I personally am in favor of kids being disciplined, but I don't want someone else giving my child physical discipline. I personally believe that there is an age where physical discipline becomes useless for everything but the most extreme cases. You have to smack a young child on the bottom - they have no idea what the hell your talking about when you reason with them. However, for most of what I consider everyday problems, I think that punishments other than physically beating your kids work better.
I agree that children these days are in need of discipline, but I think even more drastically they need interraction with adult role models. Most of children's behavior is a cry for attention, and I think that the lack of real personal attention our children receive is a
much bigger problem than whether they're getting the strap enough. When it comes to reasoning with your kids, I also think that leading by example is important. Rationalizing with your kid about how they should behave themselves, when you don't follow the same rules of conduct produces problems, obviously.
Of course, in my day I had to carry buckets of lead up hills both ways, while picking out a sapling and skinning it so I could have my ass cheeks pulverized my my dad, his lips slavering with anticipation at the prospect of teaching me right from wrong. In the snow.
