This story was inspired by a story I read in the archive, called The Academy of Education by Alan Leonard. Thank you for the idea.
Chapter 1 Christopher Robert Grant was an even six foot and nearly 17 years old. He had failed his university entrance examinations by an overall score of 22 points. The required mark was 250 and he had missed it. It would have been even better to have got 300, and that would have meant that his parents would have had some relief from the uni fees as a score of 300 got you a scholarship that paid for the tuition and part of your living costs. Now he had to go to his parents and tell them that he had only got 228 points and that meant he would not even get in the door.
His father, John was a accountant and his mother ran her own business a small exclusive dress shop where she designed clothes for the discerning lady. Both parents while being loving, had always given Chris most things that he wanted.
Chris looked at his watch. Well four more hours till the parents get home, he thought, Ill phone Nigel and ask how he got on. Nigel was his close friend they had been through school together right from the beginning and were friends and rivals in everything. He picked up the phone and pressed in the numbers that he knew by heart.
There was a ringing tone in his ear, it went on and on, he was just about to give up when the receiver at the other end was picked up and dropped again, so Chris was left with a disconnected signal. He tried again. This time the phone was picked up properly.
He heard the voice of his friend say, "Hello you have reached 569 7531."
"Hey Nigel how did you go?"
"Not to badly. I got 315. What about you?"
"I didnt."
"What do you mean?"
"I only got 228, and that means we wont be going to uni together like we planned. It means that Ive got to repeat the year at school. _s_h_i_t_, _s_h_i_t_, _s_h_i_t_, how do I explain this to my folks."
"Im sure youll think of something. Youve always managed to wriggle out of the smelly stuff before."
"Yeah, but that was before, this is now."
"Well sorry about your news, but Im going to ring my dad now and tell him the good news."
"Yeah ok, bye. Hey, Hey are you still there??"
"Only just."
"Hey congratulations on your marks Nigel."
"Thanks Chris, you will be alright, but Ive got to go now. See you."
"Bye." And Chris put down the receiver.
That evening Chriss parents were not exactly overjoyed by his news. His dad who was usually pretty easy going was a little angry.
"Christopher I guessed that you had not done so well when I didnt get a call from you during the day. What about all the assurances that you gave during the year when you said that all was going well."
"Dad, I thought that I was going very well, I was scoring well in all the tests."
"Chris let me think for a moment. .... I will phone Bill Ramston tomorrow. If he will see us, you and I will go and talk to him and then we will make a decision on where we will go from there."
Bill Ramston was the schools counsellor for all sorts of problems. He and Chriss father were friends just like Chris and Nigel.
Even though it was Saturday Chriss father had phoned Bill Ramston and they had arranged to meet him at his office at the school at 2pm.
"Hi John, Chris, come on through. Bill Ranston led them from the outside the main doors through to his office. Once there and everyone was sitting he got straight to the point. "After your call John, I talked to a couple of Chriss teachers and I have also accessed the marks that he attained from the Qualifications Authority. As I see it he was doing well until halfway through the year and then for some reason his scores started falling."
"What happened in the exams then Bill?"
"As far as I can see it was just a continuation of the trend since the middle of the year."
"Is it any use going for a recount?" asked Chris.
"Sorry Chris. If it was 5 or 6 I would advise you to try for a recount, but 22 is too big a score to make up."
"What happens now?"
"John, there are two options as far as the school is concerned. Either Chris repeats the year or he leaves school.
"I see.."
"There is another option.," As both Chris and his father looked at him with hope, he went on, " It is quite an expensive option, but I think in Chriss case it would be the best for him."
"Money is not a problem Bill."
"I know that John. Well this is what I have. There is a special school on a island in the Hauraki Gulf. It used to be a resort, but the company went bankrupt. The good thing is that it is only accessible by boat or helicopter and it specialises in getting boys through to university. In Chriss case he needs help in English, math and sciences and this place is just the place for that. Look I have a booklet here. Take it and read through it and if you are interested let me know and I will get in touch with the school."
"Thanks Bill."
Yes thank you Mr Ramston."
"John, Chris, Im sorry about your marks Chris, but you should have put your hand up earlier and let me know you were having a problem, that is what I am here for."
"I know, but I didnt think it was as bad as this."
Taking their leave they both thanked Mr Ramston for his time and effort that he had made for them specially on a Saturday. Leaving the school they returned home.
