Spanking should definitely be allowed,but nothing more. Only a small child gets hurt from their butt being hit, say < 9. And that's when they dont hate you for it at all,and it makes sense to do just a slight bit of pain (<9 children are basically wusses) and their butt's only gonna hurt for 10 seconds. All it does is teach them right from wrong. If a child is not taught this, they will never do things right. They will also always be messed if they are beat. Beating a child is the worst mistake any parent can make, because their child will completely lose respect for their parent and not listen to them anymore. I witnessed my dad's girlfriend slap her 12 or 11 yr old daughter on the face, because the daughter disrespected her mother. She is at the time of "teenager stages" and this is expected. I know for a fact that my dad and his girlfriend are bad parents, i hate them both. I dread going over there every other weekend. But i must admit, my dad did teach me right from wrong when my mom and him were married. How? Spanking. Just one spanking here and now,every time i did something wrong. This is good, because it lets children think of the consequences before their actions. It usually takes until they are adolesent and have that ability unless you teach them early. They will be less troubled if you teach them right from wrong before they have the option to turn away from you. So, yes, spanking should very well be allowed, but if ur spanking ur child more than once per incedent,twice for a rly bad one maybe, it may be considered abuse.