I shudder even to read the titles of the posts in response to this article. The real reason parents hit their children is that they lose their tempers. Then they rationalize their own bad behavior by quoting 2000 year old texts or using the word "discipline."

I sometimes see these abusive parents in stores. A young child is tired, doesn't want to shop anymore, but the parent is dragging the child around on her errands. When the child protests, the parent is embarrassed and strikes the child. Then, weeping. I hate seeing this happen. I can see that the parent just loses her temper. I'd like to call the cops, but I guess they wouldn't intervene.  

Children can be irritating. If you can't deal with that calmly, you should not have children.