View source for Caning

{{Short description|Punishment method}}
{{about|the physical punishment|the technique used for weaving furniture|Caning (furniture)|the film|Caning (film){{!}}''Caning'' (film)}}
{{distinguish|Canning|Candy cane}}

{{more citations needed|date=December 2014}}
{{corporal punishment}}
'''Caning''' is a form of [[corporal punishment]] that consists of administering strikes (known as "strokes") to the body with what is typically a [[rattan]] cane. Generally this is applied to the recipient's bare or clothed [[buttocks]] (see [[spanking]]), however caning may also applied to the soles of the feet (see [[Foot whipping|bastinado]]) and the palms of the hand; caning on the knuckles and shoulders is considerably less common. Caning can be done consensually as part of [[Erotic spanking|erotic spanking.]]

The size and flexibility of a cane vary, as can the number of strokes administered. The sensation of a stroke from the cane is a sharp sting, followed by a lingering burn. The cane can effectively deliver sharp, intense strokes without requiring excessive force. [[Welt (bruise)|Welts]], ranging from light to intense (depending on the force of the stroke), are commonly associated with the cane.

The thin cane used in caning is not to be confused with the [[walking stick]], which is sometimes also called ''cane'' (especially in American English) that is thicker, much more rigid, and usually made of stronger wood.

==Scope of use==
Caning was a common form of judicial [[punishment]] and official school discipline in many parts of the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. [[Corporal punishment]] (with a cane or any other implement) has now been outlawed in much, but not all, of Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.corpun.com/counuks.htm |title= Corporal Punishment in British schools |author= C. Farrell |access-date=1 August 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120905152701/http://corpun.com/counuks.htm |archive-date= 5 September 2012 |url-status= live }}</ref> However, caning remains legal in numerous other countries in home, school, religious, judicial or military contexts, and is also in common use<ref>{{cite news |title=Caning Students, still! |work=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |location=Dhaka |url= http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=181350 |date=11 April 2011 |access-date=15 April 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110411095916/http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=181350 |archive-date=11 April 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> in some countries where it is no longer legal.

==Judicial corporal punishment==
{{Main|Judicial corporal punishment}}
{{Further|Caning in Singapore|Caning in Malaysia|Caning in Brunei|Islamic criminal law in Aceh}}
[[File:Canes.jpg|thumb|right|upright|A display of rattan judicial canes from the [[Johor Bahru Prison]] museum, Malaysia]]
[[File:Caning stand and cane at Hong Kong Correctional Services Museum.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Caning stand and cane formerly used in Hong Kong prisons under British rule|alt=A wooden stand of two triangular portions with a padded brace between them on a black pedestal. A hand points from the left, and a small wooden stick with cotton wrapped around one end is in front.]]
[[File:Bastinado visible aftereffects.JPG|thumb|170px|Visible welts typically sustained from [[Foot whipping|foot caning]]]]
Judicial caning, administered with a long, heavy [[rattan]] and much more severe than the canings given in schools, was/is a feature of some [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Colonialism|colonial]] judicial systems, though the cane was never used judicially in Britain itself (the specified implements there, until abolition in 1948, being the [[Birching|birch]] and the [[cat-o'-nine-tails]]). In some countries caning is still in use in the post-independence era, particularly in [[Southeast Asia]] (where it is now being used far more than it was under British rule), and in some [[Africa]]n countries.

