NRS-16663 | Punishment book [Carrington Public School]

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Regulations under the Public Schools Act of 1866, adopted by the Council [of Education] 27 February 1867 regulated the punishment of children in schools by stipulating: “In the government of the pupils, all degrading and injurious punishments are to be avoided. The Teacher’s discipline must be mild but firm, his manner kindly, his demeanour cheerful and calculated to gain the confidence of his pupils, and his language marked by strict propriety. While he should overlook no offence, his aim should be to prevent the necessity for punishment by the improvement of the offender.”

In relation to corporal punishment the regulations continue: “Corporal punishment should be inflicted in extreme cases only, and then as a last resource; and the teacher must keep a record of the time and place at which pupils were corporally chastised, the amount of such punishment and the nature of the offence.”

Uniform stationery soon evolved to enable compliance with these regulations. These punishment books are registers of all cases in which corporal punishment was given to pupils. The information it details includes: the pupil’s name; age; nature of offence; amount of punishment (i.e. number of strokes); by whom sent; the date of the punishment; and by whom the punishment was inflicted.

The present series is represented by three volumes and two fragments (one an empty cover), which pertain to the years 1886-1890, parts of 1893 and 1894, and 1939-1970. The earliest volume records punishments from September, 1886- March, 1890, and has been initialed by the Inspector of Schools, most recently on the 10th April, 1891. This volume is almost completely filled with entries.

The fragment labeled “Lower Third Class Punishment Book” consists of the cover and final leaf of a register volume, recording punishments during the ten-day period 23rd October – 2nd November. Of the 31 children whose punishments are recorded on this leaf, 25 are from the 3rd class, the remainder from the 2nd class. The year is not stated, but it is one in which the 28th October fell on a Sunday, and from the known enrolment dates of the pupils named, the possibilities can be reduced to 1894. This volume, therefore, would probably once have covered the whole period April, 1890 – November, 1894.

Another volume, dating apparently from 1893, records only two punishments, both administered on the same day; the rest of the volume is blank. It has, however, also been initialed by the Inspector. This volume probably related to a different level of the school than that to which the just-described fragment pertained.

The latest volume, from the years 1939-1970, reveals a slow falling-off in the frequency of canings during the period covered, except that this frequency is noticeably higher again in the years 1957-1960 and 1969-1970. Several years (1948-1949, 1952-1954 and 1961) record no instances of corporal punishment at all.