Cane threat for schoolboys with guns and knives

Dangerous toys were all the rage in 1966 and one headmaster had a way to stop boys bringing them to school.

SHOWDOWN FOR

A SCHOOL’S

GUNBOYS

BOYS who go to school with dart guns, air pistols, daggers and knives will face a lone ‘challenger’ today – a man with a cane.

And the challenger, headmaster Leonard Emmette, warned: “I am determined to stamp out these vicious weapons.

“I will confiscate any I find, and I will cane the boys who carry them.”

Mr. Emmett claims that more children than ever are using dangerous toys.

Recently there have been three accidents involving guns at his 850-pupil secondary school at Langley, Bucks.

Blinded

One boy was blinded in an eye by an airgun pellet.

Another was struck in the face with a pellet, and a third was struck in the back with a dart fired from a rifle.

Mr. Emmett has asked parents to back his campaign.

He added: “I have confiscated eleven knives and guns in the last few days alone.

“I cannot stop pupils buying them.

“Unfortunately they have so much pocket money they can afford guns even before they are old enough to own them legally.”

Mr. Emmett has also called in police to interview several boys from whom weapons have been confiscated.

He said: “I absolutely insist that boys leave these murderous guns and knives at home.

“The worst offenders are boys aged 13 or 14.”

As published in The Daily Mirror, 7 February 1966.

Picture credit: Hotspur.

Traditional School Discipline