The practice is retained, for male offenders only, under the criminal law in [[Caning in Malaysia|Malaysia]], [[Caning in Singapore|Singapore]] and [[Caning in Brunei|Brunei]].<ref>[https://www.corpun.com/singfeat.htm Judicial caning in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307214353/http://corpun.com/singfeat.htm |date=7 March 2018 }} at World Corporal Punishment Research.</ref> (In Malaysia there is also a separate system of religious courts for Muslims only, which can order a much milder form of caning for women as well as men.) Caning in [[Indonesia]] is a recent introduction, in the special case of [[Aceh]], on Sumatra, which since its 2005 autonomy has introduced [[Islamic criminal law in Aceh|a form of sharia law]] for Muslims with the Acehnese Qanun (male or female), applying the cane to the clothed upper back of the offender.<ref>Afrida, Nani. [https://www.corpun.com/idj00506.htm#16043 "Public canings to start in Aceh for gamblers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102191026/http://corpun.com/idj00506.htm#16043 |date=2 January 2010 }}, ''The Jakarta Post'', 23 June 2005.</ref> Since 2022, voluntary caning for Non-Muslim Indonesians are ''de-facto'' removed from Aceh provincial law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aceh.antaranews.com/berita/368387/syariat-islam-aceh-di-mata-kontingen-pon-xxi-jauh-dari-stigma-menyeramkan|title=Syariat Islam Aceh di mata kontingen PON XXI: jauh dari stigma menyeramkan|publisher=Antara Aceh|date=2024-09-21|language=id}}</ref>

African countries still using judicial caning include [[Botswana]], [[Tanzania]], [[Nigeria]] (mostly in northern states,<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/world/africa/nigeria-uses-law-and-whip-to-sanitize-gays.html |title= Nigeria Tries to 'Sanitize' Itself of Gays |newspaper= The New York Times |date= 8 February 2014 |author= Nossiter, Adam |access-date= 26 February 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170417105841/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/world/africa/nigeria-uses-law-and-whip-to-sanitize-gays.html |archive-date= 17 April 2017 |url-status= live }}</ref> but few cases have been reported in southern states<ref>Article 18 of the Criminal Code ACt 1916; Article 386(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1945.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.corpun.com/rules2.htm#ngj |title= Nigeria: Judicial CP |publisher= World Corporal Punishment Research |date= November 2014 |access-date= 23 December 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141223134424/http://www.corpun.com/rules2.htm#ngj |archive-date= 23 December 2014 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Man, 25, gets 12 strokes for stealing |url= https://www.corpun.com/ngj00807.htm#20445 |newspaper= The Tide |location= Port Harcourt |date= 31 July 2008 |access-date= 23 December 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141223181401/http://www.corpun.com/ngj00807.htm#20445 |archive-date= 23 December 2014 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.corpun.com/11archive/ngj01108.htm#23417 |title= Court orders that undergraduate be flogged for theft |author= Anofochi, Valerie |newspaper= The Daily Times |location= Lagos |date=3 August 2011 |access-date=23 December 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141223181413/http://www.corpun.com/11archive/ngj01108.htm#23417 |archive-date= 23 December 2014 |url-status= live }}</ref>) and, for juvenile offenders only, [[Eswatini]] and [[Zimbabwe]]. Other countries that used it until the late 20th century, generally only for male offenders, included [[Kenya]], [[Uganda]] and [[South Africa]], while some [[Caribbean]] countries such as [[Trinidad and Tobago]] use [[birching]], another punishment in the British tradition, involving the use of a bundle of branches, not a single cane.

In Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, healthy males under 50 years of age can be sentenced to a maximum of 24 strokes of the ''rotan'' ([[rattan]]) cane on the bare buttocks; the punishment is mandatory for many offences, mostly violent or drug crimes, but also immigration violations, sexual offences and (in Singapore) acts of [[vandalism]]. It is also imposed for certain breaches of [[prison]] rules. In [[Aceh]], caning can be imposed for adultery.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bachelard |first=Michael |date=7 May 2014 |url=http://www.theage.com.au/world/aceh-woman-gangraped-by-vigilantes-for-alleged-adultery-now-to-be-flogged-20140507-zr5x3.html |title=Aceh woman, gang-raped by vigilantes for alleged adultery, now to be flogged |newspaper=The Age |location=Melbourne |access-date=7 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508021350/http://www.theage.com.au/world/aceh-woman-gangraped-by-vigilantes-for-alleged-adultery-now-to-be-flogged-20140507-zr5x3.html |archive-date=8 May 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> The punishment is applied to locals alike.

