Corporal punishment was practised in British schools until it was abolished in 1987 for state schools, but not until the turn of the twenty-first century for private schools. Punishment was usually either in the form of caning across the hand or buttocks or by the strap (called a 'tawse' in Scotland) across one or both hands. The leather strap (known as 'the belt') was the everyday punishment tool in North East schools, with the cane being reserved for more serious offences, often administered in the headmaster's study. Punishment by strap was usually done in front of the class in a deliberate act of humiliation for the offender and as a deterrent to the rest of the class. http://www.bookdrum.com/books/we-never-had-it-so-g...3506288/bookmarks-101-125.html