I am very interested in the progression of societal intervention in parenting. I, like many others I'm sure, was beaten occasionally as a child. It was not done maliciously or for pleasure, but as a learning aid. Strangely, I learnt pretty quick.

I get that people don't approve these days, and I know it's almost impossible to draw a legal line on when spanking is discipline and when it's abuse. I'm not sold that I agree on the party line that it's an inherently bad thing though. Just a tool that can be misused. I doubt I'll be having kids though - so it's a problem I won't need to deal with.