Editing Eton College (section)

=== Corporal punishment ===
Eton used to be renowned for its use of [[school corporal punishment|corporal punishment]], generally known as "beating". In the 16th century, Friday was set aside as "flogging day".<ref name="Nevill, p.9">Nevill, p. 9.</ref> A special wooden birching block was used for the purpose, with the boy being directed to fetch it and then kneel over it. [[John Keate]], Head Master from 1809 to 1834, took over at a time when discipline was poor. Until 1964, offending boys could be summoned to the Head Master or the Lower Master, as appropriate, to receive a [[birching]] on the bare posterior, in a semi-public ceremony held in the Library{{dubious|date=September 2023}}, where there was a special wooden birching block over which the offender was held. [[Anthony Chenevix-Trench]], Head Master from 1964 to 1970, abolished the birch and replaced it with [[caning]], also applied to the bare buttocks, which he administered privately in his office.<ref>Onyeama, Dillibe (1972). ''Nigger at Eton''. London: Leslie Frewin. p. 100. {{ISBN|978-0-85632-003-3}}</ref>

Chenevix-Trench also abolished corporal punishment administered by senior boys. Previously, House Captains were permitted to cane offenders over the seat of the trousers. This was a routine occurrence, carried out privately with the boy bending over with his head under the edge of a table. Less common but more severe were the canings administered by Pop (see [[Eton Society]] below) in the form of a "Pop-Tanning", in which a large number of hard strokes were inflicted by the President of Pop in the presence of all Pop members (or, in earlier times, each member of Pop took it in turns to inflict a stroke). The culprit was summoned to appear in a pair of old trousers, as the caning would cut the cloth to shreds. This was the most severe form of physical punishment at Eton.<ref>Cheetham, Anthony; Parfit, Derek (1964). ''Eton Microcosm''. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. {{OCLC|7396426}}</ref>

Chenevix-Trench's successor from 1970, [[Michael McCrum]], retained private corporal punishment by masters but ended the practice of requiring boys to take their trousers and underpants down when bending over to be caned by the Head Master. By the mid-1970s, the only people allowed to administer caning were the Head Master and the Lower Master.<ref>{{cite book |author=Dixon, Mark |title=An Eton Schoolboy's Album |year=1985 |publisher=Debrett's |location=London |page=95 |isbn=978-0-905649-78-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/etonschoolboysal0000dixo |url-access=registration }}</ref>

Corporal punishment was phased out in the 1980s. The film director [[Sebastian Doggart]] claims to have been the last boy caned at Eton, in 1984.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/expateducation/8530207/Schools-in-Sweden-cant-be-beaten-corporal-punishment-around-the-world.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/expateducation/8530207/Schools-in-Sweden-cant-be-beaten-corporal-punishment-around-the-world.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=26 May 2011 |title=Schools in Sweden can't be beaten: corporal punishment around the world |author=Doggart, Sebastian}}{{cbignore}}</ref>