Motley:  Most shoe stores carry a wide variety of sizes.  They have discovered that "One Size Fits All" doesn't work very well.  Dealing with students is just like that shoe store.  A trip to the vice principal for a paddling isn't exactly helpful to a kid who is almost daily physically abused at home....and, yes, some kids are.  A good paddling won't help a kid who is living with the trauma of a recent separation of his/her parents.  A "swift swat" won't help address the PTSD of a child who has experienced sexual abuse.....I could go on for pages with more examples.  Hopefully these are enough to make the point......helping dysfunctional kids is NOT a simple process and that "paddling" you suggest would be guaranteed to only exacerbate the dysfunction of truly disturbed kids.  Gary Crum