Chris you read that booklet, make notes on what you think, then I will read it and we will compare after dinner. OK?"
"Yes Dad."
"While you are reading it, I will start mowing the lawns. While, I am reading it, you can finish off."
"Ok Dad."
Chris went to his room and sat down at his desk. Opened the booklet and started to read. As he read he made notes. When he got to the last page he looked over his notes. He had written: School is on an island called Pakatoa in Hauraki Gulf The school year is the same as main land schools. There are four teachers, a trained paramedic, a fitness instructor A maximum of 30 students. Each student is individually tutored and their needs are catered for. Computers can be used, but not cellular phones. Strict discipline is maintained in all respects There were a few questions that he had to discuss with his parents, but his dad said that they will discuss it after dinner, so he went outside to relieve his father at the lawn mower.
"I was starting to think that you had got lost Chris, joked his father covered in sweat.
"There is quite a lot of stuff in that booklet Dad."
"I know Chris. Im glad that you took the time to go through it properly. Im going to have a quick shower then go through it myself."
"I left it on the dinning room table and I think that Mum is looking at it."
"Ok Chris carry on with the lawn and when you finish have a shower before dinner."
"Ok Dad." Chris carried on with the lawn realising that he was one lucky guy. Not too many fathers he thought would help with the chores like mowing the lawns etc. Nigel always had to do all the lawns and washing his parents cars by himself. Where as his father always helped when he could which was most of the time.
After dinner he and his father tidied the kitchen rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher and washing the heavy items. His father always told him that "Mum has cooked so its our job to tidy up. To Chris it made sense, if you shared the chores it was done quicker.
Leaving his mother in the lounge watching a soap on TV, Chris and his father went to the den. Chris loved the room with its shelves of books and comfortable chairs. Mr Grant was widely read and even enjoyed good novels so Wilbur Smith and some of the better thrillers adorned the shelves along with books on many subjects.
"Well Chris what have you got." Chris showed his dad the list he had made. "It is similar to mine. So what do you want to do?
"I dont really want to go back to school. Repeating the year there is not something that I would enjoy. I dont want to be a mechanic or a builder or a postie," with a smile. His Dad had been a postie over the Christmas breaks at university and he always told Chris what a hard job it had been."
"Well I dont want you going to school and wasting time either, so if you go to this place," gesturing to the booklet, "you will have to work hard."
"I will Dad, from the way I read the booklet, I wont have much choice except to work hard.
"Yes I see that. You might need the discipline part too."
"How do you mean Dad?"
"In my day at school if we fooled about as you seemed to have these last six months, we would have been caned. Even in the sixth form."
"But the cane is not allowed to be used. The government passed the law years before I started school, Dad."
"True son, but I think reading between the lines that it may be used at the Island School. Anyway on Monday I will get in touch with Bill again and tell him that we have decided you are to have a year there."
So three weeks later after an interview at a hotel in Auckland, where it was made clear that non performance was punished with corporal punishment if deemed appropriate Chris packed his suitcase. To his surprise just before he left his father gave him a new laptop computer.
"Chris I was going to give you this as you went off to university, but I have decided to give it to you anyway. It is internet ready and from what I understand the school has a network and receives a signal from the satellite. You will be able to keep in touch with us by email."
"Thanks Dad....I dont know what to say."
"Say thanks to your mother too as she was the one that made me give it to you now.
After thanking them both again they drove Chris to the bus station where he caught the bus from his provincial city to Auckland where he was to catch the boat out to the island. On the bus trip he suddenly thought that with getting ready for school again he had not been in touch with Nigel, and what was more strange Nigel had not been in touch with him since he had told him that he was going back to school.
His instructions said he had to be on the Queens Wharf at 2pm. The bus got into Auckland at 11.30am and he had time for a quick lunch at McDonalds then reclaimed his suitcase and carry bag. He had kept his new computer and taken it to McDonalds with him for lunch.
He got to the wharf at 1.30pm and he saw a group of guys his age standing over by some steps. When he got closer he found there was about 15 of them and after making an enquiry, he joined the group. He added his suitcase and carry bag to the stack of luggage at the top of the steps and waited.
Fifteen minutes passed and a tall fit young man about 30 years old came up the steps from a large launch. He had a clip board and looked at the guys waiting and chatting, generally getting to know one another.
