In life as in hot sauces... all things in moderation. Was I spanked as a child, yes. Beaten? No! I remembered many lessons better when they were reinforced with a palpable "Exclamation point". On several ocassions I was even allowed to taste the bar of soap! Tasted like cilantro! I'll have to weigh in on the side of moderation once again. After all, no 2 situations or parents/children are exactly alike. Jeff > Well, OK...gotta kick in here, having raised seven kids! Sorry, but we > are of the "spare the rod and spoil the child" persuasion. Now,in saying > that, I must also say that we never ever did damage to any of our kids > nor would we ever have done. We did spank them when the need arose, but > however we did so with love, not with anger. "