"The Cane" – A School Memory Many Queenslanders Will Never Forget!

For generations of Queensland school children, getting into trouble at school could mean more than a stern talking-to or staying behind after class.

Throughout much of the 20th century, corporal punishment was an accepted form of discipline in many Queensland state schools. Students who broke school rules could be sent to the headmaster’s or principal’s office, or another authorised teacher, where they might receive strokes of the rattan cane.

Departmental regulations governed how corporal punishment was carried out. Generally, girls were usually punished on the hand, while boys were commonly caned on the buttocks, although practices varied between schools and different periods. Schools were also required to record each instance of corporal punishment in official punishment registers, although the way these rules were applied could differ greatly between individual schools and teachers.

The cane was kept in many headmasters’ and principals’ offices and became one of the strongest symbols of school discipline. While regulations often referred to serious or repeated misconduct, many former students remember receiving the cane for a wide range of reasons - from fighting, bullying and truancy to talking in class, disobedience or other breaches of school rules.

For many parents and teachers of the time, corporal punishment was viewed as a way of teaching discipline, respect and responsibility. Others opposed the practice, arguing that physical punishment could cause fear, humiliation and questioning whether it had a place in education.

As attitudes towards children’s welfare and rights changed during the 1970s and 1980s, opposition to corporal punishment increased. In 1992, the Queensland Government announced that corporal punishment would be phased out in state schools, with the practice officially ending at the beginning of the 1995 school year.

While some non-government schools continued to permit corporal punishment for a period afterwards, the practice eventually disappeared from most Queensland schools.

Today, the school cane remains one of the most remembered - and debated - parts of Queensland’s educational history. For some, it represents a different era of discipline; for others, it represents a practice that should never have existed.

Did you ever receive the cane at school?

We’d love to hear your stories and help preserve this fascinating chapter of Queensland’s social history.

A note on our visuals: To ℎelp bring tℎis story to life, we've used artistic illustrations. Wℎile we've aimed for ℎistorical accuracy, tℎey may contain errors or artistic interpretation. Tℎey are used solely for educational, non-commercial ℎistory storytelling.