Boys sent to approved school birched, hair cropped

“All boys who go back get the birch for several weeks,” a fifteen-year-old boy told magistrates in 1944 when he pleaded not to be sent back to an approved school.

Boys sent back to this approved school are caned, get hair cropped

SECRETARY of an approved school, St. Vincent’s, evacuated to Exeter, admitted at Wimbledon (London) Juvenile Court that boys sent back there are caned and their hair cut shorter than the other boys.

“That, however, is done only in extreme cases,” he added, replying to allegations made by a fifteen-year-old errand boy who, with tears rolling down his cheeks, pleaded with the Justices not to send him back to the school.

The boy, who admitted stealing 5s. from his employers and embezzling another 5s. paid him by a customer, after he had been freed on licence, declared: “They will not treat me the same when I go back.

“All boys who go back get the birch for several weeks, and the other boys blame them for being kept there longer than they should be.”

The Chairman (Mr. C. W. Bourne) said: “It is not the first time we have had complaints about this school, and the magistrates would like to be satisfied that the lad will not be treated in a different way from other boys.

“I know he deserves some punishment, but obviously there is something wrong.”

The Deputy Clerk (Mr. A. S. Gent) said: “He has done something wrong to justify being sent back and be must put up with it.”

The Justices handed the lad over to the secretary. The Chairman told the boy: “The sooner you behave yourself the sooner you will be released.”

As published in Daily Mirror, 18 October 1944.

Picture credit: Unknown.

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