The need to discipline children is used as disguise for abuse in the scenarios where there is an interaction between adults and chidren.Like in parent and offspring relationship,teacher student relationship or adult relatives and children relationships.Anywhere when there is power imbalance ( a child is almost powerless in the above scenarios),adults getaway with abuse.I think rarely a child is assertive,even if it is ,it can be chalked off as the child being undisciplined and that again gives power for an adult to abuse more under the disguise of discipline. Its a hamster wheel. I could only get off of it as an adult, while the abusers are trying hard to put me back into my place.It is really hard to stand your ground.