When they switched ‘too dangerous’ cane for the tawse

 

In 1906 the Manchester Education Committee, after long and lengthy discussions, brought out a new ruling for all its teachers. The cane was to be abolished.

This wasn’t because the children had stopped being poorly behaved. The reason was 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.

As a Manchester newspaper reported 105 years later, ‘this move away from the cane to the tawse came about for the very simple reason that 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 deemed safer to beat the children with.

‘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.’

The report continues, ‘None of our modern pupils will have heard of the many methods the children of the corporal punishment generation tried in order to 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.

‘You would have thought the teachers in those long ago days would have been quite happy with the new ruling but there was muttering and grumbling in the ranks. One headmaster was on record as saying: “You have turned me in to a thrashing machine for with seven hundred pupils under my wing I spend my whole day administering the punishment.”

At the same time as caning in boys schools was being abolished the administering of any form of corporal punishment in girl’s schools was banned. Some teachers in girl’s schools were scandalised and insisted that, “Once our charges realise they have freedom from punishment they will become unruly and we will no longer be able to control them.”

Extracted from a report in Manchester Evening News, 5 May 2011

Picture credit; Unknown

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