I disagree about the corporal punishment thing, but I sense that this is a topic that we may never agree on.
I'm actually a peaceful person, and have always believed that violence in any form is a last resort...especially inside of a family.
When we had a prison contract for EMS services, the common theme that keeps coming up again and again with every hardened criminal is that it begins with parental beatings, and usually drugs and/or alcohol in the house.
I see kids with parents from places like Haiti and Jamaica (where they beat their kids incessantly...it's part of the culture) that don't--as a whole--do well in school.
I don't like the idea of sending a message to a young child that violence is a way to solve problems, and I don't like the idea of kids growing up in an atmosphere of chronic fear.
I completely stopped talking to my family because of issues about emotional abuse, let alone hitting.