Of course, "cutting your own switch" in days gone by probably isn't too much better than a stun-gun.
By the way, as dangerously foolish (read: male) teenagers, my friends and I would use a stun-gun to shock each other. We'd never be able to keep it in place for more than a fraction of a second since the target was always aware that it was coming, so there were never any serious effects. I even used an old one with a weak battery to keep me awake on a Spring Break trip to Florida when my radio was broken.
I don't know. My grandparents were the most gentle people, yet they lovingly recalled some stories about having to go get a peach switch or two. Didn't seem to hurt them or mar their characters. Who knows, maybe it even helped?
"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."—Hebrews 12:11