I got the belt and I grew up fine.
I think it's to protect some people that take it too far. I work in retail and we caught a 5 year old stealing, called the mother over then we had to call security because she had punched him one shot onto the floor and was ready to have another go. It took 4 people to calm her down, I felt bad for the kid.
Seriously, there's a smack as a disciplinary warning and punishment (getting a belt across the ass), then there is abuse like above.