"Attention. My name is Phillip Thomas. If you are going to Pakatoa Island, please listen." The guys fell silent. "I will call your names you will pick up your luggage and carry it onto the launch. While we are on the way I will be briefing you all on what to expect." He proceeded to read off the names and one by one the boys picked up their luggage and took it down onto the launch where another fit man was helping stow the luggage.
Five minutes later they were all aboard and everything was stowed. Phillip Thomas spoke to them.
"Right you are all here on time so we can get away. The man that was helping you with your luggage is Luke Masters he is the groundsman, gardner and launch hand and general fix it man on the island."
"Do we call you Sir?" asked one of the guys.
"My name is Phillip, unless you are in trouble, then I am Mr Thomas or Sir. The reason for this is that you are young men and will be treated as adults unless you prove that you are otherwise. Now we have 1 ½ hours on the launch to the island so I suggest that we all get to know one another. What I want you to do is stand up and introduce yourself. Name, age and why you are going to the island. We will start you," pointing at Chris.
"Hi, Im Christopher Grant, but I answer to Chris. I am 17 and the reason that I am going to the island is because.........." Just then the launch healed over in a big swell and Chris just about fell. He grabbed the back of a seat that was bolted to the deck and steadied himself. "As I was saying, Im going to the island because my aggregate score in my UE results was 22 marks short of what is required. My school Counsellor suggested that I have a year on the island and my father agreed." He looked at Phillip.
"Thanks Chris, now you," pointing to a red headed young man.
The Red Head stood up. "My name is Jackson Phillips, and like Chris I answer to Jack. I am 18 years old and the reason....................."
They worked through all the guys until all had been introduced.
Then Phillip Thomas said, "Ok thanks for that guys, now I will tell you about me." It turned out that he was the English and Maths teacher and the paramedic back up. "Now all of you are basically going to the island for the same reason. Your parents and or guardians have paid a lot of money to have you for the year here, so we, I use the royal we, meaning the staff have the ensure that their money is not wasted. I am not boasting when I tell you that the school has a pass rate of 95%, this year the goal is to be 100% as it was last year. So dont you be the one to cause the rate to drop. Now we are just about at Pakatoa. There are seven young men already here bringing you up to a total of twenty two. When we arrive you will be shown to your rooms, which by the way you will be keeping clean. Then at 6pm you will be having dinner after which you will meet Mr Tony Smith who is the Headmaster owner of the school. He will give you more details of what to expect and over the next few days he will be meeting you all individually to discuss how you all can be assisted to pass into the university of your choice next year."
Just as he had finished talking, the launch motor slowed down and looking out the guys could see they were approaching the jetty of the island. Chris was pleased that he had not been queasy on the way to the island he had notced a couple of his fellow guys going green on a couple of occasions was some of the swells made the launch rock more than normal on the way.
The launch tied up and they all disembarked onto the jetty and collected their luggage as their names were called by Luke Masters. They were led up the road carrying their luggage to the big building that used to be a hotel. By the time they got to the entrance Chris was glad that his big luggage trunk was coming later and that what he had to carry was enough.
Once inside their names were called again and they were given keys to their rooms and told where they were. They were also told to be dressed tidily for dinner which would be at 6pm. Meanwhile go to their rooms and unpack, then come back to the foyer in 30 minutes to have a snack and a drink then go on a guided tour.
The tour was interesting the guys learned that the cottages on the grounds were lent out for weekly hires to help pay expenses. There was a farm where cows, sheep and pigs were kept, a big garden where vegetables of all types were grown and the hotel or the school itself. In the lounge there was several large screen TVs and there was a theatrette where group lectures were to be held or movies were shown.
To the guys surprise they were served a glass of beer each if they wanted, or a coke if they didnt just before dinner. With dinner they were given a glass of wine. After dinner they all went to the theatrette where they were introduced to Tony Smith.
Tony Smith was another fit man in his late forties. He was just over 6 feet tall and there wasnt an ounce of fat anywhere. "Gentlemen, I will be brief. You are here to work, and work hard. At dinner you were served alcohol. That was strictly a one off as a welcome. From now on it will be a privilege, a privilege that you can lose through non performance or unsuitable behaviour. If you behave like a stupid school boy then you will be treated like one. If you behave as a gentleman then the same applies, you will be treated as a gentleman.
You will be individually tutored in your studies. You are expected to work hard and apply yourselves at all times. Non performance is not rewarded, it is punished.
