TV Nation - Caning: An English Tradition

A segment from Michael Moore's TV Nation (1994). After the controversy surrounding the caning of an American student in Singapore, Mike decides to investigate the "fine art of caning," and its roots as a tradition in England.
This video is not meant to infringe on any copyrights, but to share this amazing show of Moore's with those who didn't catch it the first time around on television, especially as TV Nation has not been made commercially available to purchase.

[@yourtrekpal]

i love that they laughed at each other's accents, lol, that was cute!

[@airdriver]

Its like that old saying "It stops being funny when it starts being you."

[@scandowegianpean]

what a lovely piece! I like how kind the English are with Michael. Must be very refreshing to be around intelligent, soft-spoken people with a sense of humour for a change :)

[@dtdono0]

5:37 you can hear the crack of the cain echo throughout the room.

[@rowanmark21]

one has to realise a good caning is an art form.one can have the forearm or the backhand ,the run up or the quick flick,watch out for the googly an extremely painful ploy!the hole in one is not much fun but it made the british empire run.

[@bagelboi66]

Genius how Michael asks the head "can I cane you?" When he says no, the scene cuts to a shot of that same headmaster striking a statue of a small child. Genius. And how he gets them to say buttocks over and over that was soooo funny.

[@SpankerPoligoli]

Michael , done the job again , what a documentary

[@larryfroot]

As long as there are tea and buns afterwards with ones chums, I feel that it's a hale and hearty practice that prepares a young man both for society and for joining interesting clubs.

[@airdriver]

The one problem with corporal punishment is that for every ten teachers or parent who spanked to help "mold a youngster's character" there were one or two who either went too far by accident or got some form of sadistic pleasure from it and as a result a child was severely hurt.

[@ImperatorZor]

Nah, the problem was and is that it does not work. The American Academy of Pediatrics, Canadian Pediatric Society, Australian paediatrics society and have done numerous studies and the conclusions they come to are the same: Corporal Punishment is not effective. It's meaningless cruelty.

[@anthonydavies8459]

Must go to eat at 'School Dinners ' , so delightfully kinky . Does it still exist and where is it ?

[@gottagift]

Those who have once been afflicted by caning know just how severe the punishment is. There are even those who plead for jail time rather than suffer the consequence of caning. It must be a very affective means of deterring crime.

[@finaltuned2755]

No idea where you got that from, given the option, the vast majority of people tend to choose a beating than jail time because a beating is momentary and is over very quickly compared to a jail time, and the pail means nothings for long, it only matters at the time for them.

[@LJB85]

every time I watch this and I hear the blow of the cane, I involuntarily straighten up and I can tell my heart rate increases just listening. Wow.

[@davebell1041]

Lucky you weren’t on the receiving end then!

[@4773266]

Harry Greenway was my Politcs Tutor at university. I'm glad I was not a notty boy! Six of the best!

[@luc137]

The british and the fine art of caning, the fine art of hanging, fine art of drinking, fine art of rocking, etc, etc...

[@SeoulMan]

Well, just for an unbiased, straightforward question for a straightforward answer, What would seem more practical and appropriate for disciplining, use of behavioral drugs like ritelin, or corporal punishment like caning?

[@robosborne7103]

Caning happened at schools here in New Zealand until 1990,The funny thing was when Dads turned up and then punched the many Teachers who dispensed the Cane, in particular one of the Senior masters at my high school got badly beaten in the school carpark one day, the first 5 punches all connected, Haha .Caning Girls ?? whats wrong with that Old bag !I worked with an old school teacher here in NZ , he made the fatal mistake of boasting in front of my colleagues and I of caning students, Yes lets just say he wont be doing that again !!

[@LoZz]

100% agreed and correct, which is why CP in schools is now banned in the uk, because of the few who took it too far.

[@hailshonny]

If a child must be beaten then it should be the child's parents not some teacher...In my experience when a teaher beats a child, 9 times out of ten it is to establish some sort of dominance and not out of love or concern for the child... Also about the two girls who bought their headmistress a gift after a caning, I have witnessed some of my fellow students exibiting the same behaviour and in hindsight it is not healthy...

