All of these responses to the OP of Minimus are rather revealing of a mind-set, an attitude of many Witnesses from as far back as I can remember. And, it's an attitude that my own mom fought against She died, oh so many years ago, and she passed away as a Witness. But while she was a Witness, she was a "champion" for childrens rights, and dead-set against child abuse. Discipline of a child was certainly correct, but the child had to be of a REASONINGage, and not babies and/or toddlers. And it was never to be used for taking out your frustrations on a child. She was of the mind-set that children were definitely not "mini-adults". And, would you treat an adult with corporal punishment, if they" mis-behaved"at a meeting? My mom didn't think so. (And, what is mis-behavior, at a meeting, anyway?) And, I never thought so, either. So, why would you treat a child with corporal punishment? Way back in the late 70s, my mom and I were at at District Convention, and she personally saw a mother taking out her frustrations on a toddler-aged child who was sitting near her. That night, when we got home, she wrote a very lengthy letter to the Convnetion Chairman, expressing disgust at what she had seen that day. And, the next day, I personally delivered the letter to the Convention Chairman's office, and I told him that I personally agreed with the sentiments that she had written in the letter, even though I had not written it.
BTW, this reminds me of a book that I found out about through this Website. Its title is "The Spanking Room", written by William Coburn. Anyone read that book?
Best Regards Everyone
Titch