Caps row leads to mass canings
In 1962, a comprehensive school in south
London made the news for the frequency of its mass canings. It was all about
the boys’ refusal to wear caps.
As
published in the Daily Sketch, 29 March 1962
Picture credit: Generated by
Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)
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A pity we aren’t told how many strokes were given for not wearing a cap. Or if a repeat offence earned more.
ReplyDeleteAccording to a report at the time in the Daily Express, younger boys were given two and three strokes each. And two prefects each got six and had their badges confiscated.
DeletePeckham Manor had a bit of a reputation for caning. The Corpun website has more on this
https://www.corpun.com/uksc6203.htm
It sounds like the Headmaster was a bit desperate to maintain control, but it makes you wonder when 3 strokes for younger boys is the punishment for not wearing a cap, how many strokes were given for more serious offenses each day? I imagine the school had one of the highest rates for the re-ordering of canes in the borough.
ReplyDeleteThe headmaster certainly had a strong arm dishing over 80 canings in a week and over 240 strokes, impressive in some ways!, but its good to have a verified account of the cane being given , cp did vary so much and as we often see many schools didn't use it at all that people can be sceptical about how it was used. But if your headmaster felt it was suitable then it was the cane from him or the deputy or more often the slipper from the teacher was the first choice punishment over detentions or extra work. The other thing is that these canings were for not wearing a cap, three strokes would have been felt for some time after but shows at times you got caned for what even at that time seemed minor offences. It certainly would have sent the warning out to the rest of the lads to ensure they had their caps the next day.
ReplyDeleteSo many boys in the queue, at least 16 as far as l can see, all looking alike. I was in the 6th form in 1962, soon to fail all my A levels. Well if l enjoyed being caned as a boy l would have had a happy day joining in with them.
ReplyDeleteAre there two queues of boys? I can just see a foot near the bottom right hand corner.