In your interviews your parents and you were made aware that here we use corporal punishment. I will remind you now that all your parents of those of you that are under 18 years old, have signed over permission for you to be so punished. Those of you that are over 18 your parents have agreed that you are to be punished by corporal punishment if so required, and you yourselves agreed to it, and have signed a document to that effect.
Are there any questions?"
"Mr Smith, if a student is trying hard, but cant grasp the concept of what is being taught, do they get punished?"
"No, this school or academy is different from the schools that you attended in the past. Here, as I said before, you are individually tutored. That means that everything is made clear and that you understand before going on to the next step or assignment. It is where it is obvious a student is not trying or fooling about, as some of you did last year, then you will be a candidate for a sore bottom, gentlemen, a very sore bottom. Are there more questions? No, well I wish you all a very good year."
Before they could stand up, Phillip Thomas stood and said, "Gentlemen, as Mr Smith has told you that if you behave like gentlemen, then you will be treated as gentlemen. Please remember that we have guests on the island and they are to be treated with courtesy at all times. They share some of the facilities. For example this theatrette is shared for movies and the gym is shared. The dinning room is shared on Saturday and Sunday evenings. Guests are given a choice in the menu, you guys dont get a choice. However your meals are prepared by the same chefs so there no lose in quality. There are several other things that are shared and you will be told about them as the need arises. In the case of the gym, at scheduled times the guests dont have access. At those times joint classes for you will be held. I will now introduce the rest of the team. First up is David Brown."
"Good evening Gentlemen. As Phillip said my name is David. I teach science and maths. The next member is Sam Jones."
"Hi guys, Im Sam Jones I am the physical fitness expert. My job is to keep you all fit. I also look after the guests and help them where required, but not while you are having a class. The next member of the team is Brad Fergusson."
"Gentlemen, I teach history and social studies. The next team member is Victor Davies."
"Gentlemen, I teach languages. The last member of the team is Jim Sutton."
"Gentlemen, I dont teach. I am the paramedic and if I require assistance, Phillip helps. I have served with Her Majestys services overseas in action, so I can treat most injuries and ills. If it is something that I am not sure of the Air Ambulance helicopter is 20 minutes away. So be assured that we can look after you. When Im not looking after patients I help in the garden, and some of you may come and help there from time to time. Phillip is a fully trained paramedic so between us you will be ok." He sat down.
Phillip stood again, "Ok that is it for now, we will see you for breakfast at 7.30am."
Chapter 2
Next morning Chris was up and showered and shaved in plenty of time for breakfast. Remembering the comment about keeping the room tidy, he pulled the bedclothes straight on his bed and went down to breakfast.
After breakfast Phillip announced that there would be room inspections. He went on, "You have 30 minutes to make your beds and clean the bathroom that you used. Then my colleagues and I will do the inspection. This morning we will make suggestions on how you can do the job better. Some of you may be lucky and have everything ship shape from day one. Right carry on."
Chris heard voices in the room next door, one voice a little more loud than the other, but he couldnt hear the actual words. Then came the knock at his door. Opening it he stood aside to let Phillip enter. Since he had come up from breakfast he had made his bed properly and tidied up his clothes.
Phillip looked around, "A reasonable job Chris. Keep it up. The only suggestion is instead of bundling all your dirty clothes in the corner, put them in the hamper in the bathroom. It is to be cleared every day and taken to the laundry. You are responsible for that. The clothes will be washed and ironed where appropriate, and returned to your room, where you will put them away each afternoon, before dinner. Ok?"
"Yes Phillip. What about a connection for my laptop? I would like to send an email to my folks and friend letting them know I got here alright."
"What sort of laptop is it.?
"Its a Toshiba Satellite A10. My Dad gave it to me as a present just before I left home. He said that it was internet ready and all I had to do was connect it to the network."
"The connection port is beside your desk. To receive emails here you must set up a new email address. In your case it will be, chris. grant@pakatoa. co. nz You are allowed to use the internet for study purposes, but if you hit any unsuitable sites, it is a privilege that can be removed." Looking at his clip board, "I see you are scheduled for your interview with Mr Smith at 11am. He will outline what is expected from you as an individual, not in the general terms that he did for every body last night. After talking with you he will schedule your classes and you will be given a copy of the schedule on Thursday morning. Until then you will start to revises last years work. There will be a sports period this afternoon at 3pm. Revision is held in No 1 class room."
"Can I use the computer in class?"
