The original incident – recorded at the amazing Corpun site – is fascinating. It’s London, November 1948. The Evening News records that a group of girls who’d been singing boisterously on the school bus were reported by a prefect, Dawn Bloomfield, and caned by Miss James, the headmistress.
Two days later, the girls exacted revenge – hitting Dawn and pulling her hair. For that, a more serious punishment was called for, and they were caned on stage before the entire school, for a grave breach of discipline.
The follow-up is, perhaps, more so – assuming it is genuine: a letter which appeared a few days later:
Don’t Spare the Rod
AFTER reading your report about three school girls who went “on strike” after being caned, I took a vote among the 300 pupils of my own school – a High School for Girls – to see how many were in favour of being caned (we are all liable, here, to such punishment).
Result: 291 in favour of caning, as opposed to other forms of punishment; nine against. All but eight of the girls said that caning was the mode of punishment in their homes.
(Miss) J.T. (head prefect, aged 18), Surrey.
Was it really so common that parents were so very strict in those days?
Hmm. I was born too late…
Hmm, did she somehow force the 291 to say that, I wonder…?