Punishment

Corporal punishment for bad behaviour was commonplace until the 1960s. Teachers would use a ruler across the hand or knuckles or, for more serious misbehaviour, pupils would be sent to the Head for the cane.
The School kept a ‘Punishment Book(click) for use of the cane which details how many strokes were given and what the offence was. The most common offence was disobedience but other misdemeanours included misbehaviour, untidy work, lying, stealing or truancy.
Other punishments throughout the School’s history included staying in after school or at playtime to write out lines 100 times or passages from the Bible, which were then thrown away straight after finishing them.
Sometimes in class the teachers would throw the blackboard rubber or a lump of chalk at anyone who was caught talking, messing about or not concentrating.
In later years most discipline was being told off and made to stand in the corner of the classroom or at the front of the class with your hands on your head. If the whole class was noisy then everyone would have to put their hands on their head.
In the early part of the 20th century, teachers could be cruel and often ridiculed the children – for example if a child got a spelling wrong then he might be sent to the lowest grade class to ask them to spell it correctly which was very humiliating.

In those days, if you were left-handed you were forced to write with your right hand.

What methods are used today to prevent misbehaviour and/or promote good behaviour?

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