A lot of good points brought up in this thread; however, I think the people that are "pro- spanking" and the ones that are "anti-spanking" are never really going to see eye to eye. In my college speech class a debate was started over this issue, and it got pretty heated. When you're telling somebody that they're basically a bad parent, things can get pretty heated.

We all have different cultures, and different upbringings, and I don't think one person should say another person and their culture is "wrong" or "barbaric". If you lose respect for someone because of the way they do things, well that's too bad. Everybody's entitled to raise a child how they see fit as long as they're concerned about the child's best interest. But to say that they're barbaric.. I think that's just over the top.