Mike Harding wrote:

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I am truely appalled that many of you seem to see the beating of children as something with an aspect of levity to it.

I see it purely as an act of bullying and brutality.

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Based on todays societal values I completely agree with you.  Most of what happened when I was at school is no longer acceptable today. 

But, rightly or wrongly, back in my primary school days, the use of the corporal punishment was a practice widely accepted by society.   Its was considered to be neither an act of bullying nor an act of brutality.  As a result, us kids generally knew where the line was and what would happen if we crossed it.

But those societal values have changed and such activities are no longer acceptable.  The determination as to whether this has been of  benefit to the kids has yet to be announced.  But subjective evidence from those who deal with pre-school and primary school kids on a daily basis would suggest the answer is that the lack of meaningful discipline has given us a generation of self-entitled turds who don't care where the line is because they know that there are zero consequences for crossing it.  You would probably be shocked at what some of these kids are getting away with.