Let me try one more time!!! We live in a world full of danger, not just the home. And yet to you a safety smack on the hand is not a source of love and caring but child abuse. It is all good and fine to attempt to achieve the ideal, however when idealism interferes with ones perception of the real world we live in we are then treading on dangerous ground. Knowing a little about child development, at my last count 46 volumes extending from the sixties and seventies right up to 2016 all of them read thoroughly. There is no relationship between a safety slap on the hand and reduced developmental abilities of a child. And yet with current legislation I would be considered a child abuser, and not a loving and caring parent, who was faced with a situation in which a speedy reaction was called for.  Finally and much to my chagrin we have not yet defined the direction of causality between corporal punishment and undesirable adult characteristics. Correlation is not causation. Have a great day