I think parental discipline is abusive when you're physically harming them in a way that would leave bruises broken bones open sores ect... No beating them to a pulp no burning them when chemicals or sick crap like that. That aside I am 17 so I am not sure how valid my opinions are but I think paddling a child is a great way of teaching them right from wrong, it didn't permanently scar me, it didn't make me mentally ill, it's kept me from burning myself on the stove or walking out into traffic many many times. :P Children are somewhat ignorant of the danger that surrounds them if they succumb to physical pain due to their actions and correlate wrong doing with physical pain it will teach them not to do possibly dangerous things. I don't think my parents paddling me made me into some psychotic violence mongering jack@#% I do believe violence in the right answer to certain situations but that is from judgement of what has saved countless lives in such wars as world war II when there was NO other option than violence to solve that problem it is because of countries opposing hitler we have the freedoms to do certain things we can and live the lives we do but this isn't a debate about whether violence is right or wrong it's about the physiological impact on children and at what point punishing a child becomes immoral or illegal. Thats my two cents on the subject and if I ever have kids I'll punish them like they punished me and teach them to stand up for themselves and how to fight unlike my parents taught me, I feel it is a far more important issue to teach your kids to stand up for the weak and themselves than to worry about paddling making them cry.