Baldseagull
Well-known member
I used to do some work at a secondary school in Hackney, in the reception area they had on the wall one of the old punishment books from the 50's, which listed the names and crimes of the pupils and the punishment from the staff. What was notable was that 3 strokes were given for things such as "threw a chisel at Wilkins" or "fighting with Rogers" and six were given for things like "late homework" or "Talking back".
The cane was withdrawn part way through my secondary education, and it clearly threw many of the teachers who had lost this tool.
I was told by my Form Tutor and Housemaster on different occasions, that I was a frequent topic of conversation in the staff room and divided opinion strongly, with some Teachers convinced that there must have been two boys of the same name as the descriptions of my behaviour, levels of effort, levels of attainment etc. varied massively from their own experiences of me in their classes.
I don't know why it was such a mystery to them, when it was obvious to me, some of the teachers just really didn't like kids, especially kids who could get the better of them in a verbal joust, and they were pissed off that they couldn't beat them with a stick anymore, but still only had intimidation in their repertoire for getting results from reluctant students.
The cane was a crutch for poor teachers.
I am sure many of those Teachers felt that they could have beaten an O level out of me, if only they still had the cane, but the truth is, those teachers that seemed to care about how I did, wanted me to learn and not just produce pages of dictation or copy from the board, and were not just interested in how much respect they were feeling, got more from me than a hateful bugger with a stick ever could have.
The cane was withdrawn part way through my secondary education, and it clearly threw many of the teachers who had lost this tool.
I was told by my Form Tutor and Housemaster on different occasions, that I was a frequent topic of conversation in the staff room and divided opinion strongly, with some Teachers convinced that there must have been two boys of the same name as the descriptions of my behaviour, levels of effort, levels of attainment etc. varied massively from their own experiences of me in their classes.
I don't know why it was such a mystery to them, when it was obvious to me, some of the teachers just really didn't like kids, especially kids who could get the better of them in a verbal joust, and they were pissed off that they couldn't beat them with a stick anymore, but still only had intimidation in their repertoire for getting results from reluctant students.
The cane was a crutch for poor teachers.
I am sure many of those Teachers felt that they could have beaten an O level out of me, if only they still had the cane, but the truth is, those teachers that seemed to care about how I did, wanted me to learn and not just produce pages of dictation or copy from the board, and were not just interested in how much respect they were feeling, got more from me than a hateful bugger with a stick ever could have.
