Sorry but hitting and smacking are not the same thing! Hitting implies physical abuse whereas a smack is not admimistered to cause pain but to remind a child that what they are doing is wrong and may be causing harm to themselves or others. If my kids over step the mark or refuse to listen to reason they get a smacked bottom - quite frankly I doubt if it hurts much at all but they stop what they are doing! By the time they are old enough to understand reasoning (probably not before seven) it is not necessary. And will my children become smackers - well I hope so!