Do you think spanking (in general) should be illegal?

[Joe Biden 2020]

It definitely should not be illegal.  I was spanked once as kid with a big board in the 6th grade, thanks to 7 zeroes in English and 1 zero in Social Studies, so 8 swats for 8 zeroes.  It hurt like the dickens, but it sure made me bring everything up to A's and B's in all classes.

I agree with corporal punishment in schools, as well.  The school teacher and principal have to keep their schools and classrooms in order and keep civility from leaving early for the day.  Some kids need to get their butts smacked.  It shouldn't be a hard swat, and definitely not enough to scar a child, but hard enough to get the child's attention.  Dead0man is right when it depends on the child.  I think spanking in schools should be used the last resort before Out of School Suspension.    Some kids learn better with grounding or nose-in-the-corner or, nowadays, loss of cell phone/computer/TV.

I also agree with Gramps in the desire to knock parents around for letting their kids run around public places like it was a school playground.

[Joe Biden 2020]

New Zealand held a 'citizens-initiated' referendum on this last year, with the awfully loaded question being:

"Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?"

No 87.4%, obviously.

Good.  New Zealanders certainly know to leave the government out of raising a child.

[Joe Biden 2020]

It definitely should not be illegal.  I was spanked once as kid with a big board in the 6th grade, thanks to 7 zeroes in English and 1 zero in Social Studies, so 8 swats for 8 zeroes.  It hurt like the dickens, but it sure made me bring everything up to A's and B's in all classes.

Do you mean to tell us that you were actually spanked for getting poor grades?

Yep.  It was the only way my parents could get through to me.  The sad thing is it happened just 2 days after my 13th birthday, which was not a happy birthday.  I got whacked on May 1, 1995 and by the end of the school year three weeks later, I had gone from having 8 zeroes on my record to all A's and B's.  Of course, it helped that my English teacher, the class that I had 7 of the zeroes, gave me a second chance.  If it weren't for the spankings and her kindness, I could have failed the sixth grade and been forced to experience the humiliation of graduating high school at age 20.