Children who were late for school or produced bad work were often

punished with the cane or a leather strap (tawse). Children in

Walsall, because of its leather industry were punished with the
tawse.

Children who produced poor work or blotted their copy book were
made to stand in the corner and wear a dunce's cap. Other children
often teased, called names and made fun of the child who wore the
dunce's cap.

One child said, "I was always in trouble for my writing. I was
left handed. The teacher used to tie my left hand behind my
back so that I had to write with my right hand."
Because the school inspectors looked at the school's
attendance during the year, many schools rewarded the
children who never missed any time at school. This was
often in the form of a certificate or a medal.

Not many children received a certificate as they were absent when

they were ill. In some parts of the country children were kept away
from school so that they could help with the harvest.
When the school inspector visited he tested the children on the
required standards. If you passed, you were allowed to move to the
next class, if you failed you had to stay in the same class and try
again the next year. Often there were a number of different aged
children in a class.

The Victorian teacher would use a cane to punish naughty children. The
cane was given on the hand or the bottom, or sometimes given across the
back of the legs. In public schools even prefects would carry and use a cane.
All sorts of things might be punished: being rude, answering back, speaking
out of turn, poor work, in fact anything that displeased the teacher. Children
who had been caned usually kept quiet about it because if their parents
found out they would probably be punished again. In Scotland a leather
strap called a tawse was used in place of the cane.

Other punishments were given including lines and detentions, and some, if
not all, the deeds were written in a punishment book or log.
Children who were slow at their lessons, or dumb, were made to wear a
dunce's hat, a pointed hat with the letter D on it. They would then stand in a
corner for an hour or more. Sometimes they stood on a small stool, the
dunce's stool. At that time there was no understanding that some children
had learning difficulties or learned more slowly, and teachers thought that
these children were simply naughty or rebellious. Even left handed children
were punished and made to use their right hand.

Teachers handed out regular canings. Look inside the

“punishment book” that every school kept, and you will
see many reasons for these beatings: rude conduct,
leaving the playground without permission, sulkiness,
answering back, missing Sunday prayers, throwing ink
pellets and being late. Boys were caned across their
bottoms, and girls across their hands or bare legs. Some
teachers broke canes with their fury, and kept birch rods
in jars of water to make them more supple. Victims had to
choose which cane they wished to be beaten with!

Dunce's Cap
Punishment did not end with caning. Students had to
stand on a stool at the back of the class, wearing an arm
band with DUNCE written on it. The teacher then took a
tall, cone-shaped hat decorated with a large “D”, and
placed it on the boys head. Today we know that some
children learn more slowly than others. Victorian teachers
believed that all children could learn at the same speed,
and if some fell behind then they should be punished for
not trying hard enough.
How were children punished?

Discipline in schools was often strict. Children were beaten for even minor
wrongdoings, with a cane, on the hand or bottom. A teacher could also punish a
child by making them stand in the corner wearing a 'dunce's cap'. Another, very
boring, punishment was writing 'lines'. This meant writing out the same sentence
(such as 'Schooldays are the happiest days of my life' 100 times or more.

Punishmen
t and Glossary
discipline
Victorian teachers were stricter than the truant - a child
teachers of today and often used to beat the who stays away
pupils to make them behave. In the early days of from school
without
the schools the teachers found it hard to get permission.
pupils used to what was expected of them.
An early example of this came at Presteigne
British School in March, 1868 when the Baptist
minister visited to hear the older pupils read.
The school Log Book records that "..one of the
boys misbehaved during his presence, and I had to
punish him for it after he left; he pinched another
boy while reading, and this caused him to laugh..."

The entry goes on:

"... it is the same boy who played the truant, and causes the whole
of the disturbance in the school: the work being twice as easy
when he ins absent: I don’t like to expel him owing to his parents,
who are very nice respectable people, & desire me always to do
justice to the boy."

In Victorian schools the children did their ordinary rough work on slates with a piece of
chalk or a rough pencil. The Head teacher at New Radnor school punished children for
copying from each other's slates.

In October 1883 a new Headmaster, Mr William

Stone, came to Old Radnor School. His wife also
came to teach the younger children. He was very
unhappy with the children's behaviour and soon set
out to improve it.

It reads:
"Caned Elizabeth Butler for copying and
'Disobedience' also for lying".

At Evancoyd School in the summer of 1879

the Headteacher Mr Davies was very angry
indeed with two of his boys who had commited
a nasty and pointless offence. They were
caned on the hands.

Mr Davies' record of the events reads:

"I had occasion to punish George Davies & Page Stedman this
afternoon for robbing a wren's nest & breaking the eggs which
had young ones in them. The punishment was one cut on each
hand."

VICTORIAN SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS

There were many punishments in Victorian schools, most of them were very harsh and teachers often
didn’t ask for an explanation but just punished the nearest person. Punishments included:

The strap

You had to kneel on the rough wooden floorboards with your back very straight and your hands on the
back of your neck for about twenty minutes. If you fell over the teacher would hit you on the head and
tell you to sit upright.

The punishment book

If you wertghy e punished, then you name went into the book. When it came to you leaving school to
find a job, the headmaster would look in the book to see how many times you had been punished and it
was put in your reference.

The cane

Many teachers chose really thin canes as these were the ones that hurt most. Sometimes canes broke
because you were hit so hard. Most people were either hit across the hand or bottom.

Other punishments…

The log

A large piece of wood was tied around your shoulders and you had to carry this around all day. It was a
punishment for talking.

The cage

If you had done something really wrong you were put in a basket which was hung from the ceiling and
pulled up so that you were hanging above the classroom!
• Children were beaten for even minor wrongdoings, with a cane, on
the hand or bottom.
• A teacher could also punish a child by making them stand in the
corner wearing a 'dunce's cap'.
• Even left handed children were punished and made to use their right
hand by tying their left hand behind.
• Another, punishment was writing 'lines'. This meant writing out the
same sentence 100 times or more.
• The children need to kneel on the rough wooden floorboards with
their back very straight and hands on the back of the neck for about
twenty minutes.
• The punished child name written in the punishment book, when it
came to leaving school to find a job, the headmaster would look in the
book to see how many times he had been punished and it was put in
his reference.
• A large piece of wood was tied around children shoulders and they
had to carry this around all day. It was a punishment for talking.
• If child had done something really wrong, he was put in a basket,
which was hung from the ceiling and pulled up.