Spanking in the Philippines: No Spanking = No Discipline?

I have to say, I was very surprised at some most of the reactions left on my post about the Philippine House passing the Non-violent Discipline Act.  I'm of the opinion that corporal punishment in any form is an incredibly bad idea and does absolutely no good for children or for society.  In line with that belief, I wholeheartedly applauded the House's passage of the bill, and I stand by that.  It is progressive, it is important, it is timely, and it is in the best interest of Filipino children and their rights as human beings who are incredibly vulnerable to abuse and coercion.

I take issue with the notion that countries with prohibitions on spanking are producing out-of-control youth.  I dare to say that many people who say such things have most likely never spent long periods of time in the countries they claim to know so much about.  If you're judging all Western children based on what you see in American movies, you're reaching a very lopsided and uninformed conclusion.

It is also worth noting that some comments included references to the fact that American kids are disrespectful parent-haters.  The reason behind this perceived notion, they say, is because the U.S. has laws against spanking.  Sorry, but that's just not true.