Should Parents Smack Their Children As A Form Of Discipline?

Ben Franklin advised. "Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child".
Ben Spock advised "Spare the Child the Rod".
Thinking about society today, you be the judge of the better advice.

Smacking children is the oldest form of punishment, There are several do's and dont's that you have to follow before you resort to physical punishment.

Every child is different and we should resort to smacking in accordance to the nature of the child.  If a child is very sensitive one should refrain from smacking a child, a  gentle slap on the back is fine it does not matter children accept it easily.   If the child is very very naughty and does not listen at all, then one has to slap the child sometimes maybe once in a way, also you should watch what effect it has had on the child, if he gets into the "donot give a dammn" attitude nothing can be more dangerous.  Then he needs to be handled differently, one has to sit and explain to him why you smacked him, how you would not do it again etc.

Rather than smacking a child I feel one should explain to them properly. Children are very co-operative and listen if treated like individuals with sense, they will show incredible maturity.  Some parents are frustrated for other reasons and tend to smack their children by venting their anger on them.  This should be totally avoided.  

If a child crosses certain limits of behaviour he can be smacked but after that he must be explained his mistakes so that he understands why this action had to be taken and I feel it should be the last resort.