Corporal punishment of children in England and the United States: current issues.

Proverbs has eight sets of instructions on beating children, but that book does not contain the often cited proverbial "spare the rod and spoil the child." This form of discipline, which is thousands of years old, has only recently been abandoned and forbidden in many states in the US, and in much of Europe. It is still legal in Britain and some US states, and remains a controversial issue.