Corporal punishment was both legal and readily available at Longwood Infant and Junior schools I was also caned at Hartford Senior school.
It was degrading, cruel and barbaric and it certainly didn’t help to achieve good behavior. I was caned from when I was five years old to fifteen years old. It had made me dislike the head teachers for being so cruel to me.
I was mostly caned for being late to school and my behaviour wasn’t very good. My bad behavior was probably down to an attachment disorder. Back then not much was known about attachment disorders. The head teacher knew full well that I didn’t have any parents and no compassion was ever shown. In fact they seemed to have singled me.
Because the Headteachers themselves were mothers you would think that they would want to mother me and not hurt me. It makes me sad just thinking about it and I felt like I was in a backward cruel institute.
Some of the teachers were kind to me and I really did like Mrs. Macy Thomas And Deidre Goulf they were such lovely teachers. The headteacher would call my name and I would stand in front of the class and was caned in front of the other children. I don’t know what was worse the pain of the cane or the sad frightened faces of the children having to watch me being brutalized by my attractive teacher.
I went back to St Helena about fifteen years ago for a holiday and I saw the teacher who caned me walking towards me and she recognized me. She crossed to the other side of the street as she knew what she had done, but it was a bit to late for remorse by now. There was a lot of favoritism and only some children were caned. Amazingly, friends and family were not caned.
I wrote this poem when I left Longwood Junior School.
I finished it when I was at Harford Senior School:
When you look at me teacher you show me aggression,
I wish that you would show me a little compassion,
When you look at me teacher what do you see,
What are you thinking when you cane me.
I am seven years old but soon I will be eight,
My teacher has caned me because I was late,
I am late for school teacher, I didn’t sleep at all last night,
My muma and poppa had a big fight.
Poppa smashed all of the furniture and kicked down the door,
And my Mumma cried all night and said that she can’t take any more,
We can not leave we have no where to go,
Its not a good place for a child to grow.
Silence and violence is all that I know.
I am so glad that the cane is no longer in use,
As no one ever saw it as abuse,
Caning children, I just wish that they never,
So glad that corporal punishment is banned for ever.