I said people in order to clear their varied temperaments. They're not adults though and don't start out understanding right from wrong. This is important due to the dangerous situations they often find themselves in due to childhood curiosity. My cousin ran into oncoming traffic chasing a butterfly. Her mother spanked her in order to help her associate doing such a dangerous thing with pain - as she ages she will come to understand that what should did could have caused her death. Her mother had previously used time out and talking for the behavior with no success. Since the spanking, however, my little cousin has been great about asking her mom to hold her hand and take her where her curiosity leads her.