I used to get the switch too. Until I was 12. On that whipping I vowed to myself that I would not cry or even make a sound no matter how much it hurt. In fact when he finished I looked at my dad and said “It that all you’ve got?” It was the last whipping I ever received.
There’s a difference between setting and enforcing clear boundaries for children and cruelty. If a parent won’t take care of the former, or indulges in the latter, in either case they’re possibly molding a monster. In the context of this story belting a kid for using a phone charger without asking permission seems to cross a line and makes me wonder whether alcohol was involved.