13 year old Michael was a pupil at Kenton School, Nairobi, for two years from 1990.

The school was for sons of British business & professional people working in Kenya and had parts, a Prep department and a senior one. Michael attended the Senior School. There was a rigid uniform, of khaki shirt and shorts, with cap for special occasions. Long trousers were not allowed for those under 15.

Michael was caned twice whilst at Kenton. He also gave details of other canings he had either witnessed or been told of. Canings were very formal affairs at Kenton. His first one was four strokes for fooling around. He was alone and, on entering the Head's study, was given the usual lecture before being told to bend over the arm of the large armchair. This he did, and his jacket was pulled up to reveal his very tightly stretched shorts before the cane was applied with vigour to his well- presented rear end. He said the caning hurt a lot but that he was able to take it without crying. Afterwards, in the dorm that night, he had to show his stripes to his friends and have them compared with others. This exhibiting of stripes was a very important part of life at Kenton, Michael says. Boys were judged on their ability to take the cane and the marks were always carefully examined and felt. He said that the marks were always very thick, purple ridges, which lasted for about a week when boys were caned on their shorts, but rather longer when caned bare.

His second caning was for breaking a window and two other boys were involved. This time, all three boys were in the study together, each sat on a chair, facing the armchair. They had to remove their jackets and place them on another chair in the study. Robin, the first boy, was then called forward and bent over the chair for his 4 strokes, watched by the other two. This boy, at 12, was the youngest boy in the class but was known as a very tough lad, being well used to punishment. The head really let fly, raising dust from his tightly stretched shorts. Despite this severity, Robin remained silent although he was very red faced when he got up and he sat down very gingerly indeed. Michael was second, and said that the head gave him a pretty hot whacking, too, but he also managed to take it without crying. Toby, the third boy, who had actually broken the window, was third. This lad received the special treatment reserved for serious offenders. He had to stand with hands on head whilst the Head lowered both shorts and underpants, before bending him over the chair. Toby then received eight very hard strokes, which Michael says reduced him to tears from the very first stroke.

He said that, whilst Robin was being caned, he looked anywhere but at the victim, but with Toby, he freely admitted that he was transfixed by the spectacle. He remembered seeing the cane flash down, followed by the CRACK! and then the boy's agonised howl. Michael also said that he had a lot of sympathy for the victim and that no boy was ever laughed at for crying - they all knew how painful such a beating was. The marks, Michael commented, were quite something. At first, the cane dug quite deep into the unfortunate victim's bum. then, after it had been lifted away, the resulting white stripe rapidly turned an angry crimson, followed by purple. The entire bottom was an angry crimson, and the developing weals were extremely well pronounced.

Michael remarked that it was always easy to spot a boy who had been caned on his bare bottom because he always had great difficulty in sitting down in class, and was invariably either still crying or had been crying. The marks, seen in the dorm, were always very spectacular indeed, much more ridged than a trousered caning and often the skin was broken in places, especially where strokes had crossed. These marks easily lasted a fortnight.

Michael said that canings were quite normal at Kenton, whilst in the Junior school, the slipper and strap were always used and always on the bare bottom. There, the slipper was given in class, with the boy over teacher's knee whilst the strap was given by the head in his study, the victim being bent over a chair or sometimes the armchair. In class, a boy got up to 6 strokes, whilst the head gave anything up to 24 with a medium strap.

The school played others at football etc and Michael said that many boys from other schools sported marks which made even the Head's look pale by comparison. One boy from another boarding school nearby had been given 18 strokes of the cane for fighting and the marks were really prominent over a week afterwards. His bottom was really well bruised even after that length of time. This boy was also 13 and had been thrashed in front of his school, as was the custom there, and expected the marks to last at least three weeks before fading entirely. Another boy from the same school was punished by his form master whilst at Kenton. Richard was 12 and had been sent off during a match. In front of all the boys, he was made to remove his football shorts and bend over a bench in the changing room. The master then gave him 12 extremely hard strokes with a strap he had in his briefcase. Richard yelled at each stroke and his bottom was very well marked at the end. The master promised more punishment on his return to school. This, a tearful Richard said after the master left the room, would mean the cane for sure.!