For decades until the 1970s United Kingdom fee paying schools where their us of corporal punishment. How close to reality was the scene in IF. Note the Australian film Flirting set around the same time period has a similar scene.
shareReasonably so.
I attended school in Scotland throughout the 60's and we had the strap rather than the cane and can assure you the effect was much the same! It was used liberally in my all-boys form.
It is called Discipline.
[deleted]
Yes, indeed.
We too had a prefect system, and only allowed to walk in the school's corridors. Running was punished by lines from a prefect, who were not allowed use of corporal punishment. Most masters used their strap quite liberally, such as even whispering in class, late for class, if frequent, forgetting a book, or "dumb insolence", which was what any teacher in our day covered subtly anti-Establishment remarks or actions! Misbehaviour during Games would be punished by running several times round the rugby grounds or push-ups in gym.
I'd say again what we saw in the film was as near accurate as could be, and not really overdone.
It was called character-building in my day.
Actually extremely accurate. I was at a naval boarding school in Suffolk from 1976-1983, and this film was pretty much the story. Decoration was the same, the prefects ran the place, marching you everywhere and having random bed and locker checks, masters stayed in their studies. Punishment was harsh - I once stepped out of the lunch queue, was pulled to the front by my ear by a passing teacher, screamed at, made to return immediately to the boarding house without eating, and told to 'Demand to be beaten.' I was, harshly. Cane was used liberally, with one master taking a run up exactly as the gym scene here. The a chief Naval Instructor used to whack boys with a spanner if he felt affronted. The head of music once smashed a boy's head so hard against the desk he bloodied his lips and snapped his front teeth. Talking before swimming class meant either the slipper whilst in your trunks, or made to swim naked. The use of causal violence, prefect against boys was ongoing and vicious. The tip of the iceberg, people. Truly.
shareAhhh..the British Public School system. Nothing like it for creating MPs and Civil Servants with a penchant for being whipped and humiliated..
shareI was in 6th grade in the U.S. in 1965-1966, and our teacher, Mr. Miller, would paddle the boys in the presence of the entire class. We'd have to bend over and grab our ankles, and he'd whack us on the ass repeatedly with a wooden slat. The hardest part was walking back to your desk while trying not to cry. Times were different.
share