I was involved in a discussion a few nights ago that shocked and silenced me.

[bhikkhu]

104. When I was a kid, I remember getting spanked once

...by my grandpa when he was mad that I'd hurt my little sister (accidentally). I don't think it did anybody any good, as I already felt bad enough. I wouldn't say it did any harm either, but why hit someone if there's no point to it?

My own kids are grown now; a grand total of maybe three spankings for the oldest, who had some behavioral issues when she was very young. Probably that didn't do any good, but at some point you have to "be a parent" and not put up with certain things (or so the reasoning goes). In any case, it made me feel pretty bad and I don't think there was much of a point to it in retrospect.

Talking to them about the issue from time to time, my one rule was that you can never hit a person in anger, and absolutely never spank a child when you are angry. Discipline is one thing, anger is another, and they shouldn't ever be mixed.

If you can't sit down and figure out some way to get the result you want - good behavior - without hitting a child, chances are you aren't going to get the result you want regardless.