One further factor to be considered when comparing punishments is that of status.
Getting the cane was for many boys a rite of passage, a test of courage, a means of demonstrating manliness. Taking one’s medicine in a manly fashion was not considered undignified. Of course, it depended upon the offense. Some were far more acceptable than others, to boys and masters.
I think that many boys feared the cane more in prospect than in retrospect. Most did not want a repeat. A few seemed to have found ways to take the cane often and without apparent trauma. Their status first rose then fell as their canings grew in number. They increasingly came to be seen as stupid rather than brave.