Two examples of the caning of foreigners which received worldwide media scrutiny are the canings in Singapore in 1994 of [[Michael P. Fay]], an American student who had vandalised several automobiles, and in the [[United Arab Emirates]] in 1996 of [[Sarah Balabagan]], a [[Filipina]] maid convicted of [[homicide]].

Caning is also used in the [[Singapore Armed Forces]] to punish serious offences against military discipline, especially in the case of recalcitrant young conscripts. Unlike judicial caning, this punishment is delivered to the soldier's clothed buttocks. See [[Caning in Singapore#Military caning|Military caning in Singapore]].

A more moderate variation, where the caning is aimed at the soles of a culprit's bare feet is used as prison punishment in several countries of the world.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rejali|first=Darius|year=2009|title=Torture and Democracy|isbn=978-0691143330|page=275|publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref>

==School corporal punishment==
[[File:StateLibQld_1_113036_Cartoon_of_students_receiving_the_cane,_1888.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Cartoon of schoolboys receiving the cane from 1888|Cartoon of schoolboys receiving the cane from 1888]]
{{Main|School corporal punishment}}
The frequency and severity of caning in educational settings have varied greatly, often being determined by the written rules or unwritten traditions of the school. The western educational use of caning dates principally to the late nineteenth century. It gradually replaced [[birching]]—effective only if applied to the bare bottom—with a form of punishment more suited to contemporary sensibilities, once it had been discovered that a flexible rattan cane can provide the offender with a substantial degree of pain even when delivered through a layer of clothing.

Caning as a school punishment is strongly associated in the English-speaking world with England,{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} but it was also used in other European countries in earlier times, notably Scandinavia, Germany and the countries of the former Austrian empire.

Member states of the [[Convention on the Rights of the Child]] are obliged to "take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse."

=== In modern-day schools ===
[[File:Hand caning.jpg|thumb|right|upright|A picture showing the marks left on a female student's palm after being caned]] 
Caning as a school punishment is still routine in a number of former British territories [[Caning in Singapore#School caning|including Singapore]],<ref>See [https://www.corpun.com/usscr2c.htm#singapore Singapore school handbooks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826060349/http://www.corpun.com/usscr2c.htm#singapore |date=26 August 2009 }} at World Corporal Punishment Research.</ref> [[Caning in Malaysia|Malaysia]] and Zimbabwe. {{Cn span|text=It is also common in some countries where it is technically illegal, including Thailand, Kenya, Vietnam and South Korea|date=April 2025}}<!-- {{As of|2019}} {{oldid2|926977992|addition}}-->. 

Until relatively recently it had also been common in [[Australia]] (now banned in public schools, and abolished in practice by the vast majority of all independent schools),<ref>[https://www.corpun.com/rules.htm#ozsch Country files - Australia: School CP] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208213624/http://corpun.com/rules.htm#ozsch |date=8 February 2009 }} at World Corporal Punishment Research.</ref> [[New Zealand]] (banned in 1990),<ref>Education Act, 1989. [http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/progress/reports/new-zealand.html New Zealand State Report] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725034013/http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/progress/reports/new-zealand.html |date=25 July 2008 }} at GITEACPOC.</ref> and [[South Africa]] (banned in public and private schools alike from 1996).<ref>[https://www.corpun.com/zasc9610.htm "Assembly passes new schools bill"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519203435/http://corpun.com/zasc9610.htm |date=19 May 2009 }}, ''Cape Times'', 30 October 1996.</ref> In the UK, all corporal punishment in private schools was banned in 1999 for England and Wales,<ref name=":0">{{cite news |work=The Independent |location=London |title=Last vestiges of caning swept away |author=Brown, Colin |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/last-vestiges-of-caning-swept-away-1152260.html |date=25 March 1998 |access-date=25 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121102236/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/last-vestiges-of-caning-swept-away-1152260.html |archive-date=21 January 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> 2000 in Scotland,<ref name=":1">{{cite news |url= http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/learning-to-be-partners-education-bill-welcomed-but-tories-will-fight-return-of-opted-out-school-to-the-fold-1.283008 |work= The Herald |location= Glasgow |date= 8 July 1999 |author= Buie, Elizabeth |title= Education Bill welcomed but Tories will fight return of opted-out school to the fold |access-date= 18 May 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121010010051/http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/learning-to-be-partners-education-bill-welcomed-but-tories-will-fight-return-of-opted-out-school-to-the-fold-1.283008 |archive-date= 10 October 2012 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web |url= http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/6/section/16 |title= Standards in Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000, s.16 |access-date= 18 May 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110605070530/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/6/section/16 |archive-date= 5 June 2011 |url-status= live }}</ref> and 2003 in Northern Ireland.<ref name=":3">{{cite news |url= https://corpun.com/uks00306.htm#11591 |work=Belfast Telegraph |title =Ulster schools defying slap ban |date =27 June 2003 |author=Torney, Kathryn |access-date =18 May 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110609182733/http://www.corpun.com/uks00306.htm#11591 |archive-date =9 June 2011 |url-status =live }}</ref>

