I think they still had corporal punishment into the early 90s in the UK?

I thought it was made illegal in the 1980's, and indeed it was in state schools, but I stand corrected here, because it was still legal in private schools until 1998.

Yep, and I started boarding in ‘89, aged six. It was mostly extinct by the time I reached secondary school, but at my prep school, it was rife. The place was run by a group of retired Cold War submariners, and while the place had much to be commended, their approach to discipline was not. One learned to avoid consequences for one’s actions, rather than to endure them. That meant learning to lie like your and your co-suspects’ ability to sit or sleep that week depended on it - because it did.