The fondness of boys beating each other

 

The penchant of boys for beating each other is a fact which can be observed in every street. In school, this urge finds a convenient soil. It is especially common at preparatory schools for boys to ask the master (particularly a young, sociable, and favourite master) to beat them with a slipper or other not too penal implement. On one occasion a young master was taking a stroll in some woods adjoining the school-grounds, where he came on a group of boys playfully flogging each other; on his appearance a shout of greeting went up, and he was unanimously asked to become head of the game.

In this case he did so, and with such seriousness that the boys regretted their invitation; for he disapproved strongly of such promiscuous beating among boys, and was resolved to teach them a lesson in their own currency. The paradox was that, according to the school laws, no master except the Head himself was permitted to chastise the boys at all!

On a repetition of the boys' request, however (for not even a severe chastisement could diminish their childish games), the master reported the matter to the Head, who inflicted such severe public birchings as to quench the love of flagellation in the bosom of even the youngest pupil.

Yet even this is not certain in every case, for many lads, especially the most frequently-chastised, derive from corporal punishment a masochistic pleasure that grows with each successive infliction.

Extracted from Chastisement Across The Ages by Gerva D’Olbert (The Fortune Press, 1956).

Picture credit: The Magnet

 

 

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