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Caning
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==== Prefectorial caning ==== In many English and Commonwealth private schools, authority to punish was traditionally also given to certain senior students (often called [[prefect]]s). In the early 20th century, permission for prefects to cane younger students (mainly secondary-age boys) was also widespread in British [[Independent school (United Kingdom)|public schools]]. Some private [[Preparatory school (United Kingdom)|preparatory schools]] relied heavily on "self-government" by prefects for even their youngest pupils (around eight years old), with caning the standard punishment for even minor offences.<ref name="EducationOutlook">{{cite journal |year=1906 |location=London |publisher=S. Birch |volume=59 |pages=31β32 |oclc=291230258 |journal=The Education Outlook}}</ref> The perceived advantages of this were to avoid bothering the teaching staff with minor disciplinary matters, promptness of punishment, and more effective chastisement, as the impact would be better known in the culprit's immediate peer group.<ref name="NationalAndEnglish">{{cite journal |journal=National and English Review |volume=5 |year=1885 |page=719 |issn=0952-6447 |location =London}}</ref> Canings from prefects took place for a wide variety of failings, including lack of enthusiasm in sport, or to enforce youngsters' participation in character-building aspects of public school life, such as compulsory cold baths in winter.<ref name="Beerbohm">{{cite book |title=Max Beerbohm in perspective |last=Lynch |first=Bohun |page=5 |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |year=1922 |oclc=975960 |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030735164 |access-date=6 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922112851/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030735164 |archive-date=22 September 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="GamesAndSports">{{cite book |last=Savage |first=Howard James |title=Games and sports in British schools and universities |url=https://archive.org/details/gamessportsinbri00sava |publisher=The Chicago foundation for the advancement of teaching |location=New York |year=1927 |page=[https://archive.org/details/gamessportsinbri00sava/page/43 43] |oclc=531804 |access-date=14 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325183304/https://archive.org/details/gamessportsinbri00sava |archive-date=25 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Roald Dahl]] gives an account of this practice in his memoir [[Boy (autobiography)]] from his time in [[Repton School]] where prefects were referred to as "Boazers" and their underling students as "fags".<ref>9780142413814</ref> Some British private schools still permitted caning to be administered by prefects in the 1960s, with opportunities for it provided by complex sets of rules on school uniform and behaviour.<ref name="TheListener">{{cite news |work=The Listener |location =London |volume=111 |publisher=[[BBC]] |year=1984 |page=10}}</ref> In 1969, when the question was raised in Parliament, it was thought that relatively few schools still permitted this.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.corpun.com/uksc6902.htm#23007 |first=Sara |last=Payne |title=Rods in young hands |work=Times Educational Supplement |location=London |date=14 February 1969 |access-date=17 May 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111013125129/http://corpun.com/uksc6902.htm#23007 |archive-date=13 October 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> As early as the 1920s, the tradition of prefects at British public schools repeatedly caning new boys for trivial offences was criticised by psychologists as producing "a high state of nervous excitement" in some of the youngsters subjected to it. It was felt that granting untrained and unsupervised older adolescents the power to impose comprehensive thrashings on their younger schoolmates whenever they chose might have adverse psychological effects.<ref name="MentalScience">{{cite journal |journal=The Journal of Mental Science |volume=68 |year=1922 |publisher= Churchill |location =London |issn=0368-315X |page=221}}</ref> Like their British counterparts, South African private schools also gave prefects free rein to administer canings whenever they felt it appropriate, from at least the late 19th century onwards.<ref name="Boys2Gentlemen">{{cite book |title=From Boys to Gentlemen: Settler masculinity in Colonial Natal, 1880-1920 |last=Morrell |first=Robert |publisher=Unisa Press |location =Pretoria |year=2001 |page=65 |isbn= 978-1-86888-151-2}}</ref> South African schools continued to use the cane to emphasise sporting priorities well into the late 20th century, caning boys for commonplace gameplay errors such as being caught [[Offside (association football)|offside]] in an [[association football]] match, as well as for poor batting performance in [[cricket]], not applauding their school team's performance sufficiently, missing sport practice sessions, or even "to build up team spirit".<ref name=EducationNewNation>{{cite book |last= Holdstock |first=T. Len |title= Education for a new nation |publisher= Africa Transpersonal Association |location=Riverclub |year=1987 |page=172 |isbn= 978-0-620-11721-0}}</ref> The use of corporal punishment within the school setting was prohibited by the South African Schools Act of 1996. According to Chapter 2 Section 10 of the act, ''(1) No person may administer corporal punishment at a school to a learner'' and ''(2) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a sentence, which could be imposed for assault.''<ref>[http://www.acts.co.za/ed_sasa/index.htm South African Schools Act, 1996, Chapter 2 : Learners, Section 10. Prohibition of corporal punishment] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707062052/http://www.acts.co.za/ed_sasa/index.htm |date=7 July 2011 }}</ref>{{stack|[[File:Rattan cane.jpg|thumb|45px|[[Rattan]] cane]]}}
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