Kuala Lampur, Oct. 18 -- The recent surge of violent incidents in Malaysian schools from the shocking killing of a 16-year-old student in Selangor by a 14-year-old classmate, to the gang rape of a female student in Melaka and Kedah whose assault was recorded and circulated online, and the bullying-related death of a 13-year-old in Sabah has reignited public outrage and, predictably, calls to bring back caning as a form of discipline.

For many, the knee-jerk reaction is to equate violence with control to believe that harsher punishment will restore "respect" and order in schools.

But such calls, couched in the language of "tradition," "discipline," and "restoring respect," mask a deeper, more troubling fixation: an obsession with pain as...