If corporal punishment is given to deter the other kids from similar behaviors then surely it would be better to give it in public. If some wretched boy is to be given six of the best from the headmaster for bullying or stealing or cheating then wouldn’t it be better for other boys in his class or house to see him getting his just deserts?
I suppose you could argue that this would be humiliating for the boy being whacked but I don’t really buy that argument. At our school, we were all used to seeing boys getting slippered in public every day and to getting slippered in public ourselves occasionally. So if we were quite prepared to bend over and present our bottoms to a prefect or master for a public slippering, what’s the difference in doing the same thing for a caning from the headmaster?