Stories of heartless school punishment? (4)
I believe the answer is:
lies
'stories' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'heartless school punishment?' is the wordplay.
'heartless' suggests removing the centre.
'school punishment?' becomes 'lines' (I've seen this before).
'lines' with its centre taken out is 'LIES'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for lies that I've seen before include "Untruths" , "Fabrications" , "False statements" , "Deceits; is" , "Wallows" .)