Reminds me of the good ole days in Oz. We were group punished by being made to sit on the sun-hot tar of the playground... if you tried to lift a buttock off for relief, you were ordered to sit straight. And then there was the time at Sydney Boys High when the teacher caned the whole class for misbehaving while he had stepped out because he couldn't be bothered trying to separate the good from the bad. His nickname among us was 'Black George' for how he left your hands after a sixer (a six-times caning). That was in the dark ages of the 1970s though....

Me too but it was a religious school in the States and the brothers were returned GI's from WWII with psychological disorders.

Me as well, in the 60"s, they were Christian Brothers (they dont really deserve capitals but there you go). They werent veterans from WW2 that I know of but think they were selected purely because of their cruel, twisted, psychological disorders because there weren't any at all that were sane!

Bringing back memories (though I was in government schools). I remember one teacher. Always wore black. When you went to his office for a caning, he would direct you to a cabinet where he had a bunch of different canes on display, some with small thorns. He would ask you to choose your cane. In retrospect I can see that this was a bit of theatre intended to up the fearfulness of the experience. But what kind of person would come up with that in the first place???

This should be written in stone on top of the entrance of the Ministry of Education

He who opens a school door, closes a prison - Victor Hugo