Corporal punishment at school saw that pupils lived in fear | Letters

Readers respond to columnist Ian Jack’s article about his experience of being belted at school

What a contrast in teachers is revealed in Saturday’s Journal (24 March). On the centre spread is an inspiring interview with the award-winning Andria Zafirakou, while on page 3 we find Ian Jack reminiscing about being “belted” at school. He came to the conclusion that this violence “had done me no harm”, but it is difficult to imagine any child could emerge unscathed. I certainly found that the corporal punishment at my South African boarding schools was like a reign of terror, under which boys went in fear of transgressing some arbitrary, usually senseless, rule.
Tully Potter
Tonbridge, Kent

• Ian Jack asks if being belted was harmful. Of course it was harmful! The emotional and physical harm done to children is not subject to shifting moralities. The thinking about it is. Child abuse is child abuse. I was belted three times. It was enduringly traumatic and continues to haunt me.
Liz Middleton
London

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2pJrmhG