I also believe that one of the educational drivers of our punishment regimes is the Lassalian system(large-sized, quasi-military )classroom-based education) which we use for reasons of economy, and that with smaller class sizes and enough individual attention, it is possible to run a school not only without corporal punishment but with a very minimalist punishment regime, building instead a self-supporting mutually cohesive group system that locks the child into de facto contractual commitments. This way you get to the root of the reason of WHY the misbehavior, not just remedying it , you hope, with a sharp punishment.