[HPFGU-OTChatter] Boy by Dahl

[Shaun Hately]

On 3 Oct 2002 at 2:08, Queer as John wrote:

> I'm not necessarily sure that's true, Shaun. If you watch the film _If..._,
> starring Malcolm MacDowall, which was released in the late 1960s, you'll see
> that the practice of caning was still prevalent in the British public school
> establishment. I watched a documentary about _If..._ three years ago and
> they described how caning was outlawed during the 60s (possibly into the
> early 70s).

I think there is confuion here John.

Caning was certainly common in British schools - and it wasn't banned until the late 
1980s in state schools, and only a couple of years ago in private schools. The issue 
isn't whether caning occurred. It most certainly did - and as I said it can be brutal.

What I specifically said was that " people who went to school with Dahl, say that his 
descriptions of the beatings he received at Repton are exagerated (although the rat 
incident at his prep school does appear true), and the description of the bare bottom 
caning of a friend is a total fabrication (although it is possible Dahl, as he is 
reporting it second hand, believed it to be true)."

I made no comment on caning in general - I happen to know a fair bit about it, as it 
has come up sometimes in anti-bullying work I do (a fair amount of the research is 
British and some people feel the banning of corporal punishment has an impact in 
that area), and I was also caned myself at school only a little over a decade ago 
here in Australia. I know the cane was used in British schools and used widely, and 
if I wanted to take a few minutes to check some books, I could find real examples of 
what Dahl included in Boy. My specific comments related however to what Roald 
Dahl experienced at his school - and school friends of his have said, that in *his* 
specific case, and at that *specific* school, what he describes in Boy is not a 
realistic depiction of what actually happened.

No general commentary - just specifics as relates to that book, and that school.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately |webpage: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       |email: drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in
common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter
the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen
to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who:
The Face of Evil | Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia