Perhaps one of the strangest aspects of the school punishment system was the complicated collection of unwritten rules created by the pupils themselves.
Crying was one example.
It was generally considered perfectly understandable for a girl to cry after being caned or slippered.
A young boy might also be forgiven for doing so.
But among older boys there could be tremendous pressure to return to the classroom appearing completely unaffected.
A boy of thirteen or fourteen who returned visibly sobbing might face teasing from his classmates.
This placed pupils in an extraordinarily difficult position.
At some schools punishments took place immediately after assembly. Once it was over, the pupil was expected to return directly to lessons.
There was no quiet half-hour in which to compose oneself.
You simply walked back into the classroom and attempted to behave as though nothing had happened.
It is easy to understand why maintaining appearances became almost as important as the punishment itself.
