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Fagging is the system in schools, and particularly British public schools, whereby younger pupils act as servants to the older boys. Originally an emulation of domestic household task distribution and paternal authority, fagging formerly included harsh discipline and corporal punishment. Bullying and even sexual abuse were also sometimes associated with it. Facing public scrutiny, the practice of personal fagging has gradually been discontinued during the 1970s and 1980s, but in most schools it has been replaced by a system where junior boys are required to do tasks for the benefit of the general school community. An independent school in the United Kingdom is a school relying, for all of its funding, upon private sources, so almost invariably charging school fees. ...
Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to change a persons behavior or to punish them. ...
Bullying is the act of intentionally causing harm to others through verbal harassment, physical assault, or other more subtle methods of coercion such as manipulation. ...
Bad Touch redirects here. ...
Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages. ...
British origins
Dr. Arnold, headmaster of Rugby from 1828 to 1841, defined fagging as the power given by the supreme authorities of the school to the Sixth Form, to be exercised by them over younger boys. Older pupils, in a sense trustees, would take responsibility for the behaviour of younger boys, thus helping the staff to avoid anarchy. Fagging was a fully established system at Eton and Winchester in the 16th century, and is probably a good deal older. Thomas Arnold, 1840 Thomas Arnold (June 13, 1795 – June 12, 1842) was a famous schoolmaster and historian, head of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841. ...
A view of Rugby School from The Close, the playing field where according to legend Rugby was invented Rugby School, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, is one of the oldest public schools in England and is one of the major co-educational boarding schools in the country. ...
The word trustee is a legal term that refers to a holder of property on behalf of a beneficiary. ...
The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (privately funded and independent) for boys, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, north of Windsor Castle, and...
Winchester College is a well-known boys independent school, and an example of an English public school, in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, England. ...
During the 19th century, almost all British public schools adopted a fagging system.
The right to fag carries with it certain well-defined duties. The senior, called fag-master, also known as the protector of his fags, is responsible for their happiness and good conduct. In cases of bullying or injustice, their appeal is to him, not to the form-master, or house master, and, except in the gravest cases, all incidents are dealt with by the fag-master on his own responsibility and without report to the master.
The duties undertaken by fags, the time taken, and their general treatment, varied widely. Each school had its own tradition. Until circa 1900 a fag's duties included such humble tasks as blacking boots, brushing clothes and cooking breakfasts, and there was no limit as to hours. Almost all the fag's spare time could be so monopolized. Later, fagging was restricted to such light tasks as running errands, bringing tea to the masters' study and fagging at cricket or football. At many schools, fagmasters were expected to reward their fags for their efforts at the end of term by giving a monetary 'fag tip'.
The 1911 Britannica details an evolution of the role at Eton college. Roald Dahl relates in his autobiography being told, as a fag, to warm toilet seats for older boys at Repton. Stephen Fry describes a practice similar to fagging used as punishment. The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (privately funded and independent) for boys, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, north of Windsor Castle, and...
Roald Dahl (IPA: ) (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a Welsh novelist, short story author and screenwriter of Norwegian parentage, famous as a writer for both children and adults. ...
Repton School, founded in 1557, is one of the most famous co-educational public schools in the UK, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, England. ...
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English comedian, writer, actor, humourist, novelist, columnist, filmmaker and television personality. ...
Examples of fagging feature in Julian Mitchell's play Another Country (1981), and Lindsay Anderson's film If.... (1968). Julian Mitchell (born May 1, 1935) is a British screenwriter, especially for TV. He was screenwriter for many Inspector Morse episodes. ...
Movie adaptation Another Country is a play by Julian Mitchell loosely based upon the life of the spy Guy Burgess, called Guy Bennett in the play, examining the effect that his homosexuality and his exposure to Marxism have on him and the hypocrisy and snobbery of the British public school...
Lindsay Gordon Anderson (April 17, 1923 - August 30, 1994), was a Scottish film critic, and a film, theatre and documentary director. ...
For other uses, see If. ...
Abolition of fagging During the late 20th century, fagging fell out of use, as attitudes to education and child development changed. During the 1970's and 1980's fagging was abolished at most major public schools and school-sanctioned fagging was very rare by the turn of the milennium. Nevertheless, unofficial fagging is still quite common in many British schools.
Legacy and counterparts The practice is said to have survived as a colonial legacy in South Asia and Southern Africa, in combination with or shortened in time to harsh hazing (as a rite of passage), under the name of ragging. Hazing is an often ritualistic test and a task, which may constitute harassment, abuse or humiliation with requirements to perform random, often meaningless tasks, sometimes as a way of initiation into a social group. ...
For other uses, see Rite of passage (disambiguation). ...
Ragging (known in the USA as hazing) is the systematic ritual physical and psychological abuse of freshmen or other juniors by their seniors in an educational setup, with the purported intent of socially inducting the newcomers into the group. ...
See also Dedovshchina (Russian: ) is the name given to the informal system of subjugation of new junior conscripts for the Russian armed forces, Interior Ministry, and (to a much lesser extent) FSB border guards to brutalization by the conscripts of the last year of service as well as NCOs and officers. ...
Hazing is an often ritualistic test and a task, which may constitute harassment, abuse or humiliation with requirements to perform random, often meaningless tasks, sometimes as a way of initiation into a social group. ...
Ragging (known in the USA as hazing) is the systematic ritual physical and psychological abuse of freshmen or other juniors by their seniors in an educational setup, with the purported intent of socially inducting the newcomers into the group. ...
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