Word: maasdorp
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...Thus, when Maasdorp arrived at Harvard his new American acquaintances were surprised to learn that canings are still carried out by the sane. "People were very surprised that corporal punishment still existed," Maasdorp said. "They certainly seemed to think it was barbaric. They expected me to be shocked about...
...stung a fair amount but it didn't sting for long," says Paul Maasdorp '03 of the whipping he suffered at St. John's College in Harare, Zimbabwe, an all-male private school. The only "beating," Zimbabwean for disciplinary caning, that Maasdorp took in high school consisted of two strokes, administered after he was caught engaging in tomfoolery during a speech given by the St. John's headmaster. Egregious crimes warrant more strokes, with six as the maximum. Of Maasdorp's 90 graduating classmates, "70 to 80 percent would have been beaten during some stage of their high school career...
...which Alliance High requires would lead to armed rebellion in the average U.S. school. "We had to run to class," Thairu said. "Jog, trot. Faster than just walking. Our society expects it." For Americans, high school corporal punishment is just a Hollywood cliche of injustice, evil and sadism, as Maasdorp points out. "The only time most Americans encounter corporal punishment is in books and movies, and in most of these cases examples of corporal punishment being used unfairly are given," he said in an e-mail. "So I feel that people see it as an unfair abusive punishment...
...None of the international students interviewed thought that sustaining buttock damage for hair-related infractions constituted cruel or unusual punishment; indeed, they all said they would send their own kids through a similar system. Maasdorp says that he would only label corporal punishment cruel if it were arbitrarily applied. "Random and unfair use is a thing of the distant past--I can certainly speak for Zimbabwe, but I'm pretty sure this holds for most," he said. "Rules are, on the whole, fair...
...Then maybe it is not surprising that Cornish, Maasdorp and Thairu would choose caning over a less painful but more permanent Ad Board sentence. Cornish has seen both worlds. He spent his junior and senior years at Choate Rosemary High School in Connecticut. "[Choate] had harsh rules in a different way. The consequences of doing something bad at Choate were a lot more long-lasting. Get caned, an hour later you're fine...