her child with a wooden spoon, leaving bruises and/or welts? I ran a poll earlier tonight in which over 75% of the respondents reported receiving at least that type of discipline. Were all of those respondents "abused" as children?

"Abuse" to me connotes a desire to harm as opposed to teach, perhaps regardless of the method employed. You're abusing your child at the point you're not sincerely trying to teach or discipline him. If you can demonstrate that you are sincerely attempting to teach, I'm going to be very lenient in how I tend to evaluate your methods. Spare the rod spoil the child, as they say - many a child has been raised very well despite (or perhaps in part due to) the use of physical force. I think the parent has to be afforded substantial discretion.