School discipline

School in those days had ink wells and scratchy pens - the result was you got ink all over your hands and lots of blotches on the paper, which resulted often in the poor unfortunate who did so, being given the cane, which meant he had to stand there and put his hands out and be beaten with a bamboo rod, usually one or two strokes on each hand depending on the teacher. Discipline in schools was quite strict and there were many infractions that could get you caned, like running in the corridor, talking when you'd been told not to, fighting, being rude or using bad language - things people would think ridiculous these days.

At Tweeddale Junior School, in the 1940's, a boy who had transgressed badly enough would be caned at morning assembly in front of the entire school. Perhaps this was to frighten the rest of us, but I wonder if it made a boy a hero to his friends. The Headmaster did the caning, on the hand. Another punishment was being "given the slipper". This punishment was carried out by a teacher in the classroom, and meant a boy being hit on the hand with a plimsoll, as we called them in those days. Teaching must have been much easier with such strict discipline. I don't remember girls being given physical punishment.

I attended Wellbeck Road School (Number 8) from the middle 40's to 56. The discipline in the senior school depended very much upon the teacher but generally it was pretty tough. I pretty much behaved myself apart from making 'funny comments' and usually I would get caned perhaps once a week. No problem; the cane stung yes, but no way would you let the teacher know that. My pal Mickie Curzon used to get caned almost every day and I guess that virtually all the other boys in the school were introduced to the swishing bamboo at sometime during the month. We had a teacher who never caned anyone but you avoided his eye if you didn't want his particular punishment. Mr Hopkins took Games and History and walked between the desks as he spoke. Stopping suddenly beside one of us, he would look down and laugh. Naturally the pupil would look up and laugh too because Hopkins was rocking back and forth, laughing fit to bust. Whack! His hand would smash the poor victim across the head and he would laugh again which set the whole class giggling and the victim laughing along with them as another blow landed. Maybe it was mass hysteria that caused the victim to continue laughing; whatever..... Laugh, whack, laugh, whack. It would go on until Hopkins either decided to teach or pick on a new victim. Thing was, he was a very popular teacher when outside the class and when some of us went to Switzerland on a school holiday, he turned out to be a great joker and anyway, we all fancied his wife.

At Green Wrythe Lane juniors I remember Mr.Doyle who used to quickly turn around when writing on the board and the chalk would get a perfect hit on the unfortunate (usually boy) who was talking...also Mrs.Owen? She would dish out the caning and I used to feel so sorry for the boys who got it. The red scars used to look so painful.

I remember the cane being used at Green Wrythe junior and infant school ,think the head was Mr Mathews,and the older lady teachers in the junior school was always slapping a leg or two,lol. I was at Carshalton Boys school,and remember Mr Bunker ,Head master was a Mr Prosser I think,lol now 62 and remember lots about school.