I don’t think it’s that bad, I’ve never had kids and never want them so my opinion might be invalid here, but I have had experience being a kid who got spanked. The main thing I remember about it after the first time was that I really wanted to kick my dads ass afterward. But I knew I was too small and wouldn’t stand a chance. So instead I acted like a stubborn, super passive aggressive little shit for a few days. I was only spanked a few times in my life, as far as the “formal” type of spanking as punishment, as in, I was told I was going to get spanked, and told to bend over the edge of my bed, and then slammed a certain amount of times. It was never a reactionary in the moment slap or smack or spank, it was something I feel like my parents discussed and decided on as a punishment. I don’t remember the reasons I was spanked or how I reacted other than that first time, but once when I was 12 or 13, I missed the bus on purpose because I was getting bullied in school really badly by the guy who sat in the seat in front of me on the bus. So my dad sat me down and asked why I missed the bus, because he had seen me up on time and was mad that I came back inside without going to school. I told him I missed the bus on purpose hoping to start a dialogue about being bullied, and as soon as I said that he grabbed the hood of my hoodie and jerked it back really hard, kind of choking me and hurting my neck to the point I got a headache. He said “you better change your answer and change your attitude and stop skipping school” I said “The reason I don’t want to go is because I’m getting bullied all the time and I get beat up and hurt, but I see that staying home isn’t going to stop that so yeah you’re right I’ll just go to school and get beat up there instead.” My dad never laid a finger on me after that day and I knew it cut him deep. That was my intent. Later he married a Mormon woman from Thailand and kicked me out at the age of sixteen to let missionaries stay in my room, so I was homeless the last year of my high school. He moved to Thailand with her at some point and I haven’t talked to him in years. So I don’t know if spanking created a rift between us, was a symptom of my parents own troubles, or a desperate reaction to what an asshole I was (because I really was as difficult and shitty as I could be, on purpose, I can’t put all the blame on my parents). So as far as spanking goes, I don’t see it as that bad in the context of all the other things I’ve been through, but I don’t necessarily think it’s healthy either. Just one anecdotal experience, trying to put it within context, among other experiences. Not trying to say my experience should be a reason to decide one way or the other.