==== Malaysia ====
In [[Malaysia]], the Education Ordinance 1957 specifically outlaws the caning of girls in school.<ref>[http://data.ppk.kpm.my/article.cfm?id=110 Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia 2003. ''Surat Pekeliling Iktisas Bil 7:2003 - Kuasa Guru Merotan Murid''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013131610/http://data.ppk.kpm.my/article.cfm?id=110 |date=13 October 2007 }}. Retrieved 4 June 2007. {{in lang|ms}}</ref> However, the caning of girls is rather common. This caning is usually carried out on the palm or clothed bottom.<ref>{{cite news |author=Uda Nagu, Suzieana |url= https://www.corpun.com/mys00403.htm |title=Spare the rod? |work=New Straits Times |location=Kuala Lumpur |date=21 March 2004 |access-date=5 June 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071014034248/http://corpun.com/mys00403.htm |archive-date=14 October 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Chin, V.K. |url= http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/2007/12/4/columnists/vkchin/19629191&sec=vkchin |title=Caning of schoolgirls is nothing new |work=The Star |location=Kuala Lumpur |date=4 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110521132910/http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=%2F2007%2F12%2F4%2Fcolumnists%2Fvkchin%2F19629191&sec=vkchin |archive-date=21 May 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author= Lau Lee Sze |url= http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/29/focus/19604403&sec=focus |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110521132939/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2007%2F11%2F29%2Ffocus%2F19604403&sec=focus |url-status= dead |archive-date= 21 May 2011 |title= Girls should be caned too but do it right |work= The Star |location= Kuala Lumpur |date= 29 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Chew, Victor |url= http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/26/focus/21889827&sec=focus |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110608154853/http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2008%2F7%2F26%2Ffocus%2F21889827&sec=focus |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 June 2011 |title=Use the cane only as a last resort, teachers |work=The Star |location=Kuala Lumpur |date=26 July 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/22/focus/10779950&sec=focus |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120714130551/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/22/focus/10779950&sec=focus |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2012 |title=Parents have to be totally involved |work=The Star |location=Kuala Lumpur |date=22 February 2012 }}</ref> Sometimes, the cane can hit the student's thighs or arms, causing injury, usually in the form of bruises, bleeding, or obvious welts.<ref name="KLStar06082997">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2007/08/06/school-says-sorry-for-caning-that-left-bruises/ |title=School says sorry for caning that left bruises |newspaper=The Star |location=Kuala Lumpur |date=6 August 2007 |access-date=26 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626200633/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2007/08/06/school-says-sorry-for-caning-that-left-bruises/ |archive-date=26 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/06/24/secondary-schoolgirl-left-with-red-welts-on-arms-and-legs-after-caning/ |title=Secondary schoolgirl left with red welts on arms and legs after caning |newspaper=The Star |location=Kuala Lumpur |last=Jamil |first=Syauqi |date=24 June 2019 |access-date=26 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626004209/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/06/24/secondary-schoolgirl-left-with-red-welts-on-arms-and-legs-after-caning/ |archive-date=26 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Students (both male and female) can even be caned publicly for minor mistakes like lateness, poor grades, being unable to answer questions correctly or forgetting to bring a textbook.<ref name="KLStar06082997" /> In November 2007, in response to a perceived increase in indiscipline among female students, the National Seminar on Education Regulations (Student Discipline) passed a resolution recommending allowing the caning of female students at school.<ref>{{cite news |last= Chew |first=Sarah |url= http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/28/nation/19595309&sec=nation |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110521133002/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2007%2F11%2F28%2Fnation%2F19595309&sec=nation |url-status= dead |archive-date= 21 May 2011 |title= Education seminar passes resolution to cane female students |work= The Star |location= Kuala Lumpur |date= 28 November 2007}}</ref> The resolution is currently{{when|date=September 2019}} in its consultation process.

