The reality of life is as an adult if you act like a **** you well find yourself getting a slap if you cross the wrong person. A slap round the ear by a parent is telling a child just that, that you can't just act like an idiot without their being possible consequences.

Saying that, there's a difference between giving a child a smack and beating the living daylights out of them. Hitting children with objects or kicking them in the ribs is beyond reasonable and is abuse.