Re: School stories

On Fri, 03 Apr 2026 23:46:32 -0400, Tony Cooper
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 04 Apr 2026 03:22:38 +0200, Steve Hayes
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 3 Apr 2026 18:00:06 +0100, Janet <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>In article <[email protected]>, 
>>>[email protected] says...
>>>> 
>>>> On 2 Apr 2026 19:33:18 GMT, rbowman <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> >On Thu, 02 Apr 2026 05:33:56 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >> Both Kipling and Lewis wrote about Edwardian English public schools.
>>>> >> 
>>>> >> Lewis also mentioned schools in his fiction, most notably in "The Silver
>>>> >> Chair", where he describes authoritarianism in what was ostensibly a
>>>> >> libertarian school.
>>>> >
>>>> >Kipling wrote about the hazing of the younger students by the older ones. 
>>>> >In 'Surprised by Joy' Lewis strongly hints there was a sexual element.
>>>> 
>>>> Lewis doesn't merely hint. He says quite clearly that there was sexual
>>>> exploitation at the school he attended. There were not merely
>>>> adolescent crushes, but there was systemic exploitation as well. 
>>>
>>>
>>>   I'd be surprised if Kilpling used the term hazing,  or was referring 
>>>to that American activity.  He was probably talking about  the  
>>>different British custom fagging 
>>>
>>>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fagging 
>>
>>I have only a vague idea of what "hazing" is, and assumed it meant
>>something like what was euphemistically called "fresher orientation"
>>at one of the universities I attended, in which new students were
>>humiliated in various ways to make them understand that they were
>>lower than shark shit. 
>
>
>Happy to add to your knowledge of Americanisms:  the phrase here is
>"lower than whale shit on the bottom of the ocean".

Similar sentiment. 

Students round the world have much in common, whether they go to uni,
varsity or college. 

But Kipling & Lewis were talking about secondary, & not tertiary
educational institutions. 


-- 
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web:  http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk