First of all, the rod should be spared because its use goes contrary to the general aim of education. Children are educated for the purpose of becoming better citizens of either an earthly kingdom or a spiritual kingdom. The former is characteristic of public schools, the latter is added in Christian schools. A better citizen is one who acts positively, one who can choose between right and wrong, and one who can solve practical problems. Corporal punishment does not help the pupil develop any of these marks of a good citizen.
Corporal punishment makes the child blindly accept and obey the teacher's standards.
On the contrary, if the teacher uses reasoning instead of the rod, he can show the pupil why what he did was wrong and he can offer alternative ways of acting. The enlightened pupil can then choose the way he wants to behave. Thus the child is acting positively and is getting practice in choosing right from wrong and in knowing how to solve practical problems of human conduct. In short, he is being prepared to live as an informed, contributing citizen, not as an uninformed, docile citizen. Another argument for refraining from corporal punishment is that the teacher who uses corporal punishment does not investigate the causes of misbehavior.