Paedantic Basterd

In terms of behavioural science research, corporal punishment is the least effective way to train a desired behaviour, so that should be reason enough to use other methods.

Personally speaking, I only remember getting smacked once, and although I won't say I "deserved it", I will say that I can understand it. Apart from that one incident (this was before kindergarten), my mother didn't even believe in grounding me for bad behaviour. We talked about why I wasn't supposed to do a thing and why it was better to behave differently.

Although I am not as capable an adult as I'd like to be, I turned out to be a hell of a responsible and conscientious one.

This is anecdotal, but it's an example that fits the research: Learning is best achieved when the punishment/reward are logically connected to the behaviour being trained. In my case, I learned that the effects of my behaviour on others is itself the punishment or reward, and that's where compassion and empathy begin.

EDIT: Afterthought. As much as I would (from time to time) really like to see adults get smacked for bad behaviour, we all acknowledge that this is unacceptable, so why is it alright to smack children? If anything, the adults should know better, so they're more deserving of a smacking tbh. Everyone is people.