Corporal punishment is considered one of the oldest forms of human responsibility for misconduct. Ancient people did not yet know such a science as pedagogy, and there was no criminal law as such. Beating could punish the offender, the thief, just a hated person. Corporal punishment should be divided into self-harming - injuring human organs or their amputation, for example, cutting off an arm, leg, gouging out eyes, rupture of nostrils and lips, castration; painful - pain caused by beating with rods, a whip, a stick (in ancient times, shameful pillars were common to which the offender was tied and flogged with rods); disgraceful - this type of corporal punishment differed from others in that the infliction of pain faded into the background. The main goal was to disgrace a person.
Corporal punishment at school
The world probably does not know a country that would practice corporal punishment at school more than England. Even in medieval schools, beating children was the main punishment among teachers. Pupils who came to school immediately faced beating. Founded in 1440, Eton College, whose teachers practiced brutal beating, even raised money to buy rods. Parents handed over half a guinea in addition to studying, so that educational tools were purchased for the children.
The director of the college in 1534-1543, Nicholas Yudall, was famous for his cruelty among students. It turns out that he enjoyed sexual pleasure by beating children. Corporal punishment was carried out not only because of their own anger or uncontrollable disposition of teachers, but because of the universality of the rod. They replaced the then pedagogy, were a popularly accepted method of education.
Once, during a plague, students at Eton College were told they needed to smoke to protect themselves from the disease. One student was severely beaten for disobedience (quitting). The sadistic director Yudall was removed from his post for abusive behavior toward students, but he did not sit unemployed for a long time. Soon, Nicholas Yudall led another, no less popular college - Westminster.
The director of Eton College in 1809-1834, John Keith, with the help of corporal punishment achieved excellent discipline. Children perceived the beating no longer as a shameful mockery of teachers, but as a punishment for an unsuccessful attempt to deceive the elders. Children received corporal punishment from China with honor, some boys even boasted to their classmates.
In every courtyard where the students lived, there was a place for beating. The boys took off their pants and underpants, climbed the scaffold, knelt on the steps, and laid their stomach on a log. In this position, there was enough room for beating, so the blows hit not only the fifth point.
Corporal punishment history
In the ancient Greek and Roman state, corporal punishment was applied only to slaves.
They could be beaten, killed, changed, because their life was worthless in those days. The history of corporal punishment in Russia reached its peak in the era of serfdom. Defenseless people were tortured for the slightest mistake, and even for no reason at all, if the nobleman was in no mood. The Russian writer A.N. Radishchev categorically opposed corporal punishment, because the equality of all before the law should be accompanied by a civilized society. In response to him, Prince M. M. Shcherbatov expressed his opinion on this issue. He said that corporal punishment should not be abolished completely, but that they should be applied only to serfs and ordinary citizens, but not to nobles.