=== In UK schools (in the past) ===
Historically, in many state and private schools in England, Scotland and Wales, the rattan cane was regularly used across the hands, legs, or [[buttocks]] of both boys and girls.<ref name="bbcheadsfight2">{{cite news |last=Gould |first=Mark |date=9 January 2007 |title=Sparing the rod |work=The Guardian |location=London |url= https://www.theguardian.com/education/2007/jan/09/schools.uk1 |url-status=live |access-date=18 May 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131014031354/http://www.theguardian.com/education/2007/jan/09/schools.uk1 |archive-date=14 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title= From the Archive - Caning 'scandal' in London |url= https://www.tes.com/news/archive-caning-scandal-london |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191117091207/https://www.tes.com/news/archive-caning-scandal-london |archive-date=17 November 2019 |access-date=17 November 2019 |work=Times Educational Supplement |location= London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 June 1994 |title=Parents praise head who admitted caning girl pupils |url= https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12689535.parents-praise-head-who-admitted-caning-girl-pupils/ |access-date=10 October 2020 |work=The Herald |location= Glasgow}}</ref>

In some schools, [[physical punishment|corporal punishment]] was administered solely by the [[headmaster]], while in others the task was delegated to other teachers.

The cane was generally administered in a formal ceremony in public/private to the [[buttocks|seat of the trousers or skirt]], typically with the student either bending over a desk/chair or touching their toes. Usually there was a maximum of six strokes (known as "six of the best"). Such a caning would typically leave the offender with uncomfortable weals and bruises lasting for many days after the immediate intense pain had worn off.

Elsewhere, other implements prevailed, such as the [[tawse]] in Scotland and Northern England, ruler, and the [[Slippering|slipper]].

Girls were caned too, but generally less frequently than boys.<ref>{{Cite web|date=10 February 2001|title=Punishment|url=http://www.springhill.freeuk.com/punishment.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010210042524/http://www.springhill.freeuk.com/punishment.htm|archive-date=10 February 2001|access-date=27 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Eder |first=Richard |date=15 October 1972 |title=Despite Outcry, Caning Prevails in British Schools |work=The New York Times |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/15/archives/despite-outcry-caning-prevails-in-british-schools.html |url-status=live |access-date=17 November 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191117045025/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/15/archives/despite-outcry-caning-prevails-in-british-schools.html |archive-date=17 November 2019}}</ref> According to a 1976–1977 survey done by the Inner London Inspection Authority's Inspectors, almost 1 in 5 girls were caned at least once in the authority's schools alone.{{cn|date=January 2024}} Caning in schools for girls was much rarer but not unknown.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The day my life changed - When I realised we'd won the fight to ban the cane, I felt triumphant |url= https://www.tes.com/news/day-my-life-changed-when-i-realised-wed-won-fight-ban-cane-i-felt-triumphant |access-date=13 October 2020 |website=Tes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Teacher rules OK! Head is cleared after caning |url= https://www.corpun.com/uksc7611.htm#18610 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180517013743/http://www.corpun.com/uksc7611.htm |first=Neil |last=Moran |work=Daily Express |location= London |date=13 November 1976 |archive-date=17 May 2018 |access-date=18 November 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title= Five Smarting Girls Sang a Hit Song |work=Evening News |location= London |url= https://www.corpun.com/uksc4811.htm#6635 |date=23 November 1948 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180517001500/http://www.corpun.com/uksc4811.htm |archive-date=17 May 2018 |access-date=19 November 2019}}</ref>

