Pro 23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
Pro 23:14 If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.
It is true that the word as translated here is "strike," which carries the inference of to strike once. However, it is rendered as "beat" as in the KJV, ASV, and NASB where striking more than once may be meant. Either is permissible from the tense and voice, but the practical application is striking more than once. Moreover, the KJV word "correction" means more than merely a negative action, it means a satisfactory and positive response, and is a better translation here than "discipline."
But in raising four children, who themselves are/have raised 19 children, I have not seen that one stripe does not usually carry the discipline into action.
As a trainer, one finds out that you must break the will (NOT the spirit) of the individual being disciplined. One stroke can not do that, the first time.
Once the individual recognizes that you mean business, and that the strokes will be continued until compliance is achieved, discipline is starting to take place.
The next lesson to be taught is that the same procedure will take place consistently each and every time the same infraction occurs, without deviation and without remorse; compliance then will have begun.
When behavior patterns begin to appear that cause the rod to be produced, and the child sees the rod thus ceases and desists without further opposition, compliance is established without beating .
When a conduct of automatic correct response becomes habitual, compliance becomes obedience. By this time, a warning look is enough.
One who has learned to love one's parent has learned to dread disrespecting, disobeying, or disappointing that parent. It is a precursor to learning to love Our Father in Heaven.
The failure of the parent to lovingly use and respect the rod fails to prepare his/her child for responsible adult life, and reeks of misplaced compassion.
Ask a United States Marine if this is not so.