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. You’ve every right to feel the way you want to about your experiences – but other people have the same right.
Do I have former students who come back to see me? Sometimes. I have more who I encounter on a more ad hoc basis – they may see me because their sons have been sent to the same school, for example, or we may simply meet on a train. Many seem to regard me with respect, some with affection – but others seem uncomfortable around me, and that may be my fault, at least in part. But it doesn’t seem to bear much relationship as to whether or not I caned them – but rather to other aspects of our relationship at school.