The Prep School Cane

The age at which it was deemed suitable to cane a boy obviously varied from school to school. In some cases, eight or nine was considered the time when boys would benefit from a more formal approach whereby they would leave the pre-prep section and enter a new building and be taught by new teachers. Here their new masters and mistresses would be most likely equipped with a small prep school cane which would be light in weight and shorter than other canes thus making it more suitable for punishing younger boys with no risk of causing any real harm.

Most of the young boys’ masters would confine the cane to occasional use, administering a single swipe to their pupils’ bottoms as and when deemed necessary. Most masters, however, felt that ten or eleven was nearer the mark and it was not uncommon for a master to line up a class of recalcitrant 12/13-year olds at the end of his lesson and deliver a keenly aimed swat to the palm of each boy’s hand as he left the room as a salutary reminder of the need for good behaviour and hard work during his lessons.

I knew a good many English schoolmasters who kept a small prep school cane close at hand even when teaching far older boys at senior level. Even for the larger and more robust 15 or 16-year old, being summoned to the front of the classroom by an experienced schoolmaster with a prep school cane in his hand in order to receive a very harsh swat to his outstretched palm would certainly quell any further notions of trying to challenge his master’s authority. The unbearable stinging sensation was quite enough to keep most young lads on their toes and decide that obedience is, by far, the better option.