Large numbers of memories may begin to reveal patterns.
Official Records Would Transform the Research
The ideal source would naturally be original school punishment books, education committee records and other official documents.
Occasionally such material survives.
One Northumberland school group, for example, reportedly contained scanned pages from a 1970s punishment book.
Material of this sort is particularly valuable because it can provide dates, offences, punishments and sometimes the names or positions of staff members.
However, official records have limitations of their own.
It cannot safely be assumed that every disciplinary incident was recorded merely because regulations said that it should have been.
Record-keeping standards varied.
Books were lost or destroyed.
Some incidents may simply never have been entered.
Consequently, the best historical picture is likely to emerge from combining official records, newspapers and personal recollections rather than relying upon any one source.