[@danieladougan]

Nobody should ever hit anybody for any reason. Enough said.

[@bucklaw]

Maybe we can do this to company CEOs that lose money. Certainly if it is good enough for children it is good enough for the errant in goevernment or business.

[@fungoorstitch]

The old dude trying to bring back caning doesn't make a very good case saying he was caned "often enough" as a boy. If he was caned often, it doesn't sound like it was a very good deterrent.

[@Spillers72]

What is worse the cane or the paddle?

[@defexorcist]

I am generally against caning but this cane salesman here is great - they built the vast British Empire with the use of punishment canes! Quite possible as I think even royalty, nobles, generals, and admirals were subjected to caning in school when they were young. I believe military style hard-ass-work punishment is more effective, though - and more civilized.

[@finaltuned2755]

Wrong, although England did manufacture canes, most of the practices were actually used in the colonial settlements than in Britain itself, and have been practiced there far more since. Plus, England is only one part of Britain and a lot of the empire was run by Britain that was not actually part of England and they did not use any perverse act like that.

[@lefinlay]

There was a politician arrested in the mid-20th century, who said the conditions and experience was easier to endure than Eton! 😂 schools were brutal to children

[@LJB85]

I agree. In the US 18 states have the paddle which is arguably more lethal than a rattan cane. It's okay for a head teacher to inflict caning on pupils if it's formally done and for relatively serious offences. Like if caught smoking weed or other illicit substances it's best if the teenager is caned rather than miss school and perhaps wind up in jail. Personally I would not have minded if I was caned in school and I'm curious what it feels like.

[@bradclem6226]

Consequences will always make a person think twice about what their gonna do.no consequences they do whatever the feel like doing.caning makes u think twice.

[@MarineAqua45]

In Scotland & I think in Ireland they used a belt called a Tawse. In the Isle of Man corporal punishment was given by the police, on the orders of a magistrate or Judge for bad behaviour. 60s Mods & Rockers got birched for fighting & bad behaviour over there in the 60s.

[@johannkassim9330]

You should cane the headmaster

[@hailshonny]

I don't. I'm just against corporal punishment. There are many truly abused people out there. No need to add to the problem by giving the would be abusers an opportunity for it....

[@SeattleDad]

Great video, as always, Michael. Just goes to show how incredibly stupid these people are that thinking beating children will teach them a lesson! Why don't we just allow employers to cane employees that break rules, don't follow policies, etc. Good grief.

[@OfficialPagan4rS]

It does tho. Sad you think it doesn’t work. Good grief

[@hailshonny]

further abuse with gratitude... It is a defence mechanism and it is not a healthy behaviour....Nor is it something that should be laughed away...

[@paulfitzpatrick1334]

I disagree with caning girls and young children but I think a case can be made for it to be given to teenage boys 13 years and over and for sure prisons and youth detention facilities should be allowed to cane. The only thing is how do you guard against overuse or abuse of it - thats the big problem with corporal punishment

[@hailshonny]

That is just weird.... School Dinner club? WTF ?! I grew up in Korea in 90's when coporal punishment was still widley practiced and I always resented teachers who physically hit me. I can't deny that it has some merits when practiced with wisdom and love but there are so many down side to this kind of dicipline that it obviously outweighs any advantages.....

[@kentmeridian1]

Love the view at 4:18

[@raveninaforest]

Goodness, I'm glad I emigrated out of England to America.

[@patwalsh52]

bring back caning in prison

[@arabhorseband]

Yes, and what great fun it would be to live there; I can't wait to get my visa app in. Could be either the caning or the Muslim values, since Singapore is among the most populous Muslim countries. Bottom line: correlation does not equal causation. The nations with the most severe punishments don't have the lowest crime rates--example number 1: USA. Unless caning will somehow solve poverty, I doubt it'd have an impact on crime here whatsoever.

[@joherold]

got it... carry on... abusers are sick

[@solidysnake1]

lol i really don't think caning is the reason that Britain became the largest empire in the world...

