My opinion is that time outs and take their treasures are better discipline options. However, in the cases where the child endanger themselves or other, a spank on the butt is warranted.

The trend has been to abandon and condemn corporal punishment at the same time youths have become more unruly and violent. All living organisms will avoid pain...the pain stops when they obey Taking a kid's toys away and/or send him/her to their room (to sit in front of their T.V.)does not get their attention. Walk down any hall in a Michigan public school during class change and you will observe what I am talking about...they are out of control, despite "time out" rooms. However, I am under the impression that corporal punishment is currently illegal.
How to scare a crow...find out what will actually scare a crow.

Depends on the child. Some need an ass whoopin.

I would say absolutely, emphatically NO! I was spanked regularly as kid and I was a reasonably well behaved kid. My parents were right wing fundamentalist christians who spanked my brother and I for nearly every tiny infraction under the sun. These were regular (weekly) ritualistic spankings, not just an occasional single swat to the butt. I was put over their knee and given 20 to 30 swats with a heavy kitchen spatula. They didnt stop until I was crying and nearly screaming in pain. These spankings started at about age 6 and were done over my pants up until around 10 years old, then required me to lower my pants and gave me the same 30+ swats.

I think spanking is cruel,barbaric, and downright disgusting and should be left in the dustbin of outdated and harmful parenting. I fully agree with OP that spanking is assault on a helpless child. I'm still going to regular therapy to undue the emotional and psychological damage from it.

I do not think that there is a "right way to spank a child" that is not abusive. Side note: I was molested several times while being spanked as a kid and that opened my eyes to the insidious, uncomfortable reality that religious sickos use "spanking" as a way to hide dark, sexual abuse under guise of "discipline".

And think about it logically for a minute: we are all taught as kids that our bottom is considered part of our "private parts" and no one should be touching us there (accept a parent bathing a young child or helping a toddler use the toilet). So we teach our kids that their bottom is private, but if mommy or daddy want to punish us, they can hit our bottom in a very harsh and invasive manner and its supposedly accepted "discipline".

Punishment should be based on what the child responds to best.

When older,deny privileges,hide the power supplies or charging cables for phones and games.

I feel a certain amount of physical attention is necessary for development: Not a harsh spanking but sometimes a smack on the ass will harness results in behavior. I also always explain why the smack on the ass happened. This way if the behavior is chronic that smack on the ass is a reminder not to behave that way.