Corpun file 24667 at www.corpun.com
Daily Mail, London, 20 February 1934, p.11
Nearly 100 Schoolboys Caned
Council May Order An Inquiry
From Our Special Correspondent
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BARNET, Herts, Monday.
ALLEGATIONS concerning the caning of a large number of
scholars at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys here, which
have been made before the Barnet Urban District Council, are now
a topic of local discussion.
To-day the Hertfordshire County Council referred to a
subcommittee a resolution that an inquiry should be made into the
organisation of the school.
The chairman of the school governors, Alderman H.E. Fern, told me
to-day:
"It is perfectly true that about 100 boys were caned by the
headmaster, Mr. E.H. Jenkins, as a disciplinary measure. Two
general warnings had been previously given by him.
"In this case he had either to give the punishment he did or
else give the boys lines or curtail their holidays. In his
discretion, and perfectly within his rights as headmaster, he
decided on the caning.
Only "A Gesture"
"In my view the whole matter has been very much
exaggerated. A councillor is said to have read at the urban
district council meeting a letter stated to have been written by
a parent of one of the boys who protested against the punishment.
"None of the governors of the school has received a similar
letter. If any such letters reach us then there will naturally be
an investigation."
The headmaster, Mr. Jenkins, told me: "The matter has been
grossly exaggerated. According to local reports, the punishment I
gave is said to have been severe. This is not so.
"The cane I use is very light, and it was a gesture rather
than a punishment. Fewer than 100 boys were dealt with.
"I had one mild letter of protest from a parent of one of
the boys, but the writer accepted the explanation I gave in
reply."
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