I was caned throughout my school career. As a junior boy I was caned by the prefects and when I was older by the masters. No boy ever escaped the regular discipline of the cane.
The caning experience starts when a prefect (or master) finds a boy summarily guilty of breaking a school rule. To his horror the boy is ordered to report to the prefect's room at a certain hour. This usually gives him some time to contemplate his fate. A caning is the most likely punishment but he hopes beyond hope that he may be given lines or even just a severe lecture. However many times a boy has been caned, each caning is a fresh ordeal which he dreads. The cane is the most effective and feared of all the instruments of corporal punishment.
At the appointed time, the boy nervously knocks on the prefect's door and enters when called. Sometimes the cane is already lying on a desk ready for him but if not, it gives the boy fresh hope of avoiding a caning. The prefect lectures the boy and eventually announces the punishment, usually with the words: "I'm going to cane you." Sometimes there are other prefects present to observe the proceedings.
The ritual now begins. The prefect places a chair in a convenient position and orders the boy to remove his jacket. This initial act impresses on the boy that he really is going to experience the cane and not be let off with a lighter punishment. If the cane is not already lying on the desk, the prefect goes to a cupboard or drawer and brings out a cane. When the boy sees the cane which is going to thrash his bare bottom he shudders as he stares at it knowing the power it has to inflict pain. The prefect adds to the boy's trepidation by flexing the cane in front of him. Next comes the humiliating moment when the prefect orders the boy to drop or remove his trousers and underpants. While the boy is undressing, the prefect swishes the cane as loudly as he can, unnerving the boy further. By this time the boy is trembling with fear and embarrassment. If there are any witnesses present, they may also be trembling but with excitement and anticipation.
The prefect, who has the boy totally within his power, now utters the dreaded words: "BEND OVER!" This is the moment when the boy has to overcome all his instincts and submit himself to a punishment which he knows is going to hurt unbearably. It is also the moment of no return. Once bent over and in position, no boy ever stands up for any reason until the caning is completed. As he bends over the caning chair, the boy knows that when he next stands up his bottom will be blazing and throbbing.
At this point, the boy's bottom is still covered by his shirt tail. The prefect pulls the shirt out of the way and he and any witnesses murmur in approval or disappointment according to how attractive they think the bared bottom is and whether there are any marks from recent canings. Prefects prefer a flawless, white, well-shaped bottom to work on. The boy flushes with embarrassment particularly if he is on display to any witnesses who he knows will be staring at his exposed bottom, now the centre of attention, ready and waiting for the cane. At the same time he may feel a strange guilty feeling of excitement.
The prefect then takes up his caning position and the cane makes its first contact with the bottom it is going to thrash. But this is a gentle, caressing embrace as the prefect spends some time stroking and tapping the boy's bottom with the cane as he measures it to decide exactly where to place the strokes.
All bottoms are different but, if bent over at the right angle, usually six strokes can easily be fitted on so that the whole bottom is well caned without any overlapping. The first stroke is often placed across the centre of the bottom as a marker followed by two strokes above and below. The final, most painful stroke is laid on the crease between bottom and thigh. Hence six strokes is the traditional punishment. If strokes overlap they may break the skin and cause bleeding. More than six strokes requires more accurate caning to avoid overlapping. If a boy deserves the cane, many prefects always give him a standard six strokes, no more and no less, whatever the offence.
This time spent surveying his bottom increases the boy's apprehension as he now just wants to get it over with. It may also increase the prefect's and onlookers' enjoyment. Eventually the prefect announces the number of strokes he is going to give which is usually six of the best and warns the boy not to move on penalty of further strokes. He then asks the boy if he is ready. The boy thinks: "Oh no! This is it! I'm going to be CANED! I won't be able to take it!" but he has no choice but to reluctantly reply "Yes" and take a tighter grip on the chair which is going to be his only comfort to help him through the caning. All is now ready for the punishment to begin and there is complete silence except for the frightened breathing of the boy as he enjoys the last few seconds of a pain-free bottom and tries to prepare himself for the first burning cut of the cane.
Swish....crack! "Ah" "ONE!"
Caning is very much a co-operative act between boy and prefect. The boy's duty, in offering his bare bottom for the cane, is to keep still and accept the strokes, however painful, inflicted upon him by the prefect and absorb the searing pain in order to expiate his sin.
Swish....crack! "Ouch!" "TWO!"
The prefect's duty is to ensure that the boy is caned severely and suffers sufficiently for his misdemeanour. He also has to try to space the strokes across the boy's bottom as evenly as possible from the cleavage to the underbottom. Boys expect to have a neat pattern of welts to show off to their friends afterwards and prefects who cane most accurately are most respected.
Swish....crack! "Oowww!!" "THREE!"
During the caning, the prefect and boy become completely engrossed in the act, aware of nothing except the hissing cane cracking on bare flesh. The cane, carrying out the function it was made for, comes to life in the prefect's hand, rising and flashing down in a blur as it inflicts its excruciating retribution on the reddening bottom. The boy is immersed in unbearable pain which gets worse with each stroke. He is completely alone in his agony as he clings to the chair, his only comfort.
Swish....crack! "Aaarrh!!! Oowch!" "FOUR!"
Towards the end of the caning, the boy may kick his legs backwards to try and obtain some relief from the furnace now burning in his bottom before that white hot poker stokes the heat even hotter. He is rebuked for this but the prefect is secretly pleased that his caning is seen to be effective. Sometimes the boy may beg the prefect not to cane him so hard. Whatever the boy's reaction to the previous stroke, the prefect gently lays the cane on the hot throbbing bottom and slowly strokes it as he prepares for the next stroke which he then administers with the same full force.
Swish....crack! "Aaaarrrh!!!! Please not so hard!" "FIVE! Keep still! If you move again you'll get an extra stroke."
As each stroke is cut into the errant bottom, the prefect sees a bright red weal spring up. At the same instant the boy feels a stripe of unimaginable hot pain burn into his bottom. It is the purest pain any boy can suffer and is indescribable. There is nothing it can be compared to. Only those who experience the cane can know how terrible it is and they can forget between canings. It is only at the very moment of caning, as the boy experiences that incredible level of pain, that the cane's real power to punish is truly felt.
Any witnesses watch the caning in hushed reverence and often with bright, staring eyes and bulging trousers. They have all experienced the cane themselves but even if they feel any sympathy for the boy's suffering they know he must receive a severe caning. Any leniency by the prefect is interpreted as weakness and he will lose credibility among the boys and the other prefects. This caning code ensures that canings are always severe and dreaded by all boys.
Swish....crack! "Aaaarrrh!!!!! Ooowww!! Please... No!" "SIX!"
The caning seems to last a long time to the boy. At last the final stroke is delivered. The caned boy remains slumped over the chair, quietly sobbing and in some distress, his scorched bottom burning and throbbing. He daren't get up until told. The prefect keeps him in position so that is suffering continues a little longer and he can examine his handiwork. Any witnesses murmur comments to each other about the severity and accuracy of the caning and the boy's reaction. Eventually the caned boy is ordered to stand up and get dressed. He tearfully rubs his blazing bottom and then gingerly pulls up his pants and trousers. The onlookers now regard the boy with some respect: he has just undergone a very severe punishment, possibly as severe as any he will ever suffer, and has come through it. After a further lecture on his misdemeanour and a warning of the consequences of future breaches of the rules, the boy has to thank the prefect and is then dismissed. He leaves, swearing to himself never to break another school rule but it is certain that it won't be long before he is bared and bent over again for a further experience of the cane.