Caning in British [[state schools]] in the later 20th century was often, in theory at least, administered by the head teacher only. Canings for [[primary school]] age pupils at state schools in this period could be extremely rare; one study found that over an eight-year timespan, one head teacher had only caned two boys in total, but made more frequent use of [[Slippering (punishment)|slippering]], while another had caned no pupils at all.<ref name="BestOfPrimaryEducation">{{cite book|last=King|first=Ronald|title=The Best of Primary Education?: A sociological study of junior middle schools|publisher=Falmer|year=1989|isbn=978-1-85000-602-2|location=London|page=53}}</ref>

Corporal punishment was abolished in [[State school|state funded schools]] in 1987.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ghandhi |first=Sandy |date=1984 |title=Spare the Rod: Corporal Punishment in Schools and the European Convention on Human Rights |journal=The International and Comparative Law Quarterly |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=488–494 |doi=10.1093/iclqaj/33.2.488 |jstor=759074}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=25 February 1982 |title=On this day: 25 February 1982: Parents can stop school beatings |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/25/newsid_2516000/2516621.stm |access-date=30 January 2017}}</ref> All corporal punishment in private schools was banned in 1999 for England and Wales,<ref name=":0" /> 2000 in Scotland,<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> and 2003 in Northern Ireland.<ref name=":3" />

==== 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=31–32 |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]]}}

==== Reformatory caning ====
From 1933 to 1970, the cane was frequently used on boy inmates and less routinely for girl inmates at the youth reformatories in England and Wales known as [[approved school]]s. Many UK approved schools were known for strict discipline, with [[School corporal punishment|corporal punishment]] used where necessary, generally a rather more severe version of the caning (or in Scotland, [[Strapping (punishment)|strapping]]) that was common in ordinary secondary schools.<ref name="corpunref">{{Cite web |url= https://www.corpun.com/counukr.htm |title= United Kingdom: Corporal punishment in reformatories and youth institutions |publisher= World Corporal Punishment Research |year=2019 |access-date=17 November 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191201021508/https://www.corpun.com/counukr.htm |archive-date=1 December 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Under the Approved School Rules 1933, girls under 15 could be caned only on the hands; girls of 15 and over were not to be given caning at all. Boys under 15 could be caned on the hands or the bottom; boys of 15 and over were to be caned only on the clothed buttocks.<ref name="corpunref" />

Before the 1933 rules, there was a case where several teenage girls were severely beaten with a [[tawse]] up to 12 strokes on the seat, with their skirts lifted up.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.corpun.com/kenilworth.htm |title=Corporal punishment at an English girls' reformatory, 1923 |publisher= World Corporal Punishment Research |access-date=17 November 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191117133841/https://www.corpun.com/kenilworth.htm |archive-date=17 November 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the approved schools between 1933 and 1970, the normal maximum number of strokes was eight for boys of 15 and over, and six for boys and girls below that age. In particular, boys who absconded were typically given a maximum caning of 8 strokes on the clothed bottom immediately on return to the school, and a 1971 statistical study found that this could be an effective deterrent.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.corpun.com/ukrer1.htm |title=Home Office Research Studies 12: Absconding from Approved Schools |access-date=17 November 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160529162128/http://www.corpun.com/ukrer1.htm |archive-date=29 May 2016 |publisher=HMSO |year=1971 |url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1970, approved schools became "Community Homes with Education" (CHEs) under the Children and Young Persons Act 1969.<ref>{{cite book |last=Langan |first=Mary |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Hee8LJJuNGIC&q=%22community+homes+with+education%22 |title= Welfare: needs, rights, and risks |publisher= Routledge |location=London |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-415-18128-0}}</ref> The national 1933 rules were replaced by local rules drawn up by each local authority. Girl residents of some post-1970 CHEs might as a result sometimes be caned on the buttocks instead of the hands.<ref>{{cite news |last=Healy |first=Pat |url= https://www.corpun.com/ukre8105.htm |title=Caning of girls 'worse than in last century' |work=The Times |location=London |date=20 May 1981 |access-date=25 September 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091022134438/http://www.corpun.com/ukre8105.htm |archive-date=22 October 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> In some cases boys or girls of all ages were caned, in spite of a government recommendation that over-16s should no longer be caned.<ref name="corpunref" />

