I totally agree that very few parents today choose to utilize their parenting skills (I think most parents know what is the right thing to do, but due to either social pressures or lack of interest they fail to follow through).

I have a very close friend whose daughter was yelling and screaming in the grocery store-really having a tantrum. She was 5 years old. My friend was getting frustrated and was tired of leaving the store and going home everytime her daughter had a tantrum so she reached around and popped her daughter on the bottom with her hand. Her daughter was so shocked she just stood there and cried, but she stopped screaming. One of the shoppers called the cops and believe it or not, Social Services did an investigation of possible child abuse.

While I tried to save spankings for the serious stuff (running out into the street, etc) I grew up 'with the belt' also and can sympathize with her actions. She felt that immediate discipline was appropriate and did not believe in catering to the tantrums. While this topic is very sensitive, because the majority of our society believes in 'letting the child be to express themselves' and not employing any type of physical discipline whatsoever, it is hard to imagine a world where you are investigated for child abuse for spanking your child.

Makes it very difficult to discipline your child these days...