This whole issue is a tough one. Punishing children was outlawed because it was tagged as 'abuse' but there were no boundaries drawn between teaching a child right from wrong and actual physical abuse of a child. We now have a society of children who have gone into their teens without being taught right from wrong with little or no respect for authority and little or no fear of the consequences of committing a crime. Personally, and this is my personal opinion, I have zero tolerance for those pieces of human filth that abuse children, and I don't mean punishment but I do understand as a parent the difficulties in knowing what punishment to give to a child when it misbehaves. For my part I can honestly say niether I nor my wife ever had to smack our child, a stern ticking off was sufficient. As I say, a tough one with a long, troubled road ahead.