Beating kids is a pretty freakin' awful thing to do--it's tyranny by those who have power against those who don't. I find it to be the height of ignorant arrogance for so-called 'adults' to think that causing pain and humiliation is the only way to teach any kind of moral lesson. While it's true that the threat of force can be a powerful motivator to refrain from doing wrong, ultimately it only breeds fear and mistrust, and when the self-will of the child becomes strong enough, their need to rebel and strike back will drive them to increasingly outlandish displays of defiance. In turn, they will repeat the cycle of tyranny against their own children.
It's much more beneficial to make a serious effort to treat children as real people who can understand why something is wrong, building a strong foundation for them to be able to make good decisions, rather than simply instilling a Pavlovian response with no real comprehension behind it. A certain level of threat and use of power is always going to be present in parent-child relationships, but it must be tempered with restraint and understanding of how they can be affected by its misuse.
I was never hit as a child. I didn't need to be--unlike some, my parents aren't savages, and they taught me well. I never got away with nearly as much as other kids, and wasn't even remotely spoiled, but I was never deprived or made to feel worthless or intimidated. Ultimately, I think I'm a lot better off than people who were.
I don't actually like kids in general all that much, because a lot of them really do seem to be horrid little arse bandits. But I think their idiot parents are worse, because they clearly had nothing better to do than pump out more units to fawn over as if they were the best thing that ever happened to the world. Sorry folks, but your little rotscum isn't something that I care about even the slightest bit, and the fact that you had it before you hit 20 just shows how shortsighted you are. Hell, I'm 26 and I'm still learning to take care of myself, much less anyone else! Sometimes I really think that people shouldn't be allowed to reproduce unless they've passed some kinds of tests on responsibility and personality and so forth. They make you jump all kinds of hoops to adopt a kid, but any schmo with working genitals can make one on their own? How does that make sense?