Spare the rod spoil the child? Corporal punishment always seems to lead to a lively debate. Here's a link to some of the research on it:

http://people.biola.edu/faculty/paulp/

The article implies that this area of research is politically hot (i.e., it has implications for social policy, law or values in general). Politically hot topics in research are often flawed with respect to secondary interpretations - especially when it's a source with an agenda (e.g., the christian monitor). Often the writers are not only biased but often have little background in research method and statistics. It's easy for the layperson to be mislead by a slickly written article that argues for attitudes the reader already has.

Anyway, I'm against it. My step-father was old school and did that and what stood out most to me was how much I hated him for it. He stopped when I fought back when I was about 15 and I suddenly overpowered him. I never hit him, I'd just get him into a full-nelson and I felt bad about it. When I had him pinned one time, I remember saying to my step-father, "I will not hit you I'm only defending myself." No one deserves to be hit!

I became a confirmed brawler in high school (often over rivalry with the jocks from next town) too but I outgrew that sillyness by 11th grade. Did corporal punishment contribute to this? I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

So needless to say, I'm not for it at all. I think a parent should model "non-violence" and self-restraint to their children. I would imagine that most here would agree but maybe not. What do you think?