I don’t think there is any respect in not doing what you believe will benefit a student. In fact I think that is very disrespectful to the student’s needs. I don’t think there’s anything respectful, either, in acting like your average student can’t deal with just and reasonable punishment when they’ve done the wrong thing, or that they will hold this against a teacher to the extent they won’t interact with that person in the future.
And ultimately, I think it’s incredibly disrespectful to suggest that anybody who says they like or respect a teacher who caned them is wrong to do so, or is lying.