Ancient Spartan schools deliberately underfed boys to force them to steal food, but severely punished anyone who was caught. This was thought to toughen them up, especially since it accustomed them to hunger, which was common on the battlefield.
The Stubborn Children Law (repealed in 1973) enacted by Massachusetts Bay Colony (1646), Connecticut (1650), Rhode Island (1668), and New Hampshire (1679), allowed a disobedient son "of sufficient years and understanding" (at least 16) to be put to death.
A Victorian legal ruling in 1850 made it legal to hit children. Chief Justice Cockburn made the ruling, in a case where a father had beaten his son to death.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) helped bring the first case of child abuse to court in 1874. At the time, there were laws against abusing animals but no laws against abusing human children.
The Stubborn Children Law (repealed in 1973) enacted by Massachusetts Bay Colony (1646), Connecticut (1650), Rhode Island (1668), and New Hampshire (1679), allowed a disobedient son "of sufficient years and understanding" (at least 16) to be put to death.
A Victorian legal ruling in 1850 made it legal to hit children. Chief Justice Cockburn made the ruling, in a case where a father had beaten his son to death.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) helped bring the first case of child abuse to court in 1874. At the time, there were laws against abusing animals but no laws against abusing human children.
The Children and Young Persons Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1933 making it legal for a parent to hit a child if it can be shown that only “reasonable chastisement” was intended. Whipping young children was banned.
A principal once punished a mischievous student by making him sit in the basement and read the U.S. Constitution until he could recite it. That student (who committed the Constitution to memory as a result) was Thurgood Marshall, would go on to become the first black associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
10,000 London school pupils went on strike on May 17, 1972 to march against caning, detention, uniforms and "headmaster dictatorships." Abandoning lessons to march on County Hall, the government thought it so serious MI5 and the Special Branch were involved to spy on "school activists."
Sweden became the first country in the world to ban smacking in 1979.
In 1998 The European Court of Human Rights said that English law is failing to protect children from beatings.
Writing lines, as cartoon character Bart Simpson does on a chalkboard, has survived even as other forms of school discipline have fallen out of favour. Below is an example of a sentence assigned as punishment: "From tomorrow I will not speak Dzongkha in the class"
It’s illegal in Iceland for parents to threaten children with fictional characters.
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