I know that in this permissive day and age, many of your readers might think spanking of children is dying out or indeed entirely extinct. However, I can vouch to the contrary.
I was in my local branch of Tesco the other day and was in the process of getting some rice. I finally found the right aisle and it was deserted except for myself and a young mum (in her early 20s, I’d say) and her little boy, who I’d guess to be about three or four.
As I came around the corner, I could already hear some altercation going on between mother and son, about him wanting something (probably sweets, at a guess) and how he was not going to get it. Before I knew it, the little boy had thrown himself on the supermarket floor and was engaged in a full-scale tantrum, screaming and pounding with his fists.