[@IshmaelSkyes]

And he mangles Shakespeare!

[@joherold]

don't confuse disciplinary caning with abuse.. that really lessens the severity of people truly abused..

[@terrymartin4234]

8:40 🤷🏾‍♂️For someone who supports caning he sure did back off of himself being caned real quick🤣

[@123demaio]

Try it

[@Myles0Harcourt]

Not all.us limeys are that odd.

[@robosborne7103]

Indeed my parents are Brits and my extended family are Brits .they are most definitely not like this

[@fizzywizzy2006]

I'm not sure what I think of this... (except that the usa bloke got WAY to into it!!!) I know my grandad is quietly all for it, but only if used in a fair and caring manner. I think the real worry with caning is the possibilty for abuse. sorry about my spelling.

[@hfdpayner]

i used to get caned in school but not like this

[@DonPedroRegalado]

Actually no it says no were in the bible about :spare the rod and spare the child" a poet wrote those words but in the book of Proverbs it says "He who spareth the rod hateth his son but he who loves him chastises him betimes."

[@ignoranttwat]

5:30 Louis Theroux

[@miadotcom4954]

5:37

[@rdoetjes]

Yeah it is and in christian institutions it's still practiced under the name of "Christian Love". I think caning should be brought back to deal with excess behavior.

[@Dregan]

lol. I read a canning of .

[@chaingang90]

well, that's why theres barely any vandalism in singapore

[@finaltuned2755]

That has nothing to do with it, its a matter of correlation. It's general cultural respect. Like nations like Japan, and Japan wholly oppose it as a civilised and culturally superior nation and is better than most other nearby nations. If that wasn't the case, inner city black ghettos wouldn't be filled with mass scale gentrification violence, vandalism and hooker hoes that twerk and prostitute themselves and they use this form of corporal punishment the most, and look at the state of them.

[@MrSistermaryelephant]

Take note of the crime rate in Singapore...oh wait, there is no crime.

[@Myles0Harcourt]

I assure that w are not all like those mindless yokels al 0:31. Only one or two Brits actually do that still.

[@parkman35]

First of all rez, I respect your opinion...but I am not gulilble. Maybe the world wide society is getting worse...and even though the occurences of caning in Singapore are increasing, I still am willing to bet they have the lowest crime rate on earth. Now if you have a better deterrant to crime, especially in this nation, let's hear it because the current way is not working...I'm not for just thrashing criminals for everything..but there are things I think this woud be best suited for..

[@ECWNET]

Bring this to the USA.

[@moriturama96]

nottinghamshyer

[@danieladougan]

Nope...an eye for an eye and the world goes blind.

[@LJB85]

I know it was extremely stupid what he said.

[@NightmareCinemaChild]

The caning club is a fetish club! I'd never heard of anybody going to one of those.

[@milliehopkins5972]

NightmareCinemaChil

[@doobiesmoke15]

Bullshit, they used to bet their animals all the time back then!

[@SoupieGuitar]

yeah, we pretty much rule at everything:D except bleaching our teeth and setting up new regimes:D lol

[@arabhorseband]

Yes, since we know the severity of punishment correlates so well with crime rates...*psshhht* Reducing poverty would be a start.

[@davehshs651]

I would much rather see the girls getting caned.

[@johannkassim9330]

#kempenrampasrotan

[@ATBigger]

lol he can't say the b-word... +_+

[@zizispoonie876]

Why is this guy so posh D:

[@LJB85]

LOL!

[@rockstarkey]

Or, perhaps, kids are getting nastier these days because they are growing up on violent television violent video games and little to no personal attention ever. Moms don't stay at home anymore and can't and we now see kids who don't even know what the rules are much less why they should uphold them.

[@finaltuned2755]

Correlation over causation. The truth is that it is a case of nature and not nurture, and this is wholly dependent on what MBTI 'Type' a child is. Which can be assessed for free on the 'humanmetrics' site.

[@rockstarkey]

i guess that means God is sick too?

[@tylertyler82]

England has the least sexiest accents in the world.