"You can, in fact with everything these days being computer driven, we prefer it if you do. No more questions? I have got to see the next guy on my list. See you later." With that he left the room closing the door quietly behind him.
Chris quickly set up his laptop and connected it to the port in the wall. He used the set up wizard to set up an email account and quickly set a short email to his parents and to Nigel then logged off and taking his laptop and some pens and paper headed down stairs to No 1 class room.
In the class room he found two other students and David Brown.
David spoke, "You are?"
Sorry Sir, I am Grant."
"Thank you for the apology," looking down at his list, "Chris. Chris as was explained last evening we dont use surnames here unless you are in the smelly stuff ok? So when you see some one you introduce yourself as Chris Grant." My name is David as you learned last night, always David, not Dave unless you become a friend, which at the moment you are not ok?"
"Yes David."
"What are you going to revise?"
"I thought I would start on English."
"Well I will leave you to carry on. If you need anything let me know."
"My textbooks are in my trunk, so where......?"
"You will find what you need in the library."
Chris went out of the room along the corridor to the library and found what he required and returned to the class. At 10am David announced a break and showed those present where they went for a drink of water, and toilet stop if required. At 10.55am Phillip arrived in the room and after talking softly with David, looked at Chris. "Chris it is time for your interview." Chris closed his books and got up and followed Phillip out of the room and along the corridor towards Mr Smiths office. Phillip tapped on the door and ushered Phillip into the room.
Tony Smith stood up and came across the room to Chris and shook his hand. "Christopher, good to see you again. Come this way," he led Chris and Phillip over to a group comfortable chairs and motioned for them to sit. He went back to his desk picked up a folder and came back to the group of chairs and sat. "Right Christopher lets talk about why you are here and what is to done to make it right, so you can go to the university of your choice next year."
"First of all we have your school records here. They were sent with your parents permission, from Mr Ranston, your former schools counsellor. Do you have any questions so far?"
"No Mr Smith."
"We will carry on then. It appears from your records that you are quite capable of doing the work and you should have passed your examinations easily. It was in the last six months that you stopped your progress. Now I say you stopped, not your school, you did. Why?"
"Well I think things got on top of me......"
"Rubbish, according to Mr Ranston you had the ability to be their top scholar. Anymore reasons?" When Chris remained silent he went on, "Chris I have a diploma in psychology as well as my teaching diploma and as you know I have a Master of Arts with Honours. Now from where I am sitting, it looks as though you sort of let the world go by for last six months of the year. Can you give me a reason why? For example, have you something worrying you personally, girl friend or...., nothing at all to do with your school work?"
"No Sir."
"Well Christopher, that only leaves the following, and that is you just fooled around. Did you study at all?"
"Yes sir, but I just couldnt seem to concentrate."
"Were you thinking of something else when you should have been studying?"
"Nothing really, just my mind was in a muddle."
"I see. At home you have a computer. Do you spend much time on the internet?"
"No Sir. My father has limited me to 20 hours per month, for emails and internet browsing. If I go over it, I have got explain why."
"Does your father also check on what sites you visit on the internet.?"
"No Sir, he trusts me to behave myself."
"Christopher you are not under oath here, but do you visit porn sites, and if so how often? I would like you to be honest."
"Yes Sir, I have hit on porn sites." As he said that Chris clenched his buttocks together wondering if he had put himself in for punishment. About two or three sites a week."
"Thank you for your honesty Chris. Now Mr Thomas has warned you about visiting those sites that are unsuitable. You use of the internet here is not monitored as we believe in freedoms, however every hit that is made on a site through our server is recorded, and if some one here, staff or student hits on undesirable sites, then an alarm sounds and we check who is accessing the site. Our server also has spam blockers operating so you should not get emails that are unsolicited. So to summarise our talk, it appears that you are capable of doing all the work required, but basically you just fooled around."
"What about burn out?"
"Chris, you have told me that you dont have any personal problems that are worrying you, so you were not under stress. Did you worry about the examinations at all?"
"Not really, I thought that I would get through ok."
"So no stress. Burn out usually, but not always, occurs along with stress. Do you feel stressed at the moment?"
"Well I am a little worried about being punished."
"Why, so far you have done nothing for you to be punished for, unless you have a guilty conscience about wasting your parents money by them having to send you here."
"That is part of it Sir. Im starting the think that Mr Ranston was right when he said I should have put my hand up earlier, when my marks first started slipping."
