Newspaper readers call ‘Bring back the cane,’ 10 years after abolition

 Ten years after corporal punishment was outlawed in British state-run schools, the Daily Mirror, a politically left-leaning tabloid, (and one of the bestselling at the time) polled its readers on “Bring back the cane”. Those who took part in the survey (a tiny number considering the numbers of millions of readers the paper had) backed its return.

Bring back the cane ...

MIRROR readers yesterday [30 October 1996] delivered a short, sharp message to Prime Minister John Major: “Bring back the cane.”

As the debate raged over discipline in schools, we asked you to call in with your views.

And your overwhelming verdict – by 5,038 to just 215 – was that the cane should be brought back to the classroom.

Corporal punishment was abolished in state schools 10 years ago.

But on Tuesday Education Secretary Gillian Shephard – facing class chaos in schools at Manton, Notts, and Halifax, West Yorks – suggested the cane could be restored.

Severe

Mr Major immediately slapped her down, but the issue became the talk of the nation.

Yesterday Mirror reader Enid Nathan, 79, from Dudley, West Midlands, said: “You don’t get delinquent pensioners do you? That’s because we were caned when we stepped out of line.”

A mum from Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, said: “My stepson has severe behavioural problems and has been excluded from his secondary school a number of times. He treats being excluded like a holiday. I think he would respond to caning and his teachers think so too.”

Valerie Wagstaff, 41, from Rawdon, near Leeds, said: “It’s an effective deterrent. I’m sure it would improve the situation for teachers. I was threatened with the cane once and it petrified me.”

School governor Bernard Moors, 56, from Manchester, said: “The cane is the only way to restore discipline in our schools. It should be done properly, by the headmaster in front of a witness.”

Plumber John Woolley, 45, from Nottingham, said: “We should bring back corporal punishment. It worked for me 30 years ago.”

Businessman Ray Leeson, 69, from Gloucester, said: “I think we should bring back caning, but it should only be done in front of the parents. Too many parents have opted out of disciplining their kids.”

Alice Harrison, 78, of south London, said: “I had six children and if the asked for a spanking, that’s what I gave them.

“Kids today could do with a good spanking.”

Solve

Of the tiny number who opposed the cane, David Davies, 72, from Port Talbot, West Glamorgan, said: “I can remember teachers getting real pleasure from giving the cane when I was at school.

“Bringing it back won’t solve anything.

“It’s too late to solve anything by the time kids get to school. It’s the parents who have to find a way to bring back discipline.”

The Government’s Education Bill published yesterday allows schools to suspend pupils for up to 45 days instead of 15 at present.

There is no mention of caning, but Tory backbenchers may introduce amendments.

As published in the Daily Mirror, 31 October 1996.

Picture credit: Sting Pictures

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