When listening to ESPN NY, I heard a few callers say
"Well, you need to understand that this is how we discipline our kids in the south.."
And, a current NFL player said the same thing.
OK, people "from the south" were saying this in the 1860's, when the majority of northerners wanted slavery to stop.
We have progressed since then. Southerners still today are angry at the north for "disrupting their way of life.."
Although some might say "this is how we do it here.." may be an attempt to justify those that commit these acts to be ok, it is not true. Progress. Understand? Progress.
My parents drove with a beer in their hand in 1970, uncles let us steer while they drove, parents let kids sit up front without a seatbelt, on and on. Today, they would go to jail for that. Are these acts acceptable today?
Just because your father beat you with a switch in 1980, etc. does not mean it is ok to do so now. It is a different world.
And, for my final words: No one should beat a 4 year old. No one!!