"Chris when I said that you will be punished for non performance, that was not for what has happened before. What we do here is make you focus totally on a good mind, and body. My philosophy is, that if you are healthy in mind and body, then you can achieve your potential easily. If you waste your time, and therefore your tutors time, then, that is when you get punished. Phillip is here because he is going to be the person that monitors your performance closely. He has the power to award punishment if you dont perform. Yes, you will get a sore bottom. Did your parents ever spank you?"
"When I was young Sir, not after I was about ten years old though."
"Did they use their hands, a strap or a switch?"
"Just their hands."
"Have you seen a cane or a tawse?"
"Only pictures of them on the internet. There was some pictures on a site my friend and I visited where a company called Sting Pictures was featured. They had stills from a video that had been made called Grey Shorts School Daze. It had pictures of boys bending over for the cane....."
"Christopher, that is a site that would most probably be ranked as unsuitable and would cause our server to sound the alarm, so I trust you wont go there again."
"No Sir."
"Phillip we will show Chris a cane and a tawse in real life, then he will be aware of what will happen."
Phillip stands up and goes across to a cupboard. He came back with two canes and a tawse. "Chris these are applied across your pants, shorts or trousers, holding up the canes. The tawse is applied across your underpants, not because it will hurt more, but to provide some humiliation. Now depending on how you respond to the concept of the stick or the carrot, you may experience both, but there are other punishments that we use as well."
"Now Chris, said Mr Smith, "You are aware of what is expected and what will happen if you dont perform. We, that is all the staff here and I wish you every success for the year. We are sure that you will achieve the goals set. Do you have any further question?"
"Not that I can think of at the moment Sir."
"Very well you my go back to your revision. As you were told earlier, your study schedule will be ready on Thursday. Until then I want you to make notes on what you have revised and there will be a pop test on Thursday morning. You show Phillip what you have done, he will set a test and if you pass it, fine. If you fail..... I dont need to continue do I?"
"No Sir."
"I am sure you will do well Chris." Standing and holding out his hand. Chris shook his hand then Phillips hand then Phillip escorted him back to No 1 class room.
Chapter 3
Thursday morning came around. Chris found that he had studied quite well. Any questions he had had, had been answered quickly and helpfully. It was obvious that the tutors knew their subjects well. Gym was a bonus. Gym was for a period every day at 3pm. Once everyone had their schedules, then, the times would be varied to fit, but the gym was very fully equipped and Sam Jones had them working a little harder each day. He had also warned of the consequences of non performance or of fooling around.
He had said, Using the equipment in here can be dangerous. You must not play the fool in here. You are not to use any of the equipment until you have been shown how to use it properly and safely. You are always to have a partner if you are lifting weights. Non compliance with these instructions leads to a........
Sore bottom, the group had said all together.
So Chris had no real worries. Admittedly there were one or two butterflies in his tummy. When he got to the class room he showed Phillip his notes and fifteen minutes later Phillip had set some questions in English.
"You have an hour to do this. When you have finished Chris, I will have your math and David will have your science questions ready. You will have an hour to complete each. Now there is nothing to worry about. All the questions you have here is based on what you had last year and what you have showed me that you have revised. I will let you carry on."
Chris went back to the table he had been using and started his test. There were others doing the same. An hour later he handed in the paper. He was given the math questions. Fifty minutes and he had finished. He was given the science paper. Phillip came to him when the hour was up.
"You have actually had an hour and ten minutes as you finished the math paper early. It is now 11.30, so have a break and lunch. I will see you in my office at 1pm and we will talk."
Chris wanted to ask if he had done ok so far, but before he could Phillip moved on to one of the other guys.
At 1pm Chris knocked on Phillips office door and was told to enter.
Phillip told Chris to come and sit next to him as they went through the three tests together. After they had gone through them Phillip said, Chris you did very well in Maths, not too bad in English and David tells me that it is obvious that your grasp of science is good, but in the test you have crashed rather alarmingly as you have seen. Do you want to discuss the results with David?"
"No. It is obvious that Ive failed that test. What happens now?" he asked clenching his buttocks together, remembering the pictures he had seen on the Sting Grey Shorts stills of the vivid weals across the young stars bum.
"You are going to be punished, yes the cane," he added seeing the question on Chriss face. "This is where it gets formal." He turned to his desk and picked up a hard covered book about A5 size. "This is the punishment register. You are to receive six strokes. If you had failed two tests, you would have received nine strokes, and twelve strokes if you had failed all three. Do you have any questions?"
