In church on Sundays, my teacher plays the piano,
She sings Hosanna Praise Hosanna,
Let the children sing,
She canes me for every petty thing,
While I look on pitifully,
She doesn’t like me at all,
She tells me to face the wall,
She walks briskly back to her desk,
She doesn’t notice my distress,
I try so hard to do my best
She mutters that I’m a dunce,
A child I’ll only be once,
My emotions are raw,
My spirit breaks
A harsh word is all it takes,
A childhood lost forever. By Dorothy Maude
When I was a child, corporal punishment was practised in all of the schools on the island of St Helena. It was widely used as a form of discipline at home too. Many people have said that it didn’t do them any harm. We now know through education, beating children and causing physical pain is harmful and damaging. I was constantly caned at school mainly for my out of control behaviour . There wasn’t anything known about attachment in my day. All of the teachers knew that I didn’t have a mother, they should have shown more understanding.