We did have corporal punishment back in those days, and it was used.
Sometimes just the intimidation factor was sufficient, unless you were one of the ones who saw “Coach” on a regular basis, and everyone in school new who “they” were.
The “board of education” of 50 years ago vs today’s “school board”. Which is most effective?
My husband and his friends had a competition to see who could get the most paddlings. That worked fine until they got a new principal and he knocked them across the room with one whack. All but a few behaved after that