[aggrofish]

There's a difference between abuse and discipline and I agree that it's difficult for a stranger to always know the difference. Sometimes it's very clear though.

Society is now kinder and gentler and you're not suppose to hit kids any longer. If I talked back in public I got smacked upside the head. If I did something serious it was belt time. My mother stopped hitting me when I would just laugh at her.

I have a teenage son who is raised by his mother. It took him a bit to realize that my form of discipline is different than his mothers and involves the possibility of physical pain. He's a big kid 6'3"-6'4" ish...dont know exactly but he's slightly taller than I am at 6'2" but anyway once he realized that I could take him his whole attitude changed. It's not really the physical act of hitting your kid it's their fear of getting hit.