Another argument for refraining from corporal punishment is that the teacher who uses corporal punishment does not investigate the causes of misbehavior. Psychologists tell us that all behavior is caused and that there must be a reason why a child acts as he does and why he misbehaves. Therefore, the way to correct the child's actions is to help him understand his own behavior. Such an understanding will often make the child more willing to learn new ways of solving conflicts. In contrast, corporal punishment does not encourage studying and acting upon the underlying causes of misbehavior.
Corporal punishment accomplishes little.
It is seldom an effective deterrent. For a time it may seem to be a good deterrent, but really it is not effective until the child accepts in his own heart the conviction that he must behave differently. If corporal punishment makes the child scared of the teacher, the child may refrain from that particular action for a time. But we have already seen this to be a poor answer to the problem. Corporal punishment, instead of accomplishing something, actually pulls the pupil away from the teacher.