[lit-ideas] English Pubic Schools
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 22:35:06 -0500
> [Original Message]
> From: JUDITH EVANS <judithevans1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 2/15/2006 4:09:06 PM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Too painful to talk about?
>
>
> From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> > Oh. I saw it on CNN and turned it off immediately. British. That
makes
> > sense. They used to do something short of that in their public schools
> > (seriously). Hopefully things have civilized up a bit.
>
> I doubt those soldiers were public schoolboys. Btw by "something short of
> that" did you mean fagging? or beatings by schoolmasters? or beatings by
> prefects?
>
All of the above. It's interesting that you even break it down. One can't
read an autobiography of an Englishman without encountering descriptions of
horrendous beatings, and a lot of them, in the public schools. In the BBC
1980's production of The Singing Detective the protagonist recalls his
school experiences and how he tells a lie such that another boy gets in
trouble. The boy was viciously beaten as an example to others. I sat
there thinking it's not a school, it's an insane asylum. Of course that's
set in Wales, but everything I've read about the English isn't any better.
Even Prince Charles' education has been described as an endurance test.
The lower classes have William Blake and Charles Dickens. I don't know how
they compare to public schools but suspect they're probably pretty similar
in terms of treatment. The public school boys dress nicer of course. PBS
a few months ago did a show on English criminals who were deported to
Australia originally. Deportation was used instead of the death penalty.
One of the criminals was an 11 year old girl, sentenced to death for
stealing another girl's dress. Not picking on the English. It's just
facts.
> Judy Evans, Cardiff
>
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