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In British English, the word "fag" was used (as a verb and a noun) to refer to a kind of apprenticeship practiced historically within public schools. Younger boys within the school "fagged" for the older boys (often prefects) by performing other menial tasks such as cleaning sports kit.
The practice is similar to that of a military batman, a soldier who does menial chores for a superior officer.
Originally an emulation of domestic household task distribution and paternal authority, fagging formerly included harsh discipline and corporal punishment. Bullying and sexual abuse were also sometimes associated with it. As private schools have become more exposed to public scrutiny, fear of litigation has caused the practice of fagging to be banned in most schools.
British origins
In English public schools, fagging was a system under which a junior boy performed certain duties for a senior, generally with the full approval of the authorities. The details of this custom vary slightly in different schools, but its purpose was generally the maintenance of discipline among the boys themselves.
Dr. Arnold of Rugby 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.
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, is the protector of his fags, and is responsible for their happiness and good conduct. In cases of bullying or injustice, their appeal is to him, not to the form, 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.
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. Stephen Fry describes a practice similar to fagging used as punishment.
Abolition of fagging
During the later 20th century, fagging fell out of use, as attitudes to education and child development changed. During the 1980s fagging was abolished at most major public schools and it was very rare by the turn of the millennium.
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.
See also
Sources and references
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"Fagging"