came about because the cane was deemed to be too dangerous for
hitting children with and that if it splintered further injuries would be
caused to the little ones.
The tawse was applied along
the length of the hand, i.e. parallel to the fingers. A standard classroom
punishment was a minimum of two strokes on the left (or non-writing hand) with
a two or three tailed strap. The fierce pain started to subside after about ten
minutes and after an hour, only slight warmth remained.
A severe punishment tended
to be rather different. The instruction ‘cross your hands’ or ‘both hands’
usually preceded it, and was a sure indication that six or even eight strokes
were on the way. Both hands were held out, one on top of the other with palms
facing up and thumbs tucked it.
After each stroke the hands
were changed so that the strokes landed alternately on both hands. Also, with
the hands both out, the sleeves were drawn back exposing the wrists. The last
one or two strokes could be applied a couple of inches up them, so that the
evidence of discipline could be seen by parents, (wrist marks did not fade
before the day was out as did the reddening of the hands).
Another advantage of the
‘crossed hands’ method is that there was a lessening of the tendency to pull
the hands away while the strap descended, and therefore punishment could be
completed more quickly and with less embarrassment to both teacher and pupil.
Yet while administering the strap was an art, avoiding its full effects was an
even greater one.
Children devised many
methods they believed would lessen the effects of punishment, such as placing a
horse’s hair across the palm or rubbing the palm with a raw onion to cut down
the pain.
Other boys and girls placed
their faith in spitting on their hands, or, if lucky enough, heating their
fingers and palms on a radiator before receiving their punishment.
Pulling the hand away, just
before the strap made contact, so that it appears to have been well smacked but
is in actual fact almost unscathed, was a skill of which many boys were very
proud.
The new system of 1906
didn’t last very long as both teachers and parents were against it and corporal
punishment in English state schools was only abolished in 1986.
Picture credit:
Unknown
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