Caning is still used in the equivalent institutions in some countries, such as [[Caning in Singapore#Reformatory caning|Singapore]] and [[Guyana]].

==== In children's institutes ====
Corporal punishment at children's homes was less severe. The ''Administration of Children's Homes Regulations 1951'' (S.O. No 1217) provided that children under 10 should be punished only on their hands either by the headmaster or in his presence and direction.

Only girls under 10 and boys under the school leaving age (15 at that time) could be corporally punished. Children under 10 should be punished only on their hands. A boy over 10 but under 15 could be caned up to a maximum of six strokes on the clothed buttocks.

==Domestic corporal punishment==
{{See also|Caning in Singapore#Domestic caning|Caning in Malaysia#Domestic caning}}Some parents cane their children as a punishment for reasons like disobedience or poor results. This is a common practice in some Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

In Singapore, canes for domestic use are regularly sold in grocery stores. There is usually increased demand for canes when students prepare for examinations, as canes are used more often, resulting in breakages.

==Effects==
Caning with a heavy judicial rattan as used in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei can leave scars for years if a large number of strokes are inflicted.

Most ordinary canings with a typical light rattan (used at home or at school for punishing students), although painful at the time, leave only reddish welts or bruises lasting a few days. [[Charles Chenevix Trench]] was caned as a boy at [[Winchester College]] in the early 1930s and later said that "it was, of course, disagreeable, but left no permanent scars on my personality or my person".<ref name="TelegraphObit">{{cite news |newspaper= The Daily Telegraph |location= London |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1448007/Charles-Chenevix-Trench.html |title= Charles Chenevix Trench |date= 29 November 2003 |access-date= 19 December 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140810234900/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1448007/Charles-Chenevix-Trench.html |archive-date= 10 August 2014 |url-status= live }}</ref>

When caning was still widespread in schools in the United Kingdom, it was perceived that a caning on the hand carried a greater risk of injury than a caning on the buttocks; in 1935 an [[Exeter]] schoolboy won £1 in damages ({{Inflation|UK|1.00|1935|r=0|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}), plus his medical expenses, from a schoolmaster, when the [[county court]] decided that an [[abscess]] that developed on his hand was the result of a caning.<ref>{{cite news |title= Richer for caning|date=15 June 1935 |access-date=23 July 2014 |work=[[Gloucester Citizen]] |url= http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000325/19350615/114/0011 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col}}
*[[Caning in Brunei]]
*[[Caning in Malaysia]]
*[[Caning in Singapore]]
*[[Judicial corporal punishment]]
*[[School corporal punishment]]
*[[Switch (corporal punishment)]]
*[[Slippering]]
*[[Paddle (spanking)]]
*[[Rattan]]{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book |author=Hardy, Janet |author-link=Janet Hardy
|title=The Toybag Guide to Canes and Caning (Toybag Guide) |publisher=Greenery Press
|location= San Francisco |year= 2004 |isbn=1-890159-56-5}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Caning}}
*[https://www.corpun.com/vidju.htm Video clips of judicial caning in Malaysia] (warning – very graphic)
*[https://www.corpun.com/vidsc9.htm Video clips of schoolboy caning in Singapore]
*[https://www.corpun.com/counuks.htm Corporal punishment in British schools] at World Corporal Punishment Research

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

[[Category:BDSM activities]]
[[Category:Corporal punishments]]
[[Category:School punishments]]
[[Category:Whipping]]
[[Category:Pain]]