Chris had questions roaring through his brain, but nothing came to the fore. He said, "No Sir."
Phillip wrote the details in the book. "Christopher, you probably wont be the only one who is punished today. It is going to hurt, otherwise there is no point in me administering the punishment. We have found it to be an effective way to make boys like yourself focus on their studies. Now I want you to come over here."
"What if I refuse? You cant make me."
"Christopher Grant, your parents have signed permission that we may apply corporal punishment where deemed necessary. You are capable of passing the test today competently, yet you failed, so that leaves one option and that is you wanted to fail. So, corporal punishment is deemed necessary. Once you have received the punishment nothing more is said about it by me, or any one else. Mr Smith may say to the rest of the group that so many boys have been caned today, but that is all."
"Why isnt David Brown going to cane me as I failed his test?"
"Because I am your head tutor. You need more help in my subjects than you do in Science. Chris you should have aced that test. Mr Brown may cane you if you fool about during one of his classes, but that is all. Now if you have no more questions we may as well get on with your punishment." Seeing Chris just standing there, "I want you to come over here and empty your back pockets."
Chris was wearing cargo pants with the lower leg unzipped. He came over to the desk and put his comb and wallet on the desk.
"Now as this is the first time you have been punished I will talk you through it. Next time you are expected to take the punishment without instructions. You may be asked to bend over and touch your toes or grab your ankles. This time I want you to bend over the back of this chair, lean down over the seat and reach down the front legs of the chair as far as you can and hang on. If you stand up before I tell you or try to cover your backside with your hands you will receive extra strokes. The reason that you are bending over a chair is that as this is your first caning you need support, and the chair provides that."
Chris went to the chair and bent over the back. Leaning down over the seat he reached down the front legs of the chair as far as he could. Looking sideways he could see Phillip picking a cane from a cupboard and coming back towards him.
"Christopher it is best if you face forwards looking at the floor."
Chris felt a couple of taps against his buttocks. There was a whoosh followed by a thump. He thought thats not too bad I can stand this, suddenly a line of wire raced along the line where the cane had landed. _f_u_c_k_ing hell, please dont let me cry, he thought I dont know if I can stand another five like that. The second and third strokes fell. Chris felt more hurt than at any other time in his life, even when he had fallen of his bike at 13 and scraped up both legs and his bum through his shorts. The doctor had laughingly told him that it was the worse case of gravel rash that he had seen for a long time.
The fourth stroke fell. It felt as though the strokes were going lower and lower and as they went, it seemed as though it was hurting more and more. The fifth fell, One more, thought Chris. It fell with a whoosh and a mighty crack, landing just above his thighs on the lower portion of his bum.
"You may stand up Chris, you took that punishment very well."
Chris slowly stood straight. The muscles in his buttocks screaming as he stood. His hands moved down to his bum rubbing frantically trying to rub the burning sting away.
"Chris, when I was caned as a school boy we were told no rubbing, so we had to wait until we were away from the teacher." As Chris moved his hands away from his bum, "No, dont worry, rub as much as you like. "Now I want you to sign the punishment register that you have been caned for failing the test."
Chris went over to the desk and bent over at the waist to sign his name on the page. As his pants tightened over bum, the fires seemed to re ignite. He signed his name at the bottom of the page and straightened up.
"Chris you can go back to your class now. You will be given your schedule later after gym class."
Chris turned to the door and started walking. His hands still rubbing at the sting in his rear. He got to the door and turned back to the desk. His wallet and comb was still on the desk and he had to go back to the desk and pick them up. He carried them in one hand as far as the door, then zipped them into the pocket on his leg rather than pushing them into the back pocket he had earlier taken them out of.
He left Phillips office and made his way to a toilet to wash his hands. While he had not cried, his eyes had felt as though they were full of water, so he wanted to see if there were any signs. He was alone in the toilet so he had a pee and then washed his hands. Still no one had come in so he undid his belt and opened his pants and pushed them down to his knees. Looking over his shoulder he pealed down the back of his boxers gently and looked at his bum. He could count six vivid red weals and running his fingers over them lightly, could feel them raised and hot against the white flesh of the rest of his buttocks. Making himself presentable he went along to class as though nothing had happened.
Well that is the first part of At School on The Island. Comments are welcome at eddybear5@yahoo. com. Ted B