Hi Maureen,
>I've seen way too many gringos over the years who take any manifestation
>of corporal punishment as a mark of backwardness and of course of their
>own superiority.
Well, that's too easy, I'll grant you. However, there remain, for me, two significant points against corporal punishment of children. (1) We are trying to teach kids to resolve issues via dialogue rather than violence, so use of violence sends the wrong message in this regard. (2) Violence escalates violent emotion: anger and physical violence climb up each other. Therefore my earlier plea that, if physical punishment is meted out at all, it be without anger. But a well-timed, well-gauged, well-meant bum swat can be extremely difficult to deliver, under the influence of the emotion that evoked it; it takes huge self-control, and that is often precisely what goes out the window first when one's angry. ...So. When fury rises in us against a child it's probably best we put our hands in our pockets and take a few deep breaths.
cheers, Joanna S