Well for one, man was made superior to animals.
There is a difference between child abuse and tough love. As it was stated by Raptor, a good spanking is nothing compared to what would have happened if his parents had let him play with fire. 'Tis a substitute for non-existent instinct on the subject of fire.
Sometimes comprehension cannot be gained through speech communication, especially in early childhood. Pain on the other hand does not have to be learned, the system for it is already there.
You learn that touching something hot is bad when you get burned. It's better to have your hand slapped than lose your finger.
Now I will say that I am pretty good at english communication, but even while typing this I can't stop thinking that I could have worded it better or etc, so please alert me if you feel you don't fully understand what I'm saying.
So when my two year old moves towards the gas stove that's hot, I should skip over the get in there first and move them or explain to them it's hot and instead get right into smacking them?
LOL my little one is deaf yet he knows the sign for hot, and knows that it's not ok to touch the gas stove in the back room for that very reason. Have I had to get up off my backside and move him away on occasion? Sure. He's fascinated by it. Every day he comes into that room with me and looks at it and makes the sign for hot. It's part of the routine now. Haven't had to smack him for it though. It still comes down to active vs reactive parenting.
Way too many of the folks here seem to be of the reactive parenting mode and believe playing catch up by smacking their kids makes up for it.
