Corporal Punishment In GCI

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN GCI
(Excerpts from �Before My Obituary� by Olaleye Falore)

The use of corporal punishment for correcting erring boys was restricted to only six members of staff the Principal, the Vice Principal and the four Housemasters. No other person in the school was given the power to �flog� any student, no matter the gravity of his offence.

Caning in GCI was, more often than not, carried out in a ceremonial way, be it on the house grounds by the Housemaster or in the school compound by the Principal or his Vice.

Throughout my stay in GCI, none of my acts of misdemeanor or violation of the school rules and regulations on the house grounds was serious enough to warrant caning by the Housemaster. I knew my limits and did my best not to exceed them. I also avoided provoking anyone, students or Masters alike, to an extent that would lead to being reported to the Housemaster for caning.

The only boys I provoked without apology were my classmates. I did torment them a lot, especially the bigger and elderly ones. Sometimes, after provoking them, I also challenged them for a fight without really meaning to because (1) I knew the consequences of fighting and (2) I couldn�t trust my strength to match up to those giants I molested (tiny Falore).

The only person who caned me in GCI was the Principal; and he did this on two occasions, both in my third year. In both cases, it was a group punishment, that is, it was not consequent upon my personal misbehavior or a deliberate infraction of any of the school rules. One of the incidents is particularly worth recalling here because its repercussions influenced my resolve later in life.

The Regional Teachers� College, before its absorption by Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, occupied the adjacent compound to GCI where Queen�s School is sited today. The Teachers� College was one of the institutions of higher learning in Western Nigeria established for training of teachers which would later work in secondary schools. On regular basis, batches of these teachers-in-training were posted to GCI for what was called �teaching practice� for a few weeks, say four or six. That had been the practice since my Form I days and my experience with the teachers-in-training had always been very pleasant and most of us welcomed their stay. They had handled such subjects as Geography, Mathematics, History, and General Sciences.

My class, Form IIIB, had one of these teachers-in-training handling the subject � History � in 1964. He was quite good in the subject and we enjoyed his lessons immensely as he dished out historical facts to us. The only problem (or was it amusement) we had with him was his grammatical expressions. He was fond of making his statement in the present tense even when recalling events that happened centuries earlier. On one occasion, one of the boys, T. O., asked the student-teacher,

Excuse me, Sir. How did the first set of people get to America?

�Whether they fly there, I don�t know,� the student-teacher answered.

Instantly the whole class chorused amidst laughter and yelling, using the present tense as the student-teacher had just done in answering the question.

�Whether they swim there, I don�t know. Whether they walk there, I don�t know. Whether they run there, I don�t know�

Confused, embarrassed, and annoyed, the teacher angrily packed his books and left the classroom.

We did not know of the implication of our behavior in that History class until we were summoned to see the Principal later in the afternoon after school hours.

�All Form IIIB boys should report in the Principal�s office immediately,� the Prefect-on-duty (P.O.D) announced at lunchtime in the Central Dining Hall.

Within minutes, all of us in Form IIIB were assembled in front of the Principal�s office, from where we were directed by the Principal to move to Room 16 (Lecture Theatre II). With the Principal in the lead, holding a copy of the School List for 1964 in his hand, we all sheepishly trooped to Room 16. Some of us were in high spirits as we cracked jokes along the way, oblivious of what lay ahead.

After taking our seats, the traditional roll call followed.

�Abiodun,� called the Principal.

�Here,� replied Abiodun

�Abiodun� repeated the Principal; this time lifting his head up, and facing the direction that Abiodun�s voice came from with a deep frown on his face. That afternoon, we could see immediately that the Principal was not going to condole any stupid or audacious behavior from his boys.

�Present Sir� responded Abiodun, quickly correcting himself after sensing that the Principal was not prepared for any clownish behavior. So the roll call continued.

�Adebowale�

�Present, Sir�

�Adegoke�

�Present Sir�

On and on went the roll call until the name of the last boy on the list was called.

Noting that the Principal had not invited us for a tea party, we had all become very sober. And with all the seriousness that the Principal could muster, he recalled what happened during the History lesson handled by the student-teacher from Regional Teachers� College earlier that day.

He told us that he had been disappointed by the reported unruly behaviour that we were alleged to have put up. According to the Principal, we had, by our action, not only disgraced ourselves, but we had brought shame to GCI and tarnished the good name of the school. He categorically stated that he would not condone any act of rudeness to an �outsider� under any guise by any boy under his care in GCI.

Consequently, he would hold every member of the class responsible for insubordination to the student-teacher and having been found guilty, each boy would receive four strokes of the cane on his bare buttocks. No boy was allowed to make any plea, even if one had any explanation to make. We exchanged glances and made gesticulations to each other as if to say, �God�s case, no appeal�.

We were, thereafter, ordered back to the frontage of the Principal�s office. And using the copy of the School List, we were called to receive our dosage of caning one after the other.

�Remove your shorts, my boy,� ordered the Principal as each entered his office to take his �ration�.

�And your pants,� added the Principal after the boy would have removed his pair of shorts.

�Bend down,� came the third order.

The four strokes came landing on the boy�s buttocks one after the other strategically almost on the same spot. The Principal had a reputation for doing that and nobody could fault his expertise when it came to �landing the cane on the same spot�.

One of us (who is a Medical Practitioner today) ran Out of the Principal�s office in pain after receiving his �ration� without collecting his pair of shorts and pants and made for the road in the direction of Field House. It was when he saw a woman palm-wine seller coming in the opposite direction on the Aba Dele/Field House Road that he realized that he was half naked and had to run back to the Principal�s office to collect his clothes. Those of us who had taken our strokes of the cane could not help but burst into laughter at the boy�s action. Big boy Medic, do you remember? Hard to forget.

Submitted by:Olaleye Falore