For spanking to work it doesn't have to go close to that. Young children don't understand right and wrong, they often cant understand that something is bad and so just telling them in some cases wont work. A child can understand that if i do this again i will be spanked therefore it is bad. and they wont do it. The action of spanking rather then the pain is what has an impact, its a very real and clear cut punishment which draws the line for children and in my opinion is essential for discipline in later life when those lines are clearly established. It then gets to the point where the simple threat of spanking will make that child listen to you. I'm sure you have all seen these kids running riot when parents say "don't do that". Yes you can have naughty corner and such but IMO thats just making everything take 100x longer for the sake of political correctness. I find it amazing how it can now be considered so wrong to discipline children by a tried and tested method that has been used for many generations.