I didn't really intend to get into this debate but.....
My children are not my property, but it is my job, as a parent, to look after and protect them while they are too small to do it themselves, to make sure they are healthy, clean and loved; to make sure they know how to take their place in society and behave with kindness, courtesy and decency; to be able (and as soon as possible) to look after themselves. If I feel, along the way, that a smack is necessary for my job to be done right, then I WILL smack them and I do not believe it is anybody's right, nor anybody's business, to tell me how I should perform my job. The fact that part of the job is to keep them healthy and loved (and that means mentally healthy too) immediately precludes beatings, hitting with an object, or even smacking on a regular basis, since that would damage them, mentally, if not physically. An occasional smack will not harm them and may be necessary, but it's up to